What happened to the drive-in?

Does anyone even remember the drive-in any more?

I certainly do. It had a huge effect on my love of movies, from the ambiance of crowds of people, the hot night air, those crazy-looking speaker things that hooked on your car windows, the prospect of seeing the couple on either side of you making out.

For years it was the old stand-by summer entertainment. Load up the car, some blankets, lawn chairs, and some snacks, and head out to the local outdoor theater. It reached its peak in the 1950s, when crowds hoarded at 5,000 drive-ins nationwide (according to driveitheaters.com). It was a cultural mainstay, a place where families went to see a double feature, where teens went to hang out with their friends and dates, and everyone, young and old, could watch a movie under the stars, in the open night air. It was part of the movie mystique, and a piece of that good old-fashioned Americana.

In the '60s and '70s interest in drive-ins waned, but they were still relatively prevalent in the 1980s when I was growing up. My family visited the drive-in fairly often, and some of my more vivid movie memories took place there: my initial viewing of "A Nightmare on Elm St," and countless b-movies like "Hellhole," and "Tales from the Crypt" (horror films are especially fun to watch at the drive-in, with their spacious outoor setting a hundreds of anonymous faces floating about).

There was nothing like sitting in your car, or, on nice night, outside, eating drive-in concessions (my personal favorite: the cup of fries, with ketchup slathered inside, followed by a frozen chocolate malt--the kind with the wooden spoon, thrilling to what was going on on the big screen, turning to see the film exploding from the projector booth and lighting the screen, bringing the screen to life, like paint does to a canvas.

But by the '90s it seems like drive-ins changed from a fading fad to being all but non-existent. The emergence of multiplexes and their stadium seating and premium sound sytems changed the landscape of American cinema, and drive-ins closed by the hundreds.

There are still drive-ins around, and some of them are flourishing. According to chacha.com (http://www.chacha.com/question/are-there-any-drive-in-movie-theaters-in-indiana), Indiana is one of the top 10 states in the union, with 23 operating drive-ins.

In Indianapolis the Tibbs Drive-in features four screens, each playing double features, making it a veritable outdoor multiplex. There's also the Skyvue drive-in in New Castle (about a 40-minute drive from Indy), and the Shelbyville-based Skyline Drive-in. The most interesting drive-in I've encountered in the area is in Franklin, where the Canary Creek theater added an outdoor screen beside their theater, meaning you can enjoy the usual theater concessions and amenities.

Today's drive-ins feature most of those amenties those of us older than 30 remember, like concessions, playgrounds, and the like. Some have additional features, including parking ramps (the drive-in's version of stadium seating, helping to assure that cars in front of you won't obstruct your view), and maybe the most important advent, FM stereo sound that pipes the film's soundtrack into your car through your car stereo.

The ambiance at an outdoor theater is unmatched, and while the screen and sound quality isn't quite what today's IMAX theaters can produce, significant advances have been made, and it's still an enjoyable experience, and still more bang for your movie buck than going to the multiplex.

If you have never been to a drive-in before, do yourself a favor: load up your car with chairs, blankets, citronella candles, sneak in a few snacks (but for God's sake don't forsake the snack bar; you won't know the joys you're missing), and grab a couple of friends and track down the nearest drive-in.