On any given Friday or Saturday night\u2014 or maybe even a Tuesday evening\u2014 drivers crossing over Highway 50 via the Bradshaw Road exit are likely to see lines of cars, all bound for the West Wind Sacramento 6 drive-in theater\u2014the last drive-in in the Sacramento area.<\/p>\n
It may seem like an old-fashioned anomaly but the Sacramento 6 is actually pretty modern. And business is doing great. The theater, open year-round, was built in 1973 and originally had five screens. Its last-standing competitor, the Sunrise in Fair Oaks, closed a decade ago.<\/p>\n
Back then, drive-ins increasingly appeared to be a thing of the past, a dying piece of American culture.<\/p>\n
Today, filmgoers can choose from copious entertainment options\u2014via Netflix, the Internet, multiplex theaters, etc.\u2014something that would seemingly seal the fate of the drive-in more than ever. Locally, rumors of the Sacramento 6\u2019s demise have run rampant for years. In reality, outdoor theaters are not only surviving\u2014in some cases they\u2019re actually thriving.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s talk of a new national outdoor chain, for example. And around here, there are no plans to sell, close or demolish the West Wind Sacramento 6, says Tony Maniscalco, vice president of marketing for Syufy Enterprises, the company that owns it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat drive-in is one of our better performing drive-in theaters,\u201d Maniscalco says.<\/p>\n
Most might find that surprising given all the \u201cdeath of the drive-in\u201d articles that show up every few years or so.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s funny is that \u2019this is our last year\u2019 is something that we\u2019ve never said. It\u2019s one of those things that the media puts out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s OK, he adds.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good for our business because [now] everyone wants to go out to the drive-in,\u201d Maniscalco says.
\nOutside is in<\/p>\n
The renewed popularity of theaters such as the Sacramento 6 isn\u2019t unusual. Drive-ins all over the country have experienced a resurgence of sorts. Syufy owns seven drive-ins (making them the largest drive-in chain globally) and Maniscalco says they are seeing increased attendance at all of those theaters. In fact, two of the seven were recently re-opened: the West Wind in Concord, which opened in 2007, and one in Santa Barbara, which opened in 2010.<\/p>\n
The new interest, Maniscalco says, isn\u2019t surprising.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think what\u2019s happened is drive-in operators started paying closer attention to their properties, they\u2019ve cleaned them up, brought in new equipment. It\u2019s not just us, but everybody in the business,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
The West Wind chain is actually an anomaly, as it\u2019s corporate owned. Of the 350-plus drive-ins currently open in the states, most are independently owned and operated and typically located in small, rural towns. Many of those small-town indies are also enjoying better attendance.<\/p>\n
Take the 99W for example, a drive-in in Newberg, Ore., owned and operated by Brian Francis, whose grandfather built the theater in 1953. He says he noticed fresh interest in the theater in the early 2000s.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the urban legends had gone through everyone\u2019s head that there weren\u2019t any drive-ins anymore, [but] through word-of-mouth and the Internet, it became known to people that there was still a drive-in around here,\u201d Francis says.<\/p>\n
People flocked to the 99W for a chance to try the car theater experience firsthand, he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re able to attract business from the larger cities. There\u2019s no drive-in in the Portland area. There\u2019s no drive-in in Vancouver, Washington. You have to go up about 200 miles to find a drive-in in the state of Washington,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
The biggest customer base, Francis adds, comprises out-of-towners who visit annually to get their drive-in fix\u2014and they\u2019re people of all ages.<\/p>\n
Sacramento\u2019s scene is similar, even though technically it\u2019s more centralized, located at the border of Sacramento and Rancho Cordova, and it gets business from people who live downtown or in surrounding areas.<\/p>\n
Over the years, drive-ins have been an important part of Sacramento\u2019s entertainment culture. And why not: This is a big, sprawling city with excellent weather.<\/p>\n
The area\u2019s drive-in culture is storied: There was once an X-rated outdoor theater, Davis\u2019 Westlane Drive-In, that closed in 1986.<\/p>\n
Local filmmaker Jason Rudy made a campy short about local drive-in culture called A Tale of Two Drive-Ins. The film also spotlights an old Elk Grove drive-in church.<\/p>\n
Drive-in culture, Rudy says, had a big influence on his art. His film company, Desperate Visions, which makes exploitation-influenced films, uses the tag line \u201cDrive-in films for the digital audience,\u201d for example, and also sports a drive-in marquee-themed logo.<\/p>\n
The retro imagery and style that Rudy references evolved over time starting in the late \u201960s and into the late \u201970s. By then, drive-ins had become the home to many low budget B-movies and exploitation films depicting sex and violence. Then, drive-ins didn\u2019t have a lot of access to first-run big-budget Hollywood films, mostly because of the relationship that the studios had with the indoor theaters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bigger blockbuster films generally played in hard-top theaters, but the indies and regional films played in the drive-in,\u201d Rudy explains.<\/p>\n
They still held an appeal to certain audiences, however, he adds.<\/p>\n
\u201c[They attracted] a lot of teenage kids that wanted a place to go that was outside of home, and they could go to their drive-in if they had their license. They can make out with their girlfriends and they could have their own little thing,\u201d Rudy says. \u201cYou can drink beer and do drugs and stuff you can\u2019t do at a regular theater.\u201d<\/p>\n
Such debauchery wasn\u2019t initially the convention, however. When the first drive-ins opened in the early \u201930s, they were considered a novelty, and attracted mostly families. In the \u201950s, as Americans became car obsessed, the outdoor theaters became more geared toward teenage audiences, showing horror and serial films. In 1952, drive-ins sales were more substantial than sit-down theaters. By 1958, there were roughly 5,000 drive-ins in the country. By the \u201960s and \u201970s, however, B-movies had become more graphic, which changed drive-ins\u2019 image.<\/p>\n
It was the \u201980s that almost killed the drive-in. The advent of VHS and cable TV created a more lucrative market for B-movies and that, combined with a rise in property values and multiplexes, meant that many outdoor theaters were forced to shut down. The ones that lasted found other streams of revenue by hosting flea markets and swap meets.<\/p>\n
As such, those drive-ins that remained were forced to upgrade to digital projectors as a means of survival\u2014it\u2019s the only way to have access to first-run films.<\/p>\n
Not that everyone cares about catching that latest blockbuster outdoors. For many\u2014whether those discovering the drive-in for the first time, or those revisiting an old favorite\u2014the reason to choose that option over an indoor movie house (not to mention all those other film-watching options) is entirely different.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really not about the movie, it\u2019s about the experience of being at the drive-in,\u201d says former Crest Theatre manager and film enthusiast Mat\u00edas Bombal. \u201cWith the drive-in, you can truly have your own environment in your car, and participate communally. In the [indoor] theater you have some social requirements, which are not necessarily [required] if you\u2019re in the front seat of your car.\u201d<\/p>\n
And there are other signs, too, that drive-ins are suddenly trendy. The Johnny Rockets hamburger chain has announced plans to team with USA Drive-Ins to open 200 brand new theaters by 2018.<\/p>\n
As strongly as this indicates the resurgence of drive-ins, this popularity could be its downfall too, because for a lot of drive-in fanatics, the appeal exists in their uniqueness of character. Even in the case of a corporately owned place such as the West Wind, there\u2019s still a big difference between being one in seven than being part of a 200-chain mold.<\/p>\n
Christy Savage, who produces film fests and helps run the Trash Film Orgy production company, says she loves outdoor theaters both for the nostalgia\u2014she remembers going as a kid\u2014and because they create an experience that just can\u2019t be replicated by their sterile indoor counterparts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can go with a large group of friends,\u201d she says. \u201cBring snacks, sneak in booze, joke during the movie and not even bother the people nearby.\u201d
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