The American drive-in is the greatest place on Earth, and Joe Bob Briggs knows that.
He has always known it, and that’s why he has made it his life’s calling to get people to watch movies outdoors, in the privacy of their own automobiles, like God intended, first as a columnist for the Dallas Times Herald who only reviewed drive-in movies, and then, for the past four decades, as a television horror host of The Movie Channel’s Drive-In Theater, TNT’s MonsterVision and currently The Last Drive-In on Shudder.
Now Briggs is bringing his show on the road, setting up shop at the West Wind Drive-In for his third annual World Drive-In Jamboree October 6-8.
“A lot of people say, ‘There’s a drive-in in Vegas?’” Briggs says with a laugh. “But the people want to come. They want to come to Las Vegas and party, and the combination of being with the mutants and being in Vegas and being in a drive-in, I think this is going to be our biggest year yet.”
It’s hard to think of a better way to kick off spooky season than a weekend hosted by Briggs, complete with his trademark bolo tie, Texarkana drawl and encyclopedic knowledge of all things horror. So put it in park, hit the concession stand and settle in for a dusk-to-dawn marathon, done the drive-in way.
Let’s look at those drive-in totals:
2,000 maniacs!
The West Wind Drive-In features six screens and has a capacity for more than 900 vehicles, and there will also be a camping area for car-less attendees who intend on sticking around all weekend, so the lots will be overflowing with what Briggs affectionately calls his “drive-in mutants.”
The 2021 and 2022 Jamborees, held in Mahoning, New Jersey, and Memphis, respectively, brought in fans from around the country, and while Briggs expects the Vegas location to attract out-of-towners, the main draw is the camaraderie of the horror community.
“The mutants normally only see each other online,” Briggs says, “but now at the Jamboree, the real person is there. They don’t just come to listen to me and watch movies, they come to meet each other.”
16 movies rolling!
What’s your stamina level for B-movies? Friday night is dedicated to an amateur film festival, featuring 10 DIY horror flicks. Saturday is a celebration of legendary producer/director Roger Corman, with Briggs and Corman screening two of his movies (which will be recorded for a future episode of The Last Drive-In). Sunday is an all-night marathon of the 1983 fan favorite slasher Sleepaway Camp and its three sequels, complete with commentary and an onstage cast reunion for the series’ 40th anniversary. Make sure your car battery (and cordless curling iron) is fully charged.
1 cultural landmark!
What lasts 57 years in Las Vegas? Nothing! Except the West Wind Drive-In, which has been continuously operational since it opened in 1966 as the Las Vegas Drive-In. Its massive capacity is one reason Briggs selected the venue to host this year’s Jamboree, as well as its positioning as a West Coast hub.
It’s also just damned cool. “We wanted to have it on the West Coast, somewhere you could drive from LA, San Diego, Phoenix, San Francisco. We looked at all the West Coast drive-ins, but none of them were as cool as the West Wind.”
3 days of scares!
As soon as the sun goes down, the movies begin. But the Jamboree continues through the daylight hours as well, with the West Wind lots converted into an open-air horror convention. Briggs will host a meet-and-greet barbecue on Friday, and on Saturday he’ll take fans on a walking tour of Downtown Las Vegas. (He’s something of an expert—you may recognize Briggs from his role in the film Casino, where he played an incompetent but connected floor worker who could not be fired.) There will also be horror vendors, music performances, live podcasts and autograph signings to keep you occupied until the onscreen mayhem resumes.
No headlights!
Though the drive-in has been around for almost a century, there are some people who have never experienced the joys of watching a movie from behind their steering wheel. For first-timers, know that there is etiquette involved, but most of it is pretty intuitive.
The gravest sin? Disrupting the movie, obviously. Daytime running lights are a modern complication, and Briggs has seen it enough that he suggests going in prepared, lest a deluge of a thousand car horns rain down upon you.
“All it takes is one car shining its lights on the screen, and you can’t see the movie,” Briggs says. “Get the owner’s manual for your car, find the place on your dashboard where you can turn the switch off, and set it so that your lights don’t automatically come on when it’s dark. You’ll thank me.”
