Color, 1976, 74m.
Directed by Stu Segall
Starring John F. Goff, Steve Vincent, Douglas Gudbye, Verkina Flowers, John Alderman, Janus Blyhe, Bruce Kimball, George "Buck" Flower
Severin Films (Blu-ray & DVD) (US R0 HD/NTSC), 88 Films (Blu-ray) (UK R0 HD) / WS (1.78:1) (16:9), Vipco (DVD) (UK R0 PAL)
It's amazing we didn't actually get a movie called Drive-In Massacre until 1976, given the fact that drive-ins had been around since the '30s and been a hotbed of teen activity since the '50s. So here we are with a stripped-down combination of proto-slasher film and police procedural about a maniac attacking couples with a long, sharp sword at night in a California drive-in, with a flavor clearly inspired by the wave of real-life serial killers plaguing America at the time. 
and a memorable open-ended finale, which feels like an odd fusion between the Zodiac killer and Man on a Swing with a William Castle flourish. If this feels a bit like a grungy Harry Novak title from the old Something Weird days, that shouldn't be too surprising since it features several of his cohorts behind and in front of behind the camera. Most notably, veteran character actor and softcore performer George "Buck" Flower co-wrote the film and acted in one pivotal pursuit scene, while John Tull (who starred in several Novak hillbilly movies) served as assistant director. Director Stu Segall had also started off doing softcore (and a bit of hardcore) films like The Suckers and Spirit of Seventy Sex before moving on to classics like Insatiable and Up 'n' Coming before turning to a career as a mainstream TV producer. The film was also ghost produced by Marty Greenwald (seen in one scene as a drive-in victim), who worked with Segall on several of his adult films and went on to found the genre-friendly company Image Entertainment.
first official widescreen release with a 2016 UK Blu-ray that captures the dreary, grungy look of how this appeared in theaters. 
There's a dusky, brown look for the most part with interiors taking place in some of the drabbest, filthiest-looking offices imaginable, apparently by design. Apart from some specks and scratches during the opening credits, the film elements appear to have been maintained in good condition. The framing looks fine for the most part, though in the opening credits a few names scrape very close against the bottom. The LPCM English mono audio is definitely a step up from the fuzzy-sounding VHS and earlier DVD version, to put it mildly. Also included (culled from the same transfer) is an alternate 61-minute "television cut," which is still bloody but removes the contact gore imagery and features some odd, dupey video inserts shots of what appear to be some alternate takes.
In 2017, the film made its Blu-ray debut in the United States from Severin Films (with a simultaneous DVD edition) featuring a mostly separate slate of extras and a radically different transfer from the original negative. There's a significant amount of additional image info on the bottom and sides (especially the right) with a tad less on the top, and colors look more vibrant and natural with more organic film grain and substantially more restrained whites. Interestingly, the 88 Films appears to have undergone some overzealous noise reduction in spots by comparison; look at the shot above with the car door on the right compared to the same frame grab below from the UK disc, which has scrubbed out the dirt and texture from the metal. That said, fans will likely cherish both releases as they offer very different viewing options with equally worthy bonus material. Audio can be played in either DTS-HD MA English mono or dubbed Dolby Digital 2.0 Spanish (which is amazing), with optional English subtitles. (Try them for the Spanish track for a really weird quasi-art film experience.) Segall provides a new audio commentary that's as hilariously candid as his earlier interviews; right off the bat he comments, "Boy, that's a bad shot!" but notes how much passion and love went into the "off-the-cuff" project with no money whatsoever. "Making the Massacre" is included here, In "Drive-In Days," Goff gets his time in front of the camera with a 16-minute interview covering his early theater career and love of movie theaters through his first professional stint on The Big Valley, his time with The Hollywood Reporter, and his eventual move to doing this film including the reason for its, ahem, unusual ending and his other projects with his collaborators here (with connections to everything from Clu Gulager and The Witch Who Came from the Sea to The Fog). An 11-minute featurette with actor Norm Sheridan (the peeper who gets chased down the street) is an amusing one as well as he goes into the experience of being chased by an overweight cop, shooting at that Simi Valley drive-in location, and doing dinner theater with Alderman. The funky and very disjointed theatrical trailer rounds out the disc, an obvious must for any self-respected '70s horror junkie. If possible, try to figure out a way to watch this Blu-ray in your car with the top pulled down for maximum effect.88 FILMS FRAME GRABS
