Flashback Weekend, a horror convention in Chicago, has put together a great YouTube video to urge fans to vote for the Midway Drive-In and Diner in nearby Sterling. Robert Englund, George A. Romero, and Lance Henriksen reminisce about their drive-in experiences. Romero tells the story of how he saw Night of the Living Dead for the first time on a theater screen when he was with friends at a drive-in. “When we saw it on that screen, it was the first time that we realized that we actually made a movie.”

“Drive-ins were once the primary theatrical outlet for horror films, helping to build the careers of legendary directors,” the narrator reminds us. Glad to see some horror veterans who are eager to give back.

If you remember way back in September, we talked about the Landmark Cinemas in Peoria IL. It’s an unremarkable indoor movie house, but it had the great idea to add a seasonal drive-in to its overflow parking lot. (Which means that even during its busiest times of the week, it needs something better to do with that lot. But I digress.) Now comes the good news from the Peoria Journal Star that this permanently makeshift drive-in will reopen this weekend for the summer season.

I can call it permanent because it gained a permanent permit from the city of Peoria last fall after operating for a little while with a temporary permit. I call it makeshift because, well look at the Google Street View photo from September 2011; it was just a parking lot. I doubt that it looks a whole lot better now, but feel free to take a photo of the Landmark and add it to the Carload Flickr pool so we’ll all know.

Anyway, the drive-in is starting with just weekends, but “Landmark Recreation Center general manager Bill Lanzotti said they will consider adding weekday screenings if attendance is robust.” For a couple of photos, a map, and a few more details, you really ought to read the article.

photo by Earl Leatherberry, used by permission

The Chicago Tribune had a great article this past weekend rounding up a lot of the stuff we’ve been talking about here on Carload. A lot of Illinois drive-ins have turned to fundraising to finance the conversion to digital projection, and so far the results have been pretty good.

The Tribune article mentions the Harvest Moon, the Cascade, and the McHenry as examples of drive-ins that have converted or are trying to find the money to buy the equipment. And it gets more profound than I ever did. According to the article, “The predicament has made this year something of a referendum on how Americans value drive-ins, and perhaps by extension, how much we value nostalgia and the offbeat ambience of taking a typically indoor activity outdoors.” See, I would have said ambiance, although both spellings are okay.

At the Harvest Moon, they threw a customer appreciation party to celebrate the successful fundraiser and  presented the first public screening of the drive-in documentary “Going Attractions“. It’s director, April Wright, touched on a very important reason why drive-ins are drawing good crowds again. Quoting the article again, “The other sign of hope is Hollywood’s trend toward superhero, animated and more family-friendly movies, Wright said. All of those factors play directly to drive-ins’ strengths.”

This is a huge, well-written article that accumulates a lot of Carload’s Illinois coverage over the past six months and adds a lot more. You know that you really need to go read it!

Update: RYOT.org picked up the Tribune story, and it added a good map of drive-ins by state.