Drive-ins are a big part of movie history, so of course we couldn’t leave them out! Here’s a look at how they came to be:

It all started with Richard Hollingshead, who wanted to invent something that combined his two loves – cars and movies. His vision was an open-air movie theater where folks could watch movies from their own cars.

He had to experiment with this idea though, so he started in his own driveway New Jersey. Hollingshead mounted a 1928 Kodak projector on the hood of his car which projected onto a screen he had nailed to trees in his backyard, and for sound he used a radio placed behind the screen.

The man did all sorts of tests to get it right – he had to perfect sound quality, deal with different weather conditions (he used a lawn sprinkler to imitate rain) and he had to figure out how to park the patron’s cars. Placing the cars was a big issue; Hollingshead tried lining up the cars in his driveway, which created visibility problems if one car was directly parked behind another car. Richard eventually created the perfect parking arrangement for the drive-in movie theater experience by spacing cars at various distances and placing ramps under the front wheels of cars that were further away from the screen.

On May 16, 1933 the first patent for the Drive-In Theater (United States Patent # 1,909,537) was issued. On Tuesday June 6, 1933, with an investment of $30,000, Richard Hollingshead opened the first drive-in at Crescent Boulevard, Camden, New Jersey. The admission price was 25 cents for the car and 25 cents per person.

At this time the design did not include the in-car speaker system we know today. Richard contacted a company called RCA Victor to provide the sound system, called “Directional Sound.” This was three main speakers that were mounted next to the screen. The sound quality was awful for cars in the rear of the theater and for the neighbors nearby.

And that readers, is how the drive-in theater was born.

The first female horror host, Vampira, was the persona of Maila Nurmi. The character was created in 1954 when Maila was a horror host at KABC-TV in Los Angeles, which after a two year run, moved over to KHJ-TV. The idea for For Vampira was born when Maila attended choreographer Lester Horton’s annual Bal Caribe Masquerade in a costume inspired by a character in the cartoons of Charles Addams. Her pale white skin and tight black dress caught the attention of television producer Hunt Stromberg, Jr. who wanted to hire her to host horror movies. Unfortuntely, Stromberg had no idea how to contact her, but luckily he finally got her phone number from Rudi Gernreich. As for the Vampira name itself, that was thought up by Nurmi’s husband, Dean Riesner.

The beloved lady really hit the big time when she joined the legendary Bela Lugosi in the classic cult film Planet 9 from Outer Space (1956). After the successful run of her TV show she went on to make even more movies.

In the 1980s Maila sued Cassandra Peterson for stealing her Vampira persona to create Elvira, but the suit didn’t result in anything.

On January 10, 2008, Nurmi died at the age of 85. She was buried in the Griffith Lawn section of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

This major cult classic is finally coming to Blu-ray on October 19 and Fox is totally pulling out all the stops for this 35th anniversary edition of The Rocky Horror Picture Show! For a limited time they will offer a 24-page book of photos taken by chief photographer Mick Rock with the disk. On top of the book there’s a wealth of extra features, here’s a look at all of them:

• Restored Picture – Brand New 4K/2K Master From The Original Camera Negatives
• The Midnight Experience: The Late Night, Double Feature, Picture-in-Picture Show
• Vintage Callback Track (Unrated), Prop Box, Trivia Track
• BD-LIVE: Live Lookup Powered by IMDb
• Rocky-oke: Sing It!
• Don’t Dream It, Be It: The Search for the 35th Anniversary Shadowcast, Part I
• An-tic-i-pation: The Search for the 35th Anniversary Shadowcast, Part II
• Mick Rock (A Photographer)
• Mick Rock’s Picture Show (A Gallery)
• Pressbook and Poster Gallery
• Audio Commentary by Richard O’Brien and Patricia Quinn
• Deleted Musical Scenes and Outtakes
• Alternate Credit Ending and Misprint Ending
• Rocky Horror Double Feature Video Show
• Beacon Theater, New York City
• “Time Warp” Music Video

You can pre-order the blu-ray edition for $18.49 on Amazon.com.

The highly skilled Federale Machete is hired by some unsavory types to assassinate a senator. But just as he’s about to take the shot, he notices someone aiming at him and realizes he’s been set up. He barely survives the sniper’s bullet, and is soon out for revenge on his former employers, with the reluctant assistance of his old friend Cheech Marin, who has become a priest and taken a vow of nonviolence. If you hire him to take out the bad guys, make sure the bad guys aren’t you!

The film will be released September 3, 2010! You don’t want to miss seeing all the big names in this grindhouse flick, you’ve got  Danny Trejo, Jessica Alba, Robert De Niro, Steven Seagal, Michelle Rodriguez and even… Lindsay Lohan. Yea, that’s right – Lindsay-fucking-Lohan. Oh boy.

Here’s a look at some of the kickass Machete posters:

A few of films spent a short amount of time on the list because their prosecutions failed shortly after publication or because it was decided that prosecution was not worth pursuing. Eventually, the list became obsolete when the Video Recordings Act came into play. Since 2001, several of the list’s films have been released uncut. In the majority of cases where cuts were made, it was because they featured scenes of real-life animal cruelty and/or excessive violence to women, both of which are still regarded with some degree of severity by the BBFC.

The DPP list:

1. Absurd (original/alternate titles: Rosso Sangue, Anthropophagus 2 — released with 2m 32s cut in 1983, though it was withdrawn post VRA, and has never been re-submitted for classification)(Does have a release in the United States uncut under the title Horrible)
2. The Anthropophagous Beast (original title: Antropophagus — released with approximately 3m of pre-cuts as “The Grim Reaper” in 2002)
3. Axe! (original title: Lisa, Lisa — re-released uncut in 2005)
4. The Beast in Heat (original title: La bestia in Calore) (Banned outright)
5. The Beyond (original title: E tu vivrai nel terrore – L’Aldilà — re-released uncut in 2001)
6. Blood Feast (re-released uncut in 2005)
7. Blood rites (original title: The Ghastly Ones) (Banned outright)
8. Bloody Moon (original title: Die Säge des Todes — released with 1m 20s cut in 1993, released uncut November 2008)
9. The Boogeyman (re-released uncut in 2000)
10. The Burning (re-released uncut in 2001)
11. Cannibal Apocalypse (original title: Apocalypse Domani — released with 2s cut in 2005)
12. Cannibal Ferox (alternate title: Make them Die Slowly. released with approximately 5m of pre-cuts plus 6s of additional cuts in 2000)
13. Cannibal Holocaust (released in 2001 with 5m 44s cut to remove most animal cruelty and rape scenes)
14. Cannibal Man (original title: La Semana del Asesino — released with 3s cut in 1993)
15. Cannibal Terror (original title: Terror Caníbal — released uncut in 2003)
16. Contamination (released uncut in 2004 with a 15 rating)
17. Dead & Buried (re-released uncut in 2004)
18. Death Trap (original title: Eaten Alive — re-released uncut in 2000)
19. Deep River Savages (original/alternate title: Il paese del sesso selvaggio, Man from Deep River. — released with 3m 45s cut in 2003)
20. Delirium (released with 16s cut in 1987) (was also called psycho puppet)
21. Devil Hunter (original title: Il cacciatore di uomini) (Passed uncut November 2008)
22. Don’t Go in the House (released with 3m 7s cut in 1987)
23. Don’t Go in the Woods (released uncut in 2007)
24. Don’t Go Near the Park (released uncut in 2006)
25. Don’t Look in the Basement (original title: The Forgotten — released uncut in 2005 with a 15 rating)
26. The Dorm That Dripped Blood (re-released with 10s cut in 2001) (Alternate title: Pranks)
27. The Driller Killer (released with cuts in 1999 – re-released uncut in 2002)
28. The Evil Dead (re-released uncut in 2001)
29. Evilspeak (re-released uncut in 1999)
30. Exposé (re-released with approximately 30s cut in 2006)
31. Faces of Death (released with 2m 19s cut in 2003)
32. Fight For Your Life (Banned outright)
33. Flesh for Frankenstein (re-released uncut in 2006) (Alternate title: Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein)
34. Forest of Fear (original title: Bloodeaters, also released as Toxic Zombies) (Banned outright)
35. Frozen Scream (Banned outright)
36. The Funhouse (Released uncut in 1987. Re-classified 15 in 2007.)
37. Gestapo’s Last Orgy (original title: L’ultima orgia del III Reich) (Banned outright)
38. The House by the Cemetery (original title: Quella villa accanto al cimitero — re-released with 33s cut in 2001, Released uncut in 2009)
39. House on the Edge of the Park (original title: La casa sperduta nel parco — released with 11m 43s cut in 2002)
40. Human Experiments (released with 26s cut in 1994)
41. I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses (released with 1m 6s cut in 1986)
42. I Spit on Your Grave (original title: Day of the Woman — released with 7m 2s cut in 2001)
43. Inferno (re-released with 20s cut in 1993)
44. Island of Death (original title: Ta Pedhia tou dhiavolou — released with 4m 9s cut in 2002)
45. Killer Nun (original title: Suor Omicidi — re-released uncut in 2006)
46. The Last House on the Left (passed uncut on the 17th March, 2008)
47. Late Night Trains (original title: L’ultimo treno della notte — released uncut in 2008)
48. Living Dead At Manchester Morgue (original title: Non si deve profanare il sonno dei morti — re-released uncut in 2002)
49. Love Camp 7 (refused a certificate in 2002) (Banned outright)
50. There Was a Little Girl (1981 film) (UK title: Madhouse – released uncut in 2004)
51. Mardi Gras Massacre (Banned outright)
52. Night of the Bloody Apes (original title: La Horripilante bestia humana — released with approximately 1m of pre-cuts in 1999)
53. Night of the Demon (released with 1m 41s cut in 1994)
54. Nightmare Maker(Also known as ‘Butcher/Baker/Nightmare Maker’ and ‘Night Warning’on the credits of some versions) (Banned outright)
55. Nightmare in a Damaged Brain (re-released with pre-cuts in 2005)(Alternate title: Nightmare)
56. Possession (released uncut in 1999)
57. Prisoner of the Cannibal God (original title: La montagna del dio cannibale — released with 2m 6s cut in 2001)
58. Revenge of the Bogey Man (original title: Boogeyman II — released with additional footage in 2003)
59. The Slayer (re-released uncut in 2001)
60. Snuff (Passed Uncut in 2003, however it has not been re-released)
61. SS Experiment Camp (original title: Lager SSadis Kastrat Kommandantur — released uncut in 2005)
62. Tenebrae (original title: Tenebre — re-released uncut in 2003)
63. Terror Eyes (original title: Night School — released with 1m 16s cut in 1987)[11]
64. The Toolbox Murders (released with 1m 46s cut in 2000)
65. Twitch of the Death Nerve (original title: Reazione a catena — released with 43s cut in 1994) (2 alternate titles: Bay Of Blood, Carnage)
66. Unhinged (released uncut in 2004)
67. Visiting Hours (released with approximately 2m cut in 1986)
68. The Werewolf and the Yeti (original title: La Maldición de la bestia) (Banned outright)
69. The Witch Who Came From the Sea (released uncut in 2006)
70. Women Behind Bars (original French title: Des diamants pour l’enfer) (Banned outright)
71. Zombie Creeping Flesh (original title: Virus — released uncut in 2002)
72. Zombie Flesh Eaters (original title: Zombi 2 — re-released uncut in 2005) (alternate title: Zombie)

Penny Dreadful XIII is a beloved horror host based in New England. She is portrayed by actress and comedian Danielle Gelehrter.

Gelehrter created the persona of Penny Dreadful the witch to bring back horror hosts on Boston-area television. The show, Penny Dreadful’s Shilling Shockers, premiered on local cable in January 2006. The show first aired on cable access television in Providence, Rhode Island, Boston, Massachusetts, New Bedford, Massachusetts and Salem, Massachusetts. It eventually extended to over 150 cities and towns in New England.

Penny Dreadful is described on the program’s website as “an intermingling of light and dark elements. She can be very silly and sinister by turns, with a withering wit and a dramatic gaze.” Penny is known for using the exclamation, “hex-cellent!” and likes to call her viewers “Dreary Ones.”

But the show doesn’t just feature her – there’s also Garou the werewolf henchman and husband of Penny Dreadful (played by Magoo Gelehrter). Then there’s Dr. Manfred Von Bulow is a semi-retired German vampire hunter (played by Ivan Bernier). Finally we have Luna, the crazy but highly intelligent, woman released from the abandoned Danvers State Hospital (played by Rebecca Paiva).

The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards presented Penny Dreadful with the award for “Favorite Horror Host” of 2007. She was the very fist horror host to receive the award in this category.

In the early 1970s, the midnight screening of unusual movies began in a few cities, particularly New York City, and eventually spread across the country. The screening of low-budget, non-mainstream films at midnight was aimed at building a cult film audience, encouraging repeat viewing and social interaction in what was originally a countercultural setting.

With the huge success of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the changing economics of the film industry, the midnight movie phenomenon was forever changed and the midnight movie then became a more of a campy experience.

The term midnight movie is now most often used in two different ways: as a synonym for B-movie, due to the low quality of late-night movies both theatrically and on TV, and as a synonym for cult films.

But even today you can still find midnight movie experiences, some film festivals have a “Midnight Madness” program reserved for cult films. You won’t be able to find these at most mainstream movie theaters though, however, some do occasionally have a Rocky Horror night.

Horror hosts are a distinct type of television presenter whose job was to present low-grade films to television audiences. Vampira is widely accepted as the first Horror Host. The Vampira Show featured mostly B quality suspense films, since few horror films had yet been released for TV. In spite of its short 1954-1955 run, The Vampira Show set the standard format for other horror host shows to follow.

Then in October 1957, Screen Gems released a bunch of old Universal horror movies to syndicated television, naming the collection “Shock!”. They used horror hosts for the broadcasts and viewers loved the package, which made the ratings soar. Thanks to this a “Son of Shock!” package was released in 1958.

The hosts came from where you’d least expect it – they were usually plucked from the ranks of the studio staff. In the days of live television, it was not uncommon for the weather man to finish his weather report and race madly to another part of the soundstage for a quick costume change to present the evening’s monster tale.

While some of the early hosts like Vampira and Zacherley became the stars of this nationwide movement, most horror hosts were locals. The impact these hosts had on their young fans cannot be underrated. Earlier hosts are still remembered with great affection even today.

Good news Grindhouse fans! Vivendi is finally releasing Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse to Blu-ray on October 5. Previously it was only available in two separate releases – Planet Terror and Death Proof. The old versions don’t have much to offer, they don’t even include the faux trailers (except for Machete), but this new release not only includes all the trailers but features a wealth of extras not included on the prior releases.

Here’s a look at the Blu-ray exclusive extras:

• Robert Rodriguez’s 10-Minute Cooking School
• The Makeup Effects of Planet Terror
• The Hot Rods of Death Proof
• From Texas to Tennessee: The Production Design of Death Proof
• Trailers
• Extended Werewolf Women of The SS Trailer
• View Extended Cut Of Werewolf Women of the SS Trailer with Commentary by Director Rob Zombie
• The Making Of Werewolf Women of the SS Trailer
• Extended Don’t Trailer
• View Extended Cut Of Don’t Trailer with Commentary by Director Edgar Wright
• The Making of Don’t Trailer
• Don’t Storyboard/Trailer Comparison
• View Don’t Storyboard/Trailer Comparison with Commentary by Director Edgar Wright
• Don’t Storyboards Still Gallery
• Don’t Poster
• The Making of Thanksgiving Trailer
• New York Times Talk with Quention Tarantino and Lynn Hirschberg at Comic Con 2006 Featuring the Directors and Cast of Grindhouse
• Grindhouse Trailer Contest Winner Hobo With A Shotgun

In August of 2009 it was discovered that the Act couldn’t be enforced, as the European Commission had not been notified about it, as required by Directive 83/189. Technically the Act had been invalid since 31 March 1984, and any prosecutions still pending in August 2009 were abandoned.