Horror movie streaming platform Shudder is gearing up tonight for an honored tradition among horror enthusiasts. Sacred as the ritual may be to many, it’s not one which has been practiced officially in nearly 20 years.
As Bloody-Disgusting recently reported, Joe Bob Briggs finally returns to host a horror movie marathon on a Shudder livestream tonight, most appropriately on Friday, July 13. The special is being called The Last Drive-In and will feature 13 classic horror films including Tourist Trap, Sleepaway Camp, and Basket Case along with ten others. Also many surprise guests are being hinted at for the highly-anticipated horror special.
TNT’s MonsterVision was cancelled back in the year 2000, much to the dismay of horror fans across America.
Premiering in 1991, MonsterVision was a block of television which included classic horror films being shown, often intercut between commercial breaks with commentary. The show had many different formats and more than one host.
Magicians Penn & Teller were hosts of MonsterVision at one point, the show also ran without a host at all during certain stretches.
In 1996, Joe Bob Briggs took over MonsterVision , bringing a new kind of personality to the show. Originally, he’d hosted Joe Bob’s Drive-In Theater on The Movie Channel. It carried a similar format but contained considerably less commentary from Briggs.
After parting ways with TMC, Joe Bob Briggs found a wider audience with TNT. Every week, Briggs would bring a horror movie double feature into living rooms across America at 11 p.m., though occasionally weeks were skipped. The format did deviate from time-to-time, sometimes trading horror for exploitation, dark comedy, creature-features, science-fiction, and what Briggs called “drive-in movies,” an unofficial genre but hallmark of the Joe Bob Briggs history.
As some fans expressed confusion with how to watch the special, Briggs was happy to oblige them with instructions via Twitter.
For everyone asking “What do I have to do to make sure I can stream the marathon this weekend?” . . . here’s a handy-dandy little guide to that obstacle course. @shudder pic.twitter.com/4qYRU4c2LM
— Joe Bob Briggs (@therealjoebob) July 10, 2018
Most notably, horror fans were occasionally treated to five or six movies back-to-back every Friday The 13th in marathons celebrating the horror icon Jason Voorhees. Joe Bob Briggs would show the original, followed by numerous consecutive sequels to Friday The 13th. One constant among such marathons was the glaring absence of the fourth Friday The 13th film, Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter. Joe Bob Briggs, never one to mince words would often give the network grief for excluding the film, which many horror fans — including Joe Bob — consider being an integral entry to the series.
Every episode would feature a “star rating” for each movie featured, generally between one and four stars. MonsterVision also most famously featured Joe Bob Briggs’ signature “Drive-in Totals,” which would list statistics like the number of dead bodies in the film, how many gallons of fake blood were used, and many other measures of successful horror films.
Tonight’s Shudder marathon, The Last Drive-In is set to not only break the 18-year hiatus but also is the advertised final time Briggs will host such horror movie marathons.
The Last Drive-In premieres at 9:00 p.m. EST and is exclusive to the horror streaming platform Shudder.
