Over the weekend, we travelled out to Dixon, IL, once again, to the Midway Drive-in, for their John Carpenter Fest, where they screened The Thing (1982), Halloween (1978), Prince of Darkness (1987), and Assault on Precinct 13 (1976). We were one of the vendors set up outside for the event. Now, let’s just say that not only is the sun not my friend, but neither is the heat. But those are two things we had to deal with for most of the day. Getting there around 1pm to make sure we can unload everything and set up, such as our tent and all the merch, takes time. Doing it in those conditions makes it even more of a challenge, especially as I’m about to hit the big 60. In fact, standing there in the blazing heat was just brutal. And it makes one ponder why we even bother going through that misery.
The Midway Drive-in will be celebrating all things John Carpenter on their spring Dusk to Dawn show this June 28th! As of now, they only have announced 2 of the 4 features that will be screening, The Thing (1982) from a 35mm print (!!!) and Prince of Darkness (1987) from DCP. I know I’ve mentioned here on this site before, but my very first viewing of The Thing was at a drive-in theater, and I have seen in numerous more times since then at the drive-in, and it never has lost its charm. When you have a perfect movie like that one, it is always an experience. And even more so seeing it projected on a 90ft screen!
I know that that title is how I felt leaving the Midway Drive-in in the wee hours this morning. I’m going on about 3-4 hours of sleep as I write this, so I apologize for any typos or ramblings that don’t make much sense, but I wanted to get this posted. Yesterday, we were at the Midway Drive-in in Sterling, IL for their Dust to Dawn Romero Fest, where they screened George Romero’s zombie trilogy, Night of the Living Dead (1968), Dawn of the Dead (1978), Day of the Dead (1985), as well as The Crazies (1973) to round out the night. Honestly, I think The Crazies fits perfectly into that series since while they might not be zombies, the themes are pretty close and still very effective.
It’s that time again. It seems I have an 8-year cycle at my work life (in the really real world), and that cycle has come to an end. Next month, I start a new job that I’m hoping that has very little effect here at the Krypt, but we’ll have to wait and see. As you can see by the lack of updates lately, things have been kind of crazy here as of late, from the stress seeing if this new offer would be worth it, to all the other events and projects going on, let’s just say it has been a crazy month. And October might not be any better when it comes to being busy.