In answer to the question that has no doubt popped into your mind, "Yes, I have seen 'The Exorcist' before." I chose to include it, for a recent viewing yielded a unique theatrical experience (thus making it somewhat relevant to the blog...though technically I don't have to legitimize anything to those two or three that actually consult this site). It's only the second time I've seen the film theatrically - the first was actually my first time ever watching the film. It was the Village Eight Theatres during the week prior to Christmas (this being the re-release that included the spider walk). Snow had begun to fall rather heavily and living thirty miles away, I decided that it would be a wise and safe idea to camp out in the theatre overnight. "I'll have my own movie marathon," I thought. And so, after the building was empty, I strolled down to theatre #6 (the "haunted theatre" for those Village employees who are supernaturally inclined) and started up the film.
Needless to say that watching the film after midnight in a theatre by myself when I was snowed in and couldn't "escape" was not a situation that lent itself to a casual viewing. It scared the ever-loving shit out of me (and in my opinion, from the moment that Chris returns home, the lights blinking in the kitchen, and we learn that Burke is dead, it is the scariest film ever made). I was spooked to the point that I drove home that night, snow-covered country roads be damned.
This time, I was not at a theatre at all. Rather, it was a drive-in. Namely, the Georgetown Drive-In. I've intended to go for years, ever since my childhood drive-in, the Southpark, closed up in 1998. Kenwood Drive-in has been giving me my fix for years, but it too bit the dust eight months ago. Thus, Georgetown is the only drive-in in the Louisville vicinity. And what a drive-in. It definitely captures the spirit of Southpark, from the clunky speakers to the greasy concession stand. The screen was wisely constructed at the bottom of a hill, providing the parking lot with a stadium seating effect. There were three unique highlights the night offered. A nice view of Linda Blair's ass as she stood atop the concession stand (she'd been brought out to introduce the film and my group was luckily parked directly behind her perch). Second, Michael Masden (yeah, the Tarantino alum) strolling around, downing deep-fried foods and looking to score some coke as a gaggle of wet dames followed him like goslings following their mother (he'd been brought out by the same convention as Blair was). Lastly, the five greatest words to ever be combined by mankind: "Deep fried, red velvet Twinkies." The thing took six months off of my life, I know it, but it tasted so damn good. Georgetown instilled all the proper atmosphere: the irresponsibility of a summer night wrapped in white trash with a proper dash of sentimentality. I'll definitely be back.
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