My first real job was working for Pacific Theaters at the Harbor Blvd Drive in. I hit sixteen and knew that working for Matty and go-go boot/hot pants wearing wife had no real future. I loved spinning discs and listening to oldies there at the swap meet but Matt didn't pay worth a damn and I just didn't like where that action was going with his wife. Whenever I hear Book of Love I know that I made the right decision to join up with the Theater group. In the end it was more of an education than high school ever was.
In my junior year I ran track, but by the time I hit my senior year I had a car to support and girls to take out, all of that. I wasn't interested in high school extra curricular affairs, I was waiting for my enlistment in the Navy to begin and I was more interested in working than doing school work. For a moment there I was golden. I took my career with Pacific up to the point where I was Assistant Manager of the snack bar, then blew it all up by getting too big headed about my job and my capabilities. Crashed and burned and by the end of December barely had hours enough to pay for my car insurance. But I managed to salvage myself (a true skill and lifelong habit) and ended up becoming the head of the swap meet field crew. That job was wonderful, as it was outside, weekends only and beat the hell out of working the kitchen or being an usher and guiding cars by flashlight at night.
The best part of working for Pacific was getting theater passes. Back then there were still plenty of drive in theaters around Orange County. If I wasn't working them I was driving around and checking out shows. It was wonderful to be able to pile my pals or my best squeeze into the car and show up at the box office with my complementary pass. It was even finer to be able to hit up the snack bar and get free popcorn or have the chef of the evening pull together an extra special pizza or three. But what was best was knowing that I could watch a movie if I wanted to or not. It didn't matter if I caught the dialogue or followed the film because if I missed it I could always come back next week. Or, if my work shift dictated, catch it as I went around disturbing every one elses submarine races.
I still remember, though, the night when Last House on the Left played. It was one of those nights where I was on foot, putting cones in place, making sure that other kids weren't hopping the back fence. I watched as I wandered and became deeply disturbed by what I saw up on the screen. It had to be one of the more outrageous horror films I had seen up to that time. Working alone in the dark along the back fence was most unsettling that night. I put off watching that movie in it's entirety for years, and have only braved it once since then.
Certain movies still have that effect on me, that hard core spook out feeling that makes you think of them and the serious goosebumps they generate for years . I had the same creeped out experience with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween and the like. It was a stretch, then, to want to see Rob Zombie's Devil's Rejects. I don't know what drove me to it, but it was one of those finds that you stumble upon only when you are adventurous and brave and are looking for something completely different. I look at that film as being one of the great horror flicks of all time, a film packed with style, verve and plenty of balls. It took the contemporary serial killer/slasher film and stood it on it's head. Packed with harsh language and deranged characters, sure, but it was coupled with stylized photography and a soundtrack that made the whole package both retro and cutting edge. I think had I run into that beast of a film that lonely night back when I was the outrider usher I might have had a different take on that kind of horror show. Not to say that it went down easy. Still pretty much a sick use of time, but wow, what style!
I think that that Zombie film coupled with Jeepers Creepers would have managed to keep heads down at any self respecting drive in back in the day. As if we needed an excuse!
Action!
The Devil's Rejects:
http://www.allmovie.com/work/the-devils-rejects-290584
Jeeper's Creepers:
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