Last night, the hotly anticipated The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs premiered live on Shudder. As the one time only return of a horror legend, many expected the event to be a big one. But no one could have predicted the monstrous turn out Shudder received, and I couldn't be more thrilled... ...With his show Monstervision on TNT in the nineties, Joe Bob Briggs accumulated one hell of a following. Fans would tune in every weekend to relish in his hosting of classic B-movie horror films, presenting us with hilarious one liners, fascinating behind the scenes info, and fun "drive-in totals" such as how many gallons of blood are spilled in the film, how many boobs make an appearance, and the number of exploding heads. You know, the shit that matters. Last night, horror fans proved that there is still an ENORMOUS craving for horror hosts like Joe Bob. So many people tuned in that Shudder's servers actually crashed! Unfortunately, they continued to crash throughout the night for some filmgoers. While that sucks for Shudder and their normally pristine reputation, I was ecstatic to know that so many horror fans were making their voices heard, just as I had hoped they would. Not only did Shudder struggle at first to keep up with the high demand, but The Last Drive-In trended at #1 on Twitter throughout the night, along with whatever film Joe Bob was showing. Wow! Can you believe that? Sure you can, because you're a horror fan, and you know how awesome this fandom truly is. Checking in with the twitter feed for The Last Drive-In only helped to make it the greatest experience I've ever had with social media. Thousands of fans spent the night tweeting and commenting on the films or Joe Bob's color commentary, which was at peak form. Special shout out to Diana Prince as well, Joe Bob's drive-in girl for the night, who also did a spectacular job. It was like having the largest, all night sleep-over you could ever imagine, packed with horror movies, beer, and pizza, and enough blood and "nekid" bodies to make your eyeballs burst. What's more, the fans were actually GOOD to each other. Forget the negativity and mindless, vomit spewing, air-headed, dick-brained, desperate cry for attention bashing of other's viewpoints that generally populates social media. There was no judging of who liked what. It was just fans being fans enjoying a night at the movies and sharing their love of a genre that, in my opinion, is stronger than ever. The Last Drive-In and Joe Bob Briggs have proved that. Speaking of Joe Bob, the man was at the top of his game throughout the grueling yet exhilarating 24hrs. As the beers piled up and the movies got weirder, so did Joe Bob's commentary, and I mean that in the best way possible. Whether it was a political rant on taking a knee or his ridiculous synopsis of Hellraiser, I haven't laughed or learned that much while watching a horror film in awhile. Joe Bob and The Last Drive-In made me feel like a kid again, staying up late, head peeking out from under the covers, mesmerized, wide-eyes lit by the glow of the TV. Only this time, it was UNCENSORED! God, what a night. While I couldn't quite make it through the entire thing, I managed to make it through most, which is a tribute to Joe Bob, because this aging body sure as shit is not the same as it was when I was fifteen and jacked up off of enough sugar to kill the Powerpuff Girls. If this is the last we see of Joe Bob, then it was an honor to get to the spend with him the most fun all nighter I've had in a long, long time. Cheers to Shudder and Joe Bob, and thank you for helping to shape this horror fan's obsessive love of the genre by showing us all that not only is it okay to like these kinds of movies, but that they deserve to be cherished. For those of you that weren't able to catch The Last Drive-In, fear not. Shudder has already announced that they will not only rerun the marathon in its entirety sometime next week, but will also make all of the films included in the marathon available with Joe Bob's commentary! In fact, you can already watch Tourist Trap to get a taste of what Joe Bob has to offer. And for fans that had issues with Shudder last night, please don't give up on them. They are a wonderful service that cares about horror fans and only wants to deliver the best experience possible. I have no doubt in my mind that, whether it's with Joe Bob Briggs or not, Shudder will do something like this again. Count me in as someone who will be there waiting in my Evil Dead pjs, ready to relive my childhood all over again. Here's the full list of films shown during the marathon that you can catch next week: Tourist Trap Sleepaway Camp Rabid The Prowler Sorority Babes at the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama Daughters of Darkness Blood Feast Basket Case Re-animator Demons The Legend of Boggy Creek Hellraiser Pieces By Matt Konopka
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