My Review of American Horror Stories: "Drive In"

 

Written by Manny Coto

Directed by Eduardo Sanchez

Larry (to Chad/Kelley): "You think this is the end of the movie? It's only Act 1."

After the first two episodes being heavily reliant on old ground, this was an episode that thankfully ventured into new ground. With a pandemic still factoring into theatres being closed/limited capacity, the appel of a drive in has never been so tempting right now.

Highschool kids Chad (Rhenzy Felix) and Kelley (Madison Bailey) want to take their relationship to the next level, so going to a screening of forbidden horror movie Rabbit, Rabbit seemed like the perfect idea for a date.

Except for the fact that the movie in question has a history of turning people into zombie murderers and was banned for that reason alone. One of the few survivor from the original screening, Ruth (Naomi Grossman) did try to warn everyone but she ended up with a scissors in her eye as a result.

Because both Chad and Kelley weren't as attentive to the movie, they were seemingly immune from its effects, but they also got to see that their friends, including Dee (Ben J. Pierce) were not as fortunate.

It doesn't take long for Chad and Kelley to track down the film's director, Larry Bitterman (John Carroll Lynch). He's delighted with the impact the film has made but his own delight soon turned to horror when Chad and Kelley destroyed his one copy of the movie and left him to burn in his van.

Of course, Larry did comment on his movie living on and by the end of this episode, it seems like he was right. Who would've thought one movie would cause this much havoc, huh?

- Horror icon herself, Adrienne Barbeau appears as an usher in this episode. Her role feels wasted to be honest.

- Amy Grabow played former Second Lady Tipper Gore, who was responsible for Larry's movie originally getting banned.

- Standout music: Kim Petra's There Will Be Blood.

- Chronology: 1986 for the original screening of Rabbit Rabbit and I assume 2021 for the episode in general.

Drive In deserves points for doing something new within this franchise and relying mostly on new leads. However it loses points for wasting actors like Barbeau and Grossman and even John Carroll Lynch could've had a bit more screen time. An okay episode overall.

Rating: 6 out of 10