Original subtitles

[Static crackles]

♪♪

♪ Hey, everybody, have you heard the news? ♪

♪ Joe Bob is back in town ♪

♪ He's over at the drive-in, hanging around ♪

♪ Watching crazy movies, so come on down ♪

♪ To Joe Bob's "Last Drive-In" show ♪

♪ Blood, beasties, boobies, and more ♪

♪ Joe Bob's "Last Drive-In" show ♪

♪ It's a spooky good time with monsters and ghosts ♪

♪ Crazy, kooky fun with the world's greatest host ♪

♪ Joe Bob's "Last Drive-In" show ♪

♪ It's gonna be legendary ♪

♪ Joe Bob's "Last Drive-In" show ♪

♪ It's gonna be very scary ♪

♪ Joe Bob's "Last Drive-In" show ♪

♪ Let's go ♪

♪♪

♪♪

-Okay. I'm Joe Bob Briggs,

and this is our annual interruption

of Valentine's Day weekend,

and I want to just lay it out right here at the beginning.

We are going to the dark side.

We won't have any flowers and chocolates on this show.

This is going to be all about heartache

and the nasty things that happen on February the 14th.

And let me tell you why.

Let's start with the statistics.

Starting tonight and for the next four days,

Americans will spend $13.29 billion

on Valentine's Day celebrations.

They will exchange 180 million greeting cards.

Of those, 85% are bought by women.

They will purchase 196 million roses

that are produced just for this weekend.

73% of those are bought by men.

So the percentage of women

who say they will end a relationship

if they don't receive a gift on Valentine's Day -- 53%.

34.6% of the population

will go to some sort of Valentine's dinner.

Average cost to the consumer for that -- $116.21.

That is per person nationwide. Okay.

Now, let's look at the other side of it.

14% of American women order flowers for themselves

on Valentine's Day.

Suicide lines get a surge on Valentine's Day,

but that's because we're doing it wrong.

We have created this massive stuffed teddy bear guilt day

that attacks people who are thinking,

"Well, maybe I don't matter to that other person."

And then we're creating all kinds of ways

to remind them that they don't matter.

You know, it's like going to your high school prom alone,

but then getting laughed at by the doorman after that.

You know, you didn't get the flowers,

you didn't get the teddy bear.

You didn't go to the right restaurant.

You know, so if you didn't get a gift,

you must not be worth anything.

Is there any mystery as to why we get depressive mood swings

around Valentine's Day?

Am I right, Darcy?

-I think everyone should get a Valentine.

-I know you do that.

You send out a bunch of Valentines

every year with your blood on them, right?

You know, what was that about?

-It is fake blood.

It's a tribute to "My Bloody Valentine."

-Okay, well, we are going to get bloody tonight for both movies,

but we're also going to have some experts in bloody horror

to take that trip with us

because our special guests are the Boulet brothers.

-Yay! -[Cheering]

Now, I got to ask you, you are sort of a cosplay icon.

You are. You do these elaborate cosplays every week.

But these ladies that are guests tonight,

they're not just experts on wardrobe

and makeup and special effects and costuming.

They're sort of theatrical wizards who can create all sorts

of living, breathing fantasy worlds.

And they always have some kind of horror element

in their shows.

That's why we love them.

-They're amazing.

-And would you say they're special effects skills

are right up there with Savini and Bottin and Nicotero

and Dick Smith and Rick Baker and those guys?

-Very definitely, yeah.

-Who's the guy who invented all the gross skin stuff?

Joe Blasco.

They go beyond Joe Blasco in what they do,

plus they bring glamour to the party, so.

And by the way, Yuki, where is Yuki?

-I'm here.

-Yuki, this whole set is tacky and gloomy.

What are we doing here?

You think the Boulet brothers are going to, you know,

walk into this dump and just plop down in lawn chairs?

We can't do this. We need an entrance.

This is about glamour. It's about style.

-All right. I can't do it.

Okay, think Academy Awards, right? Oscar night.

-I got it. -Okay.

[Laughter]

-I really think what we should do in honor of the Boulets

is go back to the original holiday

before the Catholics took it over.

You know, the Feast of Lupercalia in Rome.

You know, it was bloody and violent.

It was this orgy to ward off evil spirits

and make women fertile.

-I am there

-But the part of it you would not like is animal sacrifice.

-No, I hate that one. -All right.

Well, they would always start off Lupercalia

by going to the cave den of the she wolf,

which was called Lupercal, and they would sacrifice a goat

because a goat is always the symbol of sex.

And then they would take the blood from the goat,

and they would smear it all over the heads of two Lupercalian

priests who were completely buck ass naked.

-Well, I like that part.

-And yeah, as a matter of fact,

many exposed buttocks in the feast of Lupercalia

and penii.

Because listen to this next part.

-Penii?

-Plural of penis because they spoke Latin.

You know, so then they would they would say prayers

to the God Lupercis, who was the God of fertility,

because a whole lot of sex is going to happen

during this festival.

Then they would remove the blood with milk soaked wool.

I guess they got the wool from the sacrificed goat,

and then they would have a big feast,

and then they would take the hide of the goat,

and they would cut these long thongs out of the hide

and hand them out to all the men.

And all the men would run buck naked through the streets

near the Palatine Hill, which was right smack

in the middle of Rome, where the emperor lived,

and the men would chase the women down

and whip them with the thongs.

-This is very kinky.

-Yeah, I know, that's how you would show

which woman you liked.

You know, so you had these sex maniacs

in the streets of Rome doing BDSM

-He'd whip her with a thong?

-Yeah. Yuki! -Alright.

-Yes?

-All right, we're going to need a goat theme,

a goat hide thong whipping theme,

and we all need to be naked in the next segment.

-Okay, I got it.

-I don't think we can be naked on Shudder.

And Yuki is from Japan.

I don't think flogging people in the streets is something

that they know over there, while they're naked, especially.

-We do that in Japan. -See?

-All right. -Naked goat thongs.

It's universal.

We're going to we're going back to the origins

of Valentine's Day, but here's the best part.

-Oh, I can't wait.

-All the women who have been goat flogged put their names

in an urn, and the men draw the names out of the urn,

and whoever gets matched up that way, they have sex together

for the rest of the festival.

-Nothing could ever go wrong with that system.

-I know. Yeah, it's like a blind date swingers club.

So, see, all the great traditions of Lupercalia

were twisted when Pope Gelasius outlawed that holiday

in the year for 408

and replaced it with St. Valentine's Day.

Saint Valentine was this priest who was famous for marrying

young couples who were in love,

and that was defying an edict of the emperor

for him to do that.

And so his head was cut off,

and he was thrown in the River Tiber.

That's why he was a saint. He lost his head for love.

-Is anybody actually checking your history

before you say these things?

-Yes, it's all verifiable.

So anyway, Valentine's Day didn't start becoming popular

until the 17th century in Great Britain,

and it became customary to write love letters on February 14th.

That's why we have all those cards now that you send out,

because people ran out of stuff to say.

It was just easier.

It was actually easier when it was just a lottery system.

You know, men like that, when it was like that.

Okay, our movie tonight is "Black Roses."

One of those "rock and roll is turning the youth of America

into demons" movies.

There are a lot of those, actually.

That's a genuine sub genre.

And the reason we're showing it is that the Boulet brothers

like it and I like it.

And so we thought it'd be a good one thematically to talk about.

Plus great leather costumes on the demonic band.

"Black Roses" came out in 1988 at the height of the power

of the PMRC, the Parents Music Resource Center,

which was the organization founded by Tipper Gore

and three other Washington, D.C. wives of

powerful men in an effort to censor music

to protect the children.

You know, you've heard me talk about this before.

All censorship campaigns claim to be "protecting children."

Have you heard of the Filthy 15, Darcy?

-No, I don't think so. -Okay. You're too young.

It was our version of the video nasties,

like they had over in Great Britain.

They listed 15 songs

that they considered too raunchy for children.

They were especially disapproving of Prince songs,

and their campaign resulted in these little warning labels.

They still turn up from time to time on physical media.

You know those warning labels on CDs.

So anyway, the most famous demon rock movie is

"Trick or Treat", of course, which has Ozzy Osbourne in it.

And the interesting thing about all these demonic rock movies

is that they basically accept what Tipper Gore was saying,

that rock and roll is demonic,

it does result in chaos and death.

The metal bands were especially happy to hear that message.

Judas Priest's sales skyrocketed

because their song "Eat Me Alive"

was made part of the Filthy 15.

Plus AC/DC. Their song was on the list.

"Let Me Put My Love Into You", that song.

So the little censorship sticker

became a badge of honor in the metal world.

So anyway, "Black Roses" is about what happens

when a heavy metal band comes to a little town in the Midwest

to try out its new show.

But after two concerts, all the teenagers

start hitting their parents over the head with ashtrays

and pushing the principal out third story windows

and turning into bulldog faced alligator skin monsters

with three stooges wigs and really bad dental problems.

So finally, the high school English teacher gets

a little bit suspicious because of all the mini skirted students

trying to have devil sex all over town.

And so he goes and he has a talk with the lead singer,

whose name is...Damian!

And of course, we all saw "The Omen",

and so we know what Damian means it.

You know, it's little things like that that give it away,

you know?

Things like everybody's head turning into a skull during

the concerts and everything.

But we're talking some serious carnage in this movie.

Not as good as "Trick or Treat."

You know, the other great Tipper Gore nightmare movie,

but quite decent.

Okay, let's look at those Drive-In totals

and get started here.

We have eight dead bodies, six breasts,

heavy metal stampede,

flaming Batman toys, cockroach lizard monster

that eats evil fathers through the stereo speakers,

electric werewolf skeleton, slime fetus with teeth,

bar stool through the heart, gratuitous Lamborghinis,

gratuitous Walt Whitman, principal fu, ashtray fu,

tennis racket fu.

Driving Academy Award nominations for

Karen Planden, as the nice girl that gets devil music

in her head and wants to have sex with her teachers,

even though she uses stunt breasts, for saying,

"I've brought you a present -- myself."

Julie Adams of "Creature From the Black Lagoon"

fame as the anti rock and roll crusader who says,

"Disciples of the devil are invading our town."

And she's right.

Carmine Appice, drummer for Jimi Hendrix,

Rod Stewart, and Ozzy Osbourne,

who wrote some nice satanic tunes for the flick.

Carla Ferrigno, married Big Lou Ferrigno,

but in this movie, she's the dippy yupster love interest

who thinks high school is full of quote "inbred morons."

John Martin is the English teacher

for trying to warn the town about quote "bad kids,

bad music, bad news."

And Sal Viviano, who's usually the "Star Spangled Banner"

singer for the New York Mets, but in this movie, is the devil.

Three stars. Joe Bob says check it out.

All right. You excited about the Boulets?

-Mm-hmm. -The Boulets are in the house!

-Yeah! -You know, I wonder

if the Boulets have ever done a Lupercalia party,

because the Boulets are known for their hedonistic parties.

They started out as event organizers,

you know, so you know the most amusing thing

about when the pope canceled Lupercalia,

they'd done Lupercalia for a thousand years,

and the pope says,

"It's not Christian to use lotteries."

[Laughter]

He didn't care about the orgy.

He didn't care about the orgiastic flogging

or the random sex partners.

It was that you were choosing them by lottery.

You know, that was pagan.

You know, he was horrified that people were choosing

sex partners out of an urn.

That made him mad.

So from then on, Christians were expected

to choose their own random sex partners.

So, you know, a practice that continues to this day

because we are, of course, a Christian nation.

We require photos on Tinder.

[Laughter]

♪♪

[Static crackles]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Crowd cheering]

♪ It's just me ♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Cheering]

♪♪

♪♪

♪ Leave me alone ♪

♪ I'm on the defense ♪

♪ I'm not made of stone ♪

♪ Why doesn't it ever make sense? ♪

♪ I'm sick of all this indecision ♪

♪ You're messing with my mind ♪

♪ This ain't no false facade ♪

♪ And this ain't no freak disguise ♪

♪ 'Cause I am for real ♪

♪ You don't know what I feel ♪

♪ My strength is in my will ♪

♪ I cannot wait ♪

♪ I won't be second rate ♪

♪ In for the kill ♪

♪ It's me against the world ♪

-♪ Me against the world ♪

-♪ It's me against the world ♪

-♪ Me against the world ♪

-♪ It's me against the world ♪

♪ Me against the world ♪

-♪ It's me against the world ♪

-♪ Me against the world ♪

-♪ Inside looking outside ♪

♪ Through a goldfish bowl ♪

-You! You there.

I've got a court order to shut you down.

We're going to close this show.

Are you insane, man?

Get him out of here.

-No. No!

No, no, no, no.

Let go! No!

-♪ 'Cause I am for real ♪

♪ You don't know what I feel ♪

♪ My strength is in my will ♪

[Screaming]

♪♪

♪♪

[Engine revving]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Engine revving]

-Janey, I want you to eat your breakfast.

I don't want you to just to stir it around.

You can't go to school on an empty stomach.

Good morning, Toona.

-Hi, Toona.

You're looking good.

What is that?

-It's my record cover. -Black Roses?

-It's just a record cover. -Oh, God.

-Oh, you're just like your father.

Tony, get up.

You're going to be late for school, you lazy bum.

-And I suppose my mother works at

the Beverly Hills Polo club?

-Your mother loves waitressing.

She's been doing it ever since you've been around.

-I'm well aware.

-Julie, look, Julie.

Now, what's that supposed to mean, huh?

That I don't take good care of your mom?

You know, I haven't heard any complaints from her lately.

-"Evil.

Evil propels me.

And the reform of evil propels me.

I stand indifferent."

Well, it's hard to believe these words were written

by the same Walt Whitman that talks about

the beauty and perfection in a single blade of grass.

What did Whitman mean when he said evil propels him?

Forum.

So, Whitman and evil.

Johnny?

-Evil?

-Yeah, Johnny, Evel Knievel.

[Laughter]

We're talking about Whitman and evil.

Now Whitman says, that "evil propels me."

Is he advocating evil, is that what he's doing?

-Oh, yeah, he's doing it alright.

I understand exactly what he's doing.

-Well, what exactly is it that you understand, Johnny?

-It's easy.

It's happening here in this town with the Black Roses concerts.

Yeah.

Like here we got this whole town filled with people

who claim to be good, right?

Who go to church every Sunday, good God fearing people.

Good, good, good. All this talk about good,

and so now here comes the biggest thing to hit

Mill Basin ever, and they try to stop it?

You call that good?

You see, they figure there must be something evil

about the band if we all like it.

-Yeah. -Yeah.

-That's what I think Whitman was talking about.

They like evil, and they like getting rid of evil.

They're, uh...

-Hypocrites. -Hypocrites, right.

Only what they think is evil, is evil.

You know, they call the shots 'cause they're the adults.

-Yeah. -Yeah.

-I think Whitman was talking about Mill Basin.

[Laughter]

Yeah, he was a cool guy.

[Applause]

-Well, that's a very interesting monologue, Johnny.

But I think you may have missed the point of the poem, perhaps.

I think all Whitman was trying to say,

though maybe in a back asswards kind of way,

is that one should remain open minded.

I don't think your parents want to stop the concert

just to annoy you.

It's just that they're afraid of change.

There's never been a rock concert in this town.

They probably don't know what to do with one.

-Well, we know what to do with one.

Enjoy yourselves.

Have a good time for once.

They don't understand what a great honor this is.

They didn't have to pick Mill Basin

for their first concert.

They could have started their tour anywhere in the country.

And this is the reception they get.

-Well, it's your mom trying to stop the concert.

-No committee is going to stop concerts

from being played in Mill Basin.

-Okay, now let's try to remember what Whitman said, huh?

Let's keep an open mind.

Maybe the parents committee is right.

-No, come on. -Okay, maybe not. Maybe not.

[Bell rings]

-Okay, pages 40 to 52 in your anthologies tomorrow.

-[Groaning] -Aw, that's right,

12 whole pages, it's tough out there.

Oh, Julie, aren't you going to class?

-Give it up.

-What do you mean?

-Oh, come on.

-So I like Julie, so what's the big deal?

-No big deal.

But I'd say she's taken.

-Your own papers, now can I?

-I can't believe all the fuss in the paper.

Have you heard anything about these

Black Roses concerts, son now?

A lot of the parents are raising a big stink about it.

It's all they talked about down at the shop today.

Janey's dad came in for a haircut,

he was telling me all about it.

-Sure, pop, I just bought myself tickets to the first two shows.

-Are you sure you should go?

Everybody seems to feel it's a bad idea.

-Janey's dad bought her a ticket.

-Oh, he did, did he?

Well, I guess it's alright then.

-Right.

-We're a good people here in Mill Basin.

We are a church going people, and we are a law abiding people.

Our police don't have to carry guns

like they do in the big cities.

And our children grow up to be fine young citizens

we can be proud of.

Because we have had no corrupting influences

here to speak of.

Until now.

And now we find that disciples of the devil

are invading our town,

and threatening to steel our children away from us.

Yes, yes.

Their image.

Their image alone has become a symbol of evil to our young.

Their satanic music and subversive lyrics

threaten to undermine the very fabric of our society.

Would you care to hear some of their propaganda?

-Yes! -Yes!

-You just listen to this, and you tell me

if this isn't the work of the devil himself.

"Tear down the walls of hell, make room for lust to dwell,

carry in your hands a sword,

tear away the image of the Lord."

[Grumbling]

What just a minute, wait a minute, that's not all.

That is not all!

"Pull down society, only then can we be free,

in the world alone to roam, destroy your happy home."

[Shouting]

Now if that doesn't say it as clearly as anything else...

-Now calm down. Folks, just -- excuse me, Ellen.

Folks, just a minute.

Now we're talking about music here.

Not revolution.

Now this group, this Black Roses.

I'll be the first to admit, some of their stuff

is a little antisocial.

But that's the very nature of rock and roll, isn't it?

Trying to shake us up a little bit?

It's the very nature of poetry, too, isn't it, Mr. Moorehouse?

-[Chuckles]

Yes, uh...

Sometimes it seems so.

Yes, sir, Mr. Mayor.

-See, rock and roll is about rebellion.

What about Elvis?

Little Richard? Chuck Berry?

Remember when they first came out?

Didn't your parents squawk?

And what about the Beatles?

Now let's don't forget the Beatles.

Martin, do you remember when your boy grew his hair

long like Ringo Star?

They wanted to run that kid out of town on a rail.

Now, was he evil simply because he had long hair?

-No. -No.

-Now are these Black Roses any different?

-Yes, they are.

-Are you going to stop these concerts, Mayor Farnsworth?

-Now, May, there's not a damn thing that I can do about that.

The school board approved the concerts.

-Is our good mayor trying to tell us that we have to just

stand by and watch our children be brainwashed?

-No. -No.

-I can't believe I got you to come out with me tonight.

-I had to get out of the house tonight.

I appreciate the excuse.

-Thanks.

What's bugging you, anyway?

Is it your creep step-dad again?

Or, is it Mr. Moorehouse?

-What do you mean?

-Come on, everybody in school knows that you and he are...

[whistles]

[Laughs]

-I don't believe this. That's not true!

Mr. Moorehouse and I happen to be friends.

Besides, he's just about the only person in this town

that understands me.

Don't you know he's seeing Priscilla Farnsworth?

-[Chuckles] The ice princess?

Oh, man.

So you're just going to moon around after him,

when you could be going out with me?

-Johnny.

I have too much on my mind to be involved with you

or anyone else.

-Yeah, sure, I understand.

I mean, I get down, too, sometimes.

What's there to look forward to after graduation?

Working for my father?

Cutting frigging hair for the rest of my life?

-Johnny.

-That's why I couldn't believe that Black Roses

would play here.

I mean, they never played out of the studio before,

and they picked Mill Basin to open their tour?

It was like a sign

that things were getting better around this hole.

If they even get to play here.

I mean, it's like every time there's something

I really want, somebody takes it away.

-Johnny.

-But tonight, I want to paint this town red.

-Johnny, where are you going?

Johnny, what the hell are you doing?

I said I was going to paint this town red.

That's exactly what I'm going to do.

-Johnny. Johnny, get back here.

Johnny.

Johnny!

Would you answer me? What are you doing?

You're going to get in big trouble.

I don't want any part of this.

Johnny.

Johnny.

-Look, just stick around, alright?

You don't have to help, but just stand guard.

-Johnny.

Johnny, look, someone's coming.

-Oh, shit.

Jules, run.

-Wait.

Johnny.

[Static crackles]

-Yuki, do you realize how humiliated we're going to be

when the Boulet brothers get out here?

I said glamour, not birthday party decorations

for a 6 year old girl.

-[Laughter] -Anyway, so...

So the character of Johnny is 28 years old.

That's Frank Dietz jumping all over the road,

hanging off of street lamps, being a little too literal

when he says, "I'm going to paint this town red."

You know, I could swear he's played Tulsa

in his high school production of "Gypsy."

Remember the guy who dances with Louise? Tulsa?

Darcy, you remember the guy who dances with Louise in "Gypsy"?

-No.

-Okay, there's a famous scene in "Gypsy"

where the best dancer in the show

does this fantasy dance with Louise,

and she falls in love with him, but he doesn't know it.

It's actually an example of what we're talking about on

"Heartbreak Trailer Park Night", which is what we're doing here.

Also, Yuki, what is this? What is this?

It's -- It looks awful.

-It's karaoke.

-You're trying to impress the Boulet brothers

with a karaoke machine?

-It's cursed karaoke machine.

-All right. Let's just hope they don't walk off.

Anyway, Frank Dietz, who is wooing Julie in the scene

we just saw and ribbing her about being hot for teacher,

he works for Shudder!

[Chuckles]

I think Frank's regular job is animation artist for Disney,

but he's a writer on "Creepshow."

And Frank is also famous for his monster drawings.

Maybe Frank can tweet to us.

Darcy, see if you can get Frank to give us a tweet.

Give us a clue.

Because one thing I never understood about this movie is,

who is the star, who's the main character?

Is it Johnny or Julie or the English teacher

or Damian the Rock Demon?

It doesn't get any easier to figure out

as the show progresses.

So anyway, here's the backdrop to this movie.

I've talked about this before.

I talked about it when we showed "Deathgasm."

But what happened is that in 1984, Tipper Gore

bought a copy of the "Purple Rain" album

for her 8-year-old daughter.

Who does that?

Who buys Prince for their 8-year-old daughter?

And the daughter asked her about a reference

to masturbation in the song "Darling Nikki."

Now, Tipper was, of course, the wife of Senator Al Gore.

She compared notes with Susan Baker,

the wife of Treasury Secretary James Baker,

and Susan Baker had her own story.

She had been shocked when her 7-year-old daughter

went around the house quoting the lyrics to "Like a Virgin."

So these women were apparently easily shocked,

so they got two other Washington wives to join up with them.

Pam Hower, wife of a millionaire realtor named Raymond Hower,

and Sally Nevius, the wife of Washington City Council Chairman

John Nevius, and the four of them

formed the Parents Music Resource Center

to demand that record companies do a rating system

for records the same way Hollywood does for movies.

So there would be a sticker on every CD

that said "V for violence",

"O for Satanism."

Not sure why it was "O". I think that means occult.

"D/A" for lyrics about drugs and alcohol.

Can I just stop here for a minute

and say if you're going to include alcohol,

just go ahead and put it on every record

that comes out of Nashville, all right?

And we're really talking about warning labels

on "Whiskey River"?

And then the last one was "X" for sexual content.

So they put out a list of what they called the Filthy 15.

The filthy 15 songs that they wanted to alert

America to these disgusting, brain destroying evil

being poured into the ears of our youth.

And they had a lot of metal bands on the list.

Black Sabbath, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Venom, Wasp.

But they also had Cyndi Lauper.

So anyway, it all came to a head at a congressional hearing

in September 1985 called the Porn Rock Hearing,

and the three artists asked to speak on behalf

of the musicians were Frank Zappa,

Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, and John Denver.

So everybody pretty much knew what Frank Zappa and Dee Snider

were going to say, but John Denver was the wild card.

He was kind of the artist that Tipper Gore would love, right?

So he goes last, and all the censors are thinking, well,

at least one singer is going to be on our side.

And the first words out of John Denver's mouth are,

"I compare this to Nazi book burnings."

And so everyone went, "Yeah!"

But here's what people don't remember.

Tipper Gore won!

All the protests resulted in the parental advisory

sticker on CDs, and as a result of that,

a lot of stores would not sell a record

that had a sticker on him, and that included Wal-Mart, K-Mart,

the Camelot chain, JCPenney, and many others.

They just didn't want to mess with it.

And the only bands that really benefited

from it were metal bands because they wanted to be

identified with satanic influences,

and they didn't care whether they were in Wal-Mart.

And so all those heavy metal songs

were virtually unknown to the general public in 1984.

So you could say Tipper Gore launched the heyday

of heavy metal and movies

like this one that we're watching tonight.

All right.

You know what?

We're talking about censorship and alternative stuff

and metal and horror.

Let's just bring out the experts.

Ladies and gentlemen, here to help us

through the thicket of issues brought up by "Black Roses",

the Boulet brothers!

[Gong clangs]

♪♪

♪♪

Wow.

You girls are hot in many ways.

But right now, your show "Dragula" is really hot.

You just finish your fourth season.

You've moved everything to Shudder, which is great.

I wanted to ask you several things,

but first of all, this movie we're watching is about art

that can turn you into a bloodthirsty,

sex obsessed demon.

So I'm going to guess you ladies would be in favor of that.

-Well, it's our specialty, after all.

-But it's also about a notorious period

in American history when very powerful people

tried to censor music and other forms of self-expression.

And you ladies must have had experience yourselves

with cancel culture.

-Yes.

-And, I mean, tell me what has been your experience with that?

-Our origins are a nightlife.

We started throwing parties a long time ago,

and we kind of create these fantasy environments.

And, you know, definitely the city

is not always happy with those sort of parties.

You know, they're very like sexually freeing

and encouraging of people that sort of

like let their inner demons out,

much like the movie we're watching.

Maybe not to kill each other, but, you know.

-Yeah. -Yeah, to have a little bit

of sexual freedom.

And so, yeah, we ran into trouble

with being censored a lot,

I think, by the city when we were doing parties.

-Okay. -Yeah.

-Well, the other thing I'm interested in

is we've had great special effects artists on this show.

We had Tom Savini.

We've talked about practical effects versus CGI,

but you ladies and all the contestants on "Dragula"

take practical effects and special effects makeup

to a level that's really never conceived of

in the average horror movie.

So, I mean, where did you learn to do this stuff?

-Oh, it's all about the theatrics,

and I think that's a lot for other drag artists, as well.

So you're on stage, and you're doing --

you're really doing theater.

And so for a lot of drag artists, that love of horror,

too, it's a natural extension of like all the makeup

we do to make ourselves look vampy or impressively gory

or whatever, that whole school of makeup artistry

is just another way to, like, pour yourself into.

So learning special effects and bringing that to the stage

as a horror fan is kind of a natural marriage.

-Well, what's impressive is that Tom Savini,

he just has to set it up for one shot.

-Oh, yeah. -And you have to set it up

so that it's done over a long period of time

on a stage with people like 10 feet away.

-And often over and over and over.

If you go on a tour, that's a gag

that you'll be doing night after night after night.

-Yeah, so you can't destroy it after one act.

It has to be able to be put back together

and re-presented like 30 nights in a row.

-Wow.

It's interesting to me that you guys started as party organizers

because first of all, live theater itself,

which is your field, or performance art,

is kind of the most evanescent of art forms

because after the show is over, it's gone, it's a memory.

You know, so I can imagine hundreds of looks

that you've created and hundreds of set pieces

and hundreds of moments that are probably vivid in your memories.

And yet, if you were not part of the L.A. club scene

in those years, you don't know that that existed.

So do you ever have sadness over the fact

that you did not film those things?

-I think sometimes sadness, yes.

But I'll tell you, on the other side of the coin,

there's an absolute like

just there's an absolute feeling of like, thank God

we didn't have all the social media and the cameras.

And I want to forget half of it.

-Yeah, because, you know, we were like,

you know, we were sort of like learning our trade, too, right?

So we were sort of learning how do you do makeup,

how do you perform, and all that,

and it's best that someone didn't document

that in the beginning.

-Okay. All right.

Well, I have many, many more probing questions.

I want you guys to stick around for all the breaks tonight.

But first, we're going to go back to "Black Roses."

You're fans of this movie, right?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Yeah, I think as much as you can be.

Like, "Black Roses" is like when he went to the the movie store

and you didn't find the one that you were looking for

and you didn't even find your backup

or even the third runner up, then you get "Black Roses."

-Okay, if you can't get "Trick or Treat",

you got "Black Roses." -Yeah.

-And while we're watching the next segment,

we're going to do karaoke.

You know, unfortunately, we can't pay $20,000 per song

for the karaoke, so we'll just have to report

back to you people at home about what the performances were like.

And we're going to do heartache songs.

So I'm going to kick it off with

"Nothing Compares To You", Sinead O'Connor.

-Oh, nice. -And then Yuki is going to sing

the Miley Cyrus song "Wrecking Ball."

So come on, it'll be fun, right, Darcy?

-It's going to be interesting.

-Okay. All right, back to the movie.

One of the lyrics that Tipper Gore was upset about

was the part of "Eat Me Alive" involving oral sex at gunpoint.

But you girls would just make that into a floor show, right?

-Oh, yeah. That's the highlight of the show.

-All right. -Some people pay big money

for that kind of treatment.

-I love your slogan -- "Drag, filth, horror, glamour."

You have come to the right place, girls.

-Yes. -We feel right at home.

-Yeah, we do.

[Static crackles]

-Forum.

Forum.

John Pratt.

What is Emerson's message in "Self Reliance"?

-Um, "Self Reliance" means...

Um, just what it says, you can only rely on yourself.

I mean, if you let others do things for you,

nothing will ever get done.

Believe in yourself. Have confidence.

Take the bull by the horns.

-Take the bull by the horns, huh?

Well, you'd know about throwing the bull, wouldn't you?

[Laughter]

What about taking the law into your own hands?

-The law is alright, but sometimes it's too tough on you.

-Too tough.

In fact it's real confining, isn't it?

I mean, if you want to steel someone's car, it'll stop you.

Deface or pollute the environment,

and you'll find your self up against stiff penalties.

Yeah.

It's real confining, alright.

Mr. Moorehouse.

-Yes, Tina?

-What's this have to do with Emerson?

-Well, more than you think, Tina.

More than you'd think.

[Bell rings]

Well, okay, have a nice day.

-See you later, Mr. Moorehouse.

-Take care, Jeff.

-Mr. Moorehouse.

My mother left my father because he was afraid

to take a chance on anything.

I'm not going to let that happen to me.

-Julie.

-Johnny, can I talk to you, please?

-What about? -About last night.

-Oooh. -Ooh.

-About last night. -Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!

-Come on.

What's up?

-He knows. He just told me he knows.

But he's not going to tell.

-Why not? -I don't know why not.

He said you were going through a hard time or something.

-Oh, yeah, that's pretty funny.

-That's not fair, Johnny.

He could have you arrested, you know.

-Oh, right. And get you in trouble, too?

No way.

-Johnny, what are you doing?

Are you coming or what?

-Wait, I'll come with you.

[Indistinct chatter]

-Thank you.

-Looks like this is the place to be.

Brats here of all ages.

-Where's Priscilla?

-I think she's waiting for the Kingston Trio.

-[Laughs]

[Cheers and applause]

-I'd like to sing a song about my home.

♪♪

-Well?

-It's not what I expected at all.

♪♪

♪♪

-♪ My home town ♪

♪ Is a page that's turned ♪

♪ Way deep down ♪

♪ Where a fire's burning ♪

♪ Know ♪

♪ I'm an ordinary man ♪

♪ Who dreams ♪

♪ Of the stars ♪

♪ We're on our way to paradise ♪

♪ Right in the ♪

-Well, I've seen enough.

I don't expect any trouble here tonight.

But I better take my leave of these parents of paranoia.

Ellen, are you satisfied?

-Well, they are awfully loud,

but the children do seem to be enjoying themselves.

I don't suppose there's any real harm to them.

-Well, you know, every generation had their own music.

Remember the Lindy Hop?

-Oh, Mayor, don't embarrass me.

-[Chuckles]

I need a drink. You want to join me?

-Yeah.

-Listen, I don't know about you folks,

but I have to get up early in the morning.

-♪ What's wrong ♪

♪ In my life? ♪

♪ We're on our way to paradise ♪

♪ Right in the heat our hearts are making ♪

♪ Breaking through the ice ♪

♪ We're on our way ♪

♪ Our time is getting nearer ♪

-Matt, you coming or what?

-Yeah. -♪ Clearer ♪

[Song changes]

♪♪

[Cheering]

♪♪

♪♪

♪ The time is right to come together ♪

♪ We're gonna rock this town tonight ♪

♪ I've got the thunder ♪

♪ You've got the lightning ♪

♪ We've got the power to win the fight ♪

♪ We are the rulers of tomorrow ♪

♪ Shout out the message loud and clear ♪

♪ It's a rock invasion ♪

♪ It's a rock invasion ♪

♪ We're coming down ♪

♪ To rock your town ♪

-Alright, who wants to open the discussion?

Janey?

Johnny?

What do you think Emerson's getting at here?

Johnny?

Julie?

What did Emerson mean by the Red Slayer?

-Emerson?

-Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Well, guess we've done a lot of talking

about literature in this class, but maybe not enough about life.

You see, it's not enough to just read Whitman

and Emerson from your anthologies.

You have to use what you read.

Apply it to your lives and make it work for you.

-Well, how is Whitman going to help me decide

what to do for a living?

[Laughter]

No, no, I'm not kidding.

Because if he could help, I'd really be happy,

because I have no idea.

-Well, Tony the aim of literature isn't to tell

what to do with your life,

it's to tell you how to live it wisely.

-Oh, yeah. What would Mr. Whitman think

of what you've done with your life?

-[Chuckles]

Well, no, that's good.

What would Whitman think of what I've done with my life?

Well, I guess -- I guess he'd judge me by

how successful I am at teaching.

I'm not very successful right now, but...

Hey, you kids can judge that better than I can.

[Bell rings]

Hey, get some sleep tonight, will you, please?

Hey, stranger, how'd you like the Black Roses show?

-It was wonderful.

I'm going again tonight.

-Really? Did you win the lottery or something?

-They liked us so much,

they gave us tickets to all the shows.

-They gave free tickets to all the kids?

-All their fans, yeah.

[Indistinct shouting]

-What's the matter with you today?

Sit down.

I got to tell you, Matt, this is the first time

I've had a teacher in here complaining that his kids

didn't get upset over a homework assignment.

You know, you've got me worried.

-It's not my lessons, Sam. It's my kids.

I mean, last week, all they could think about was midterms.

Now it's Black Roses.

-You too, I might add.

You've been exposed to a taste of rebellion.

It's only natural they're going to remain

temporary under it's spell.

You know, as soon as these Burnt Roses leave town,

they'll be back to normal in no time.

Believe me.

And if you don't believe me, why don't you go over,

right now, and talk to this Fabian guy.

-Fabian? [Laughs]

-Yeah, and once you see that he's just another ordinary

working stiff, you're going to see that

you've been overreacting.

Yeah. Now, would you please make your move?

[Indistinct chatter]

-Miss your album, now. -You mother.

-Fight, fight, fight.

-Son of a bitch.

[Indistinct shouting]

-Throw him, throw him, throw him.

-Why did you guys come to Mill Basin, anyway?

-Are you kidding?

Why did you decide to move to Mill Basin, man?

Mill Basin is like a test case, you know.

They figured on starting us out in a small town

since we'd never played out of the studio before.

Well, once before actually, but that didn't work out.

Anyway, that's why we decided to lay down four shows.

We figured we'd work out the kinks for the act.

The way I see it, couple of more weeks,

we'll be ready to score some big time gigs.

If the parents group doesn't run us out of town.

-Yeah, you heard about that, huh?

-Oh, yeah.

That's, uh, we expect that.

It's kind of the nature of the rock and roll beast.

Our music gets misunderstood all the time.

People thinking it's, uh, pretty antisocial, you know?

But they're wrong.

If people would just listen to our music,

they'd see we have a humanistic message for the kids.

You know, social and environmental concerns.

That kind of stuff.

You heard us play.

-Yeah, well, like I said,

I just caught the beginning of it, that's all.

-Oh, well.

Then you can see for yourself.

I bet they'll be no parents protesting tonight.

-No, no, they've all backed off.

-See?

They had their preconceived opinions about us,

and once they checked it out for themselves,

they saw it was all hot air.

-I guess so. -Hey, Damian, come on.

We got to work out the first set.

-Yeah, you got me, man.

Hey, listen, come to the show tonight,

and if you change your mind about rock and roll,

I'll put you in touch with my agent.

-You'd be great. -[Chuckles]

-I'll see you tonight.

-Really, I can't.

-Oh, I know, another date with the mayor's daughter?

Guy's got to move up in the world.

-Where are in the hell are you getting this stuff from?

-Are you kidding?

You're a famous guy.

Known your soul a long time, man.

Well, anyway I must be taking a lot of time

out of your teaching schedule.

Like expanding those little minds and all.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, you take care -Yeah, see you.

-Nice meeting you.

Julie, aren't you supposed to be in class?

-Could ask you the same thing.

-Well, uh...

♪♪

♪♪

-♪ Leave me alone ♪

-Hey, Stunard.

-What?

-Go help your mother with the dishes.

-♪ I'm not made of stone ♪

♪ Why doesn't that ever make sense? ♪

-What's this? -What?

-This. -An earring, pop.

-An earring?

Only two kinds of men wear earrings.

Pirates and faggots.

I don't see no ship in our driveway.

-♪ And this ain't no freak disguise ♪

-Hey, bafangool.

Turn this music off.

[Music stops]

-♪ Know what I feel ♪

♪ My strength is in my will ♪

♪ I cannot wait ♪

[Music stops]

♪ It's second rate ♪

♪ In for the kill ♪

♪ It's me against the world ♪

♪ Me against the world ♪

♪ It's me against the world ♪

♪ Me against the world ♪

♪ It's me against the world ♪

♪ Me against the world ♪

What the hell?

[Distorted voice talking]

What the fuck?!

[Screeches]

[Screeches]

[Screeches]

[Screeches]

-[Groans]

[Grunting]

[Belches]

[Static crackles]

-Vincent Pastore being devoured by a slime monster

that oozes up out of the actual vinyl

while the record is playing

and then gets sucked into the speaker in his acting debut,

the performance that no doubt got him hired

as "Big Pussy" on "The Sopranos."

You know, how much do y'all like extremely cheesy horror effects?

-I think in this case, I loved it.

Like, that was my favorite part of the movie.

This is my favorite part of the movie, I should say.

And I think if there had been more of that throughout,

I would have liked the movie better.

-Really? -Yeah. You agree?

-I mean, I'm a little split on it, to be honest.

When I saw that, I was like,

"What the hell is going on here?"

Like, seriously, are they really doing this?

But, you know, it's so stupid and fun.

I really enjoyed him dying, too, by the way,

because he gave me one of the best lines

I think of the movie, which was that whole thing

about, like, "There's two types of guys

that wear an earring, a pirate and a faggot,

and I don't see any ships in the driveway."

And I was like, "This guy's got to go."

[Laughter]

-Perfect 80s nostalgia.

-Well, one thing I love about the fantasies you create

on "Dragula" is that you don't do camp.

You don't do horror humor.

You're serious as a heart attack, and you're always trying

to go to that really uncomfortable place

where the audience might have to cover their eyes, right?

-Yeah, it's something with season three that

we really wanted to lean into because a lot of times people

see drag artists and they think,

"Oh, it's funny, we're going to laugh, this is the clownery."

And a lot of times, it is.

But we sort of, our style doesn't necessarily lend itself

to that all the time.

And so we're like, "Let's scare them this season,

let's actually not let there be a punch line."

So when we really kill someone,

you're left feeling uncomfortable.

And that was sort of our goal,

to sort of present drag in a different way.

-Yeah, because it's usually assumed that if something

has drag in the name, it's going to be campy.

-Exactly. -Yeah, which is fun and fine.

And we've done campy segments

on some of the earlier seasons, too.

But when we beat Violencia with the hammer

and then, you know, dissolved her body in acid,

there was no punch line, it wasn't funny.

-Right. -That was the first one

that I think was sort of,

you know, it was the opener for season three,

and it was the first time we sort of didn't put a punch line.

So it was like --

-It was so brilliant, too, at the premiere

because they were ready for a like a campy,

you know, like what's going to happen next?

And there was an audible, like,

you know, she's running from the sound in the streets.

I don't know if you recall the scene,

but she turns around and just face right into a hammer,

and someone in the audience was like, "Oh!"

And I was like, "Yes!" Like, mission accomplished.

-Yeah, exactly.

And then we melted her in acid. Really sent the message home.

-Well, a lot of people are curious about you two.

Where did you meet? Or how did you meet?

Are you New Yorkers?

I know you did some things in New York,

or were you always out on the West Coast?

-We met in New York.

So yeah, we learned a lot of our dirty tricks

from living in New York for years.

And just like what it meant

to be a part of like subversive nightlife

and that whole culture, and after we met,

we kind of went cross country together and landed in L.A.,

and that's where we've been ever since.

-Okay. Well, Clive Barker has talked a lot

about getting a lot of his inspiration for "Hellraiser"

from those S&M clubs that were on 10th Avenue in New York.

The ones that disappeared, I think it was Giuliani

who got rid of them.

Now, did all that scene just move out to L.A.?

Because it seems like -- it seems to me like you ladies

took the New York '90s and turned it into the L.A. teens

and took that whole club scene to the West Coast.

-I mean, our energy was definitely part of it.

There was like a mass exodus out of New York

in like mid to late '90s.

We were a part of that, and it was surprising

to see so many people that we knew in New York

kind of pop up in L.A.

And then the first event we threw was kind of

like a pansexual fetish party

that we did every week for years.

And it really -- it gave Los Angeles

something that it didn't have.

Everything was so segregated when we got to L.A.,

so we definitely brought some of our New York sensibility west.

-Okay, well, all right, now you're among friends here.

-Okay. -I think our audiences

probably overlap quite a bit.

-So be honest. -Okay.

-What's the most outrageous thing that you ever witnessed

in a hardcore club?

-I would say that the tea -- Well, that too.

But that teacup story from --

-You've got to discuss which on the top 10 list.

-Well, there's one. I'll tell the one story.

So we used to do like a hot ass contest

at our event at Miss Kitty's.

And so we were the hosts, so we see people get up on stage,

and then they pull their pants down and whatever.

So they're facing us,

so we can't see what's behind them, you know?

So they kind of bend over and shake their ass and whatever.

-These are patrons. -Yeah, yeah.

-Men, women, whatever.

Like, everyone we get in this contest.

Well, they bent over, and the crowd

like horrified gasps, and I'm like, "Oh, my God."

Like, we can't see behind us, so we don't know what's happening.

-Yeah, the butts are facing the crowd so that,

you know, the competitor's faces are facing us.

We're like, "What the hell -- Like, what are they seeing?"

-It was like a gasp, and I was like,

You know, we didn't know. We just kept doing the contest.

Someone won, you know, because we asked the audience,

"Who do you think should win?" And they voted this person.

Well, so then when we close the curtain, we found out,

I guess they had like a fetish like S&M like spreader thing...

-In their butt. -...in their butt.

-So you could see like right through to their dinner.

[Laughter]

-Did they win? -They did win.

-That was the winner? -That was the winner.

-Exactly. -Little John Waters

like filth there, but there's the teacup story.

-Yeah, there's a teacup story, too.

I was working in New York.

I was a student, and I worked at this club, and they did,

like, I forget how they did.

They'd give everybody a bunch of fake money

when they came into the club, and then people would just be

inspired to do outrageous acts through the night.

And if your act was outrageous enough, you'd just collect

the money that you were given at the door

from various patrons.

So this one person, he got out, like, had a whole thing,

like put out a blanket and gave everybody teacups,

and you're like, "Oh, like, where is this going?"

And he had done like some kind of enema before,

and he like, squatted over everybody's cup

and just kind of like filled their cups,

and then filled his own and like drank it.

And I was like, "Wow, I've never seen any anything this sick."

-You asked for it, and there it is.

-All right, well, I know Darcy always goes to

your Halloween ball.

Do you still do the Halloween ball?

-Oh, yeah. -In L.A.?

How do you have time to do the Halloween ball?

-We come alive.

Like, we like to say we drain the souls of everyone around us

a little bit every October to just keep us going

to the next year.

So, this year will be our 20th anniversary.

-Oh, wow.

How awesome is the Halloween ball, Darcy?

-It's amazing. -Yeah. Okay.

All right. We're going to go back to the movie now.

Did you notice how first Damian comes out

as a Michael Bolton type

in a Don Johnson suit singing power ballads?

And then after the parents leave,

it's off with the pastel and on with the leather and spandex

and permed mullets and shaggy chest.

But the music is only slightly wilder.

You know, it's like, "We are the rulers of tomorrow."

You know, "It's a rock invasion."

Who says, "It's a rock invasion," you know?

So these are supposed to be the minions of Satan.

Does Satan hire feature writers from USA Today

to write his song?

So anyway, let's move this party along.

So back to the movie.

Oh, and we still have more karaoke to come,

and, Dracmorda, that was a great rendition of "I Miss You"

by Blink 182, very emo.

-So good. -We loved it.

[Laughter]

[Static crackles]

Amadeus.

[Classical music plays]

Damian, Damian, Damian, Damian, Damian,

Damian, Damian, Damian, Damian,

Damian, Damian, Damian, Damian, Damian, Damian.

Damian, Damian, Damian, Damian, Damian, Damian, Damian, Damian,

Damian, Damian, Damian...

[Cheering]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-♪ Day by the day, the stories the same ♪

♪ We fight the faithless ♪

♪ We know their names ♪

♪ We go to work when the sun goes down ♪

♪ We won't stop until we take this town ♪

♪ Turn up the power ♪

♪ Turn up the lights ♪

♪ We're on a mission and we'll rock all night ♪

♪ You want it louder ♪

♪ I can see ♪

♪ I'm gonna take you to the top with me ♪

-We are!

-♪ Soldiers of the night ♪

-Fight!

♪ Soldiers of the night ♪

[Clattering]

-Ah, son of a bitch.

[Engine starts, revs]

[Siren wailing]

-♪ You want a taste of danger tonight ♪

♪ I got my eyes on the road ♪

♪ I won't be cool on the trigger baby ♪

♪ So you'll have time to reload ♪

[Engine revs]

♪ My sites are set ♪

♪ My aim is true ♪

♪ There's only one chance left for you ♪

♪ Dance on fire ♪

♪ Shadows slip in the night ♪

♪ Dance on fire ♪

♪ Till the break of day light ♪

♪ Dance on fire ♪

♪ Nothing to see ♪

♪ Dance on fire ♪

[Doorbell rings]

-Matt.

Nice of you to call first.

-I'm sorry, Priscilla. I'm here to see your father.

Is he in?

-No.

No, he's not here.

Did you and Daddy have a date?

-Come off it, Priscilla.

I am not in the mood.

I need to talk to someone.

-Oh, yeah. What about me?

-You wouldn't be interested. -And what makes you think that?

-Because it's about my students.

And when have you ever been the slightest bit

interested in my students?

-I'm always interested in your little students.

And their little books, and their little essays,

oh, and especially your little teacher's pet.

-You leave Julie out of this.

-Oh, so you knew exactly who I meant.

-Priscilla, I -- [Scoffs]

What's the use. I'm just wasting my time anyway.

-No, you're wasting my time.

Do you know why I went out with you?

Because when I met you, I said, "There's a guy

that's going to do something with his life."

I didn't think it was going to be teaching a bunch of

inbred morons the alphabet.

-You know, sometimes I find myself thinking like you.

Thinking that maybe I have wasted my life,

settled for less.

But then I see those little students of mine,

and I realize that I have made a difference.

-Oh, come on, Matt. -Shut up, Priscilla.

And maybe by your standards, I am a disappointment,

but at least I make an attempt.

And that's a hell of a lot better than a life

that means nothing.

Yeah. Yeah, you're right.

I came here to see your father, and you got me going off on some

tangent defending why I became a teacher.

I'm going home.

Or maybe to a bar.

Yeah.

Which ever I pass first.

-Fine! Do it, Matt.

-Priss?

-Yes, Daddy?

-Who's down there with you?

-Nobody.

-Good night, Sonny.

-Later, man.

-Was that you, Johnny?

-♪ My home town ♪

♪ Is a page that's turned ♪

♪ Way deep down ♪

♪ Where a fire's burning ♪

[Static crackles]

-[Sighs]

[Cheers and applause]

-God, that really was a beautiful

"Ain't Nobody" from Chaka Khan.

I didn't know you had it in your house.

-Yeah, well, you know,

I'm getting into the spirit tonight.

So you get a lot of sex when your demon possessed.

"Black Roses" was directed by John Fasano,

who made not just one but two movies

about demonic metal music.

The other one is called "Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare",

and it's about a hair metal band

facing off against the Prince of Darkness.

So kind of the opposite of this movie.

But he was in his 20s when he made these movies,

and he made another cult curiosity called "The Jitters."

And let us not forget "Zombie Nightmare"

starring Adam West, which was even cheaper than this movie.

So Fasano would go on to make a lot of money

as a script doctor.

He wrote "Another 48 Hrs.", and he did script doctor work on

"Die Hard With a Vengeance", "Tombstone",

"Judge Dredd," wrote a whole bunch of TV movies,

but you will appreciate this.

He was a famous Halloween mask designer.

He had over 100 original designs.

He worked in latex, vinyl, plastic,

and his masks were sold at Party City, Target,

Wal-Mart, and the pinnacle of mask merchandising.

Spencer's Gifts.

-Wow. -So he made it.

-He really made it.

-Where did Spender's go when all the malls died?

You know, is that still around?

Anyway, John Fasano died young.

He died in 2014, just age 52.

So, Swanthula, Dracmorda, one of the things that gives

your series "Dragula" such soul is that a lot of your

contestants are facing inner demons and other obstacles,

and many have had very tough lives.

And you're like the parents who kind of tell them,

"Don't focus on what you don't have, empower yourself.

Stop caring about other people's opinions."

And so you have these moments in the show of epiphany,

where the performers find themselves,

you know, face their true selves.

And I don't think I'm being too corny when I say that.

But what I wanted to ask you is,

what, in your opinion, is the connection between --

because we deal with this all the time here --

between horror and being a misfit?

Because we call our fans and our little family here mutants.

You call yours uglies.

-Yeah. -Love that.

-And because a lot of them seek refuge in horror,

they've found something in horror

that they were not getting from their family or their school

or their circle of friends or their community.

So what is that something? What is that connection?

-I think, for queer people, they sort of saw the way

that monsters were presented in horror movies

and they related to that, right?

So you have like Frankenstein, who now there's a village

of people chasing after him with a torch, you know what I mean?

They actually have like a good side to them.

But the appearance of Frankenstein

scared the villagers, you know?

And I think that where people relate to that sort of thing,

the monster, or the vampire, right?

Like a lot of times, there's like kind of

queer undertones to vampire movies,

and I think that that just relates to --

that queer people relate to that subtext.

-Yeah, I think villains and monsters are kind of reflections

of what society fears or just doesn't like.

And that's where like the queer coding comes in

and how you can relate to the monster

or the villain more than you can the "normal people"

in the movie.

And I think any outcast can relate to that.

That's such a narrative. Anybody can relate to that.

So unless you're like one of the one percent or the people

that have everything -- you're beautiful, you have money,

and you're privileged and all those kind of things,

there are so many people that are not that, like way more.

So I think those are the people that relate to

kind of the outcast nature of like horror

and, you know, the pretty girls die

or the jock gets beheaded, and you love those moments.

-And is it partly also that if your parents hated these movies,

that it makes you love them all the more?

Because I talked to a movie executive one time

who told me he would go seek refuge in 42nd Street

back in the day when it was, you know,

all of the forbidden movies and nice people didn't go there,

but he would go there, and then he was surprised to find

that people like us actually worship these movies.

-You know? -Oh, yeah, totally.

-I think there was something appealing about that, too.

Like people that feel outcast sort of resonate

toward outcast movies.

You know, they thought like, "Oh, this is for me,

this speaks to me, and that this movie is outcast like I am."

I mean, I feel like at least it definitely was like in the '80s

and '90s, you know?

Nowadays, I think it's kind of cool to like horror.

-That's true. It's become mainstream.

-For sure.

-All right. All right. Well, Mill Basin is in chaos.

People are being beaten, attacked.

There are riots in the streets,

all because Black Roses did the song

"We Won't Stop Until We Take This Town."

Their most brutal lyric yet.

-Yeah. -Let's go back to the movie.

You know, it's weird that they made these movies to attack

Tipper Gore, but then almost all the plots

just reinforce what Tipper Gore was saying.

They call this sub genre "metal-sploitation",

and "Trick or Treat" is the most beloved one,

but also "The Gate", "Monster Dog",

"Hard Rock Zombies", "Rocktober Blood",

"Shock 'Em Dead", "Darkness", "Dream Maniac",

"Heavy Metal Massacre", "Death Metal Zombie."

There are about 25 of these,

and they all have the same elements of the theme

"Yes, music does turn you into a monster."

So I don't imagine these movies were entered into evidence

at any congressional hearings.

-Probably not.

-Also, Damian is not that creepy to me.

-You know, that's -- -No.

-Do you agree?

-Especially with all the different wigs.

-I'm like, "This is a queen."

Like, he shows up with the big, crazy hair.

Then when, you know, Matt goes to see him

in the auditorium like between shows,

he's got like the little kind of version of his hair.

And then by the end, he's just scalping himself,

and he's totally bald.

I'm like "What is happening?"

-Yeah, he that was his big move to shock everyone.

He's like...

You're like, "Big deal."

Like, we do that every day.

-That's Sal Viviano.

He's was a Chicago actor who came to New York in 1984

to star in "The Three Musketeers"

on Broadway.

And then almost his whole career has been on the Broadway stage.

So that's why you never saw him in film,

except in these John Fasano movies.

He also starred in "The Jitters",

that other one that I mentioned,

but he was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award,

not for "The Jitters", but for something

I guess Helen Hayes-ish on stage, I guess.

But I think the reason I don't quite believe him as the devil

is that he does have that musical comedy style, you know?

You can't be the devil after somebody spots

you leaving by the stage door of "Kiss Me, Kate."

[Laughter]

-I'm like, this narrative of him as one of the Three Musketeers

makes so much more sense in my world.

-Definitely. -You know,

than the conduit of Satan, not buying it.

-All right, let's do some heartbreak show tunes

on the karaoke machine.

I'll do "Rose's Turn." That's a regret song, right?

Somebody will do "Music of the Night."

You know, Darcy, you do "Music of the Night", okay?

-Alright.

-Swanthula, "Don't Rain On My Parade",

from "Funny Girl."

Dracmorda, "If I Loved You" from "Carousel."

-If I knew the song from "Carousel."

-Well, you know.

[Laughter]

-Okay.

[Static crackles]

-So this is the mighty Batman?

I never thought you'd be so mighty.

Let's see how mighty you really are.

Wha!

Why don't you go swim the fire, Aquaman!

♪ Protecting your past life, sentencing you to the grave ♪

-Jason, you still up?

Son, it's 11:00.

School night.

Your mother would ring my neck

if she knew you were still up at this time.

What -- what are you doing?

How could you do this?

How could you do that to your toys?

-They were the bad guys.

-The bad guys?

Come on, son, off to bed.

Go to sleep. Come on.

You're going to get me in trouble.

-Hi. -Hey, Mr. Miller.

-Girls, how was the concert? -It was excellent.

-Oh, yeah? -Where's Mrs. Miller?

-Oh, Thursday night bridge.

She'll be out until about 1:00 or 2:00.

-That's right, we have Daddy all to ourselves.

How about we can entertain Tina for a while?

-I'm locked out of my house

until my parents get back from this party they went to.

-Oh, I don't know, Janey. It's a school night tonight.

-Oh, please, Mr. Miller.

I have no place else to go.

-Come on, dad.

-Yeah, well, I guess we could play gin.

-Sure, dad, why not. Why should mom have all the fun.

-Hey? Okay.

-♪ You wanted power ♪

♪ As you can see ♪

♪ I'm gonna take you to the top with me ♪

♪ Soldiers of the night ♪

♪ Fight ♪

♪ Soldiers of the night ♪

-Where have you been?

I told you not to go out tonight.

Did you and go and see that show again after I told you not to?

[Engine stops]

-[Laughs]

-[Sighs]

-Ha, gin!

-Nice hand, Mr. Miller.

-That's it for me, I'm wasted.

-Good night, Pop. -Janey?

-Don't worry Mr. M. I'm not going to wimp out on you.

Let's play a few more hands.

-No, Tina. -See you at school, Tina.

-See ya later.

-Tina, we should really call your home.

Your parents must be home by now.

-They won't be home for hours.

-Oh, sweetheart, it's getting late.

-Are you ready to deal?

-Huh?

-Let's raise the stakes then.

-Tina.

-We can play strip gin.

-Strip gin?

-I'm sure you know the rules.

-Oh, well, yes, actually I do.

-Okay, you deal, and I'll open.

-♪ Take it off ♪ -♪ Take it off ♪

-♪ Take it all off ♪ -♪ Take it off ♪

♪ Take it all because I like it ♪

-♪ Take it off ♪ -♪ Take it off ♪

-♪ Take it all off ♪ -♪ Take it off ♪

-Son?

Couldn't sleep, son?

How was that concert tonight?

What's the matter, son?

-I love you, dad.

[Gunshots]

-So Mr. M., what do you have?

-Oh, Tina.

Gin.

-I guess you win the prize then.

-Oh, gosh.

-Let's play.

-Tina.

Oh, Tina.

Oh, oh.

[Indistinct chatter]

-Well, I hope you're starting to get a feel for what

the American transcendentalist writers are all about.

-Why do we have to study all these dead writers?

I mean, there's a poet alive today

who writes rings around 'em.

Damian.

[Clamoring]

I'm tired of living in the past.

I'm living now.

[Students chanting "Damian"]

-Alright.

I want you to write an in class essay

comparing the use of metaphor...

[Students chanting "Damian"]

I said I want you to write --

[Students chanting "Damian"]

[Telephone rings]

-I got it.

Hello.

-Neal?

There's something going on in this town,

and you got to help me stop it.

-You sound like a hysterical Mrs. Miller.

-Well, if I was Mrs. Miller, I would be hysterical

because Mr. Miller is dead.

-Dead?

Herb Miller's dead?

I just, uh, just saw him at the town meeting the other night.

Bad ticker?

-No, bad kids, bad music.

Bad news, Neal.

-Don't go off the deep end here.

-Where in the hell have you been?

Tony Ames' mother is dead, too.

A hit and run accident.

Only, Neal, I don't think it was an accident.

-Look, I know it is a lot of bad news for one day in Mill Basin.

-Look, Neal, you have to come with me to that concert tonight.

Now I can't explain it.

I think they're doing something to the kids.

Controlling their minds.

I -- I can feel it, Neal.

-Matt, you go to the concert.

And if you still feel as strongly about it tomorrow,

come on over and we'll do something about it.

But, I've got to agree with Priss.

She just thinks you're carrying this concerned teacher thing

a bit too far.

It's like it's become an obsession.

-For Christ sakes!

-I know you'll feel better if you and Priss get back together.

I know you've had a little spat.

-This has nothing to do with Priscilla.

-Drop by tomorrow, and I'll help you break the ice with Priss.

Okay?

-Neal!

-It's a date, bye.

-Neal!

-I was sorry to hear about you father, Janey.

What did he die of?

-Heart attack.

Mother found him dead in the den this morning.

About 3:00 a.m., when she got home from bridge club.

She felt terrible.

-Well, I can imagine.

-She lost.

-Now, Janey, it's only natural that we try

to suppress our grief when a parent dies.

Unless we allow that grief process a chance

to run it's normal course,

it can come back in destructive ways later on in life.

You're far better off getting everything out in the open now.

As painful as that maybe.

-I guess you're right.

What do you suggest?

-Do I suggest?

Well, uh, you could, you let your true feelings,

your true feelings, just let them come to the surface.

Don't -- don't be afraid.

Don't try to suppress anything, you know.

How did your father's death make you feel?

Can you describe it?

-Makes me feel like screaming.

I'd like to open a window and scream at the top of my lungs.

May I?

-Yes.

That's a very good constructive suggestion, Janey.

And it's a good start.

Let's let you scream.

You know, I think it might do you a lot of good.

You know, I often thought of using screaming in my therapy,

in my work.

-[Growling]

-[Screams]

-Great scream.

[Laughs]

[Static crackles]

-Mill Basin is in chaos, guidance counselors

are being tossed out of windows,

moms being run down by their demon seed,

sexed up teens shooting daddy in the head.

Worst of all, young children burning up their Batman

in Aquaman action figures.

Mill Basin is actually the town of Dundas, Ontario.

We were in the era of Canadian tax shelter flicks,

so everybody moved up to Canada.

And the death and destruction in "Black Roses"

is nothing compared to the death and destruction scenarios

concocted by our guests, Swanthula and Dracmorda,

the Boulet brothers.

And in fact, Drac,

I think you announced to the competitors

at one point, "This competition is not safe."

-Yeah. -You tell them that in advance.

-Yes, yes.

And we tell them many times when we first cast them.

I mean, literally, we try to convince them

not to take the casting.

So they have to go through this whole audition process

and put in a casting video.

And we literally try to encourage them not to do it

because the last thing we want is for someone to get there

and feel like they're being forced to do something

they don't want to do. -Or like duped in any way.

We're like, "It's not easy. It's not comfortable.

You will do things that will make you very unhappy."

And you know, the rewards are great,

but that's only for a few.

Everyone else dies.

-So it's the same principle as Navy SEAL training.

At any point, you can just ring the bell and they let you leave.

-Yeah. -Yeah.

-So you try to get people to leave so that you have

the hardcore at the end.

-Yeah, the show's based off of our career and our drag,

right, so all the things that we make them do

are things that we've either done in stage shows

or we've done just for fun on the side.

So yeah, you know, we came up in a very nontraditional way.

Like, we didn't start off doing, like lip sync to pop songs

and like tips and all that.

We would go to like, you know, heavy metal venues

and put on live performances.

Or we would go to like Wasteland Weekend.

And just really intense, different places.

-Like apocalypse parties

and punk shows and stuff like that.

-Stuff you don't usually see drag at, and we would do shows

that were like, you know, let's pierce ourselves

or get tattooed or like crazy things like that.

So we kind of want to bring them up

and the kind of drag that we got brought up in.

-Okay, well, it's the only show I know of where

you have to look good,

you have to know how to do special effects,

you have to do performance art,

you have to be comfortable in the horror world,

and you have to do disgusting things

that are normally only seen on "Fear Factor" or "Survivor"

or some show like that.

So what was the hardest thing for your contestants to do

of all the things we've done?

-I think the flesh pierce.

We did a Cenobite challenge at the opening of season two,

and it was kind of design your own Cenobite

through the kind of kaleidoscope of your own drag.

So turn your drag into a Cenobite.

And the ones that were up for extermination, as we call it,

the ones who performed the lowest had to be body pierced

with like these huge gage needles.

It was really intense.

-Now, I will say, they weren't super huge.

We didn't expect them to do super huge needles,

but they wanted to outdo the other ones.

So they were asking like, "Do bigger needles."

So it looks really gruesome on the show.

-And it was. -It was gruesome.

But a lot of people do those kind of piercings

and suspensions just as part of their performance art.

-Yeah, like jumping out of planes, eating spiders.

You know, we took them out to the desert,

to this big party that we hosted for many years.

And they have like this geodesic dome. It's huge.

Like, the roof of it is like 30 feet tall,

and you get strapped in very Mad Max,

and you have like these like, you know, pugil sticks

or whatever they call them, and they pull you back,

and they launch you, and they just like

kick each others' ass. It was amazing.

-Wow, what made the physical challenges important to you

in addition to the performance art part?

-Well, it's fun to just watch drag queens do crazy shit.

-[Laughter] -I mean, that's number one.

But number two is like, life is hard and, like,

everything gets candy coated, you know, like what you see

that might be from the queer space on TV

or even other drag shows or whatever.

It's very candy coated, very palatable,

and very presented in a friendly way.

But that is not the reality.

Like, the world has gotten better, but it isn't that great.

And queer people and just fringe people

and just weirdos and outcasts get mistreated by the masses,

and we want to make sure that they're toughened up

you know, whether they win the show or lose the show.

That's just our little lesson.

-Well, I think it's also about facing your fear, right?

Because a lot of times, these performers will be

sort of locked in a certain space in their

home city where they perform or they have other issues

going on that are holding them back.

And when they're at home, they can avoid all their issues

and just do their drag and perform and whatever.

When we bring them to the show, they sort of have to get

on stage and the spotlight comes on them.

And there's no excuses.

Like, you have to face yourself there in that moment.

You can't blame it on other performers,

or you can't blame it on the bar

that you're performing or whatever.

It's all on you.

And I think facing your fear and overcoming those fears

and seeing that you can conquer these challenges empowers them.

-So it is like military combat training.

-Yeah. -Yeah.

This is our Navy SEAL drill sergeant outfit.

-For drag queens,

-So originally, "Dragula" was a monthly party...

-Yeah. -...at a bar called

Faultline in L.A.

Did you do this physical stuff there?

Did you make people do the --

-Different versions of it.

Like, they would have to perform out of trash cans,

and we did like a mud wrestling party.

We gave the audience like eggs and tomatoes and bread

and like fed the competitors scripts

where they had to say all this politically incorrect stuff

so that everyone would be like, "Boo!"

And like pelt them with food.

-Which was amazing. -It was so fun.

-I mean, yeah, the energy at those parties was just so --

it was like a rock show, it really was.

It was just like, you know, there was a lot of times

like there was like a thrill kill song

where they chant like, "kill, kill, kill,"

and like the whole crowd would be chanting it

while these drag queens are like getting food thrown at them.

-It was amazing. -Yeah.

-One thing you can say about any contestant on "Dragula"

is they're not afraid of pain.

-Yes. -There's always pain

involved, right?

-I mean, probably at least once a season.

-Yeah. -Or maybe more.

You know, we're not sitting there like,

"Oh, let's design the most painful torture."

You know, it varies.

-Okay, -Yeah, but pain is part of it.

-Well, before we go back to the movie,

I wanted to mention Julie Adams,

who's in this movie, who plays the moral crusader, Mrs. Miller.

We weren't able to properly honor Julie at the time of

her death, but I knew Julie.

I met Julie at a horror con about 15 years ago.

And of course, everybody knows her as the girl who swims

with the monster in

"Creature From the Black Lagoon."

But what they don't know is that besides

being the sweetest person in the world,

she was a completely self-made actress.

She grew up in a small town in Arkansas

during the depression, in an alcoholic household

that didn't much care about her.

And she kind of clawed her way to Hollywood

by winning the Miss Little Rock Pageant

and somehow used that to make her way to California.

And then she took speech and drama classes,

mostly to lose her really heavy Arkansas accent.

And then she worked as a secretary,

and she took any role on the side that she could get.

And she made a lot of poverty row westerns,

even though she was a very elegant woman

and she was not the Annie Oakley type at all.

But she made it work for her.

And one time she did six movies in five weeks

at the Ray Corrigan ranch in Chatsworth, California.

-Wow. -Wow.

-But, anyway, she finally got noticed by Universal,

and they made her their stock romantic lead

all through the '50s.

She starred opposite Rock Hudson.

She made five films with Rock Hudson,

Tyrone Power, Glenn Ford, Van Heflin.

She was in an Elvis movie.

She worked with Glenn Ford, John Wayne,

but always as the pretty girl.

She was always stereotyped, which she was --

she was fine with that.

She worked with whatever they gave her.

And after her Universal contract expired,

she transitioned to TV,

and she worked on virtually every episodic show that exists

until she finally retired from acting at age 84.

And then she died very recently at age 92,

and she had her body in interred back in Malvern, Arkansas,

under her real name, which was Betty May.

So she had every card stacked against her

and she still triumphed.

Okay, back to the movie.

And you ladies are creating Julia Adams scenarios

every time your show is on, because I'm sure

it's very inspirational to people who feel

that they have no access and no hope.

-Yeah, or they they're not seen.

What they what they see on television or in movies,

they don't see themselves reflected very much.

So when we go to public appearances

or, you know, conventions or whatever it is,

we get a lot of that.

Just your show brought me out of a depression

or it gave me so much inspiration.

And I loved seeing this. Or I loved seeing that.

And it made me want to do my own art, and stuff like that,

which those are like our favorite experiences.

-That's great. Okay.

Sorry to get serious, but actually the character

I don't understand in this movie

is Carla Ferrigno as Priscilla.

You know, we have that whole sequence where Priscilla,

the mayor's daughter, and the English teacher,

are fighting over their breakup, which doesn't --

it looks like a tacked on character.

Like somebody said,

"Hey, wouldn't it be great to have Lou Ferrigno's wife

in the movie?"

Who wouldn't? I mean, who wouldn't want that?

-Yeah.

[Static crackles]

-Oh, Julie.

I thought I'd find you here.

What are you reading?

Oh it's nothing,

Just an article I'm writing. That's all.

I hardly get to see you anymore.

What are you talking about.

I just saw you in class today.

Are you feeling okay?

I mean you, you just don't seem to be quite yourself lately.

I don't know what you mean.

I couldn't be more myself.

Um...

You're still going to the concert tonight?

-Of course. -With Johnny?

-Of course not.

Johnny means nothing to me.

-Well, then what's the attraction?

I mean to the concert.

I mean, how do you go back night after night

and listen to the same old songs, huh?

-But that's what so great about it, it's never the same.

Every night, I find something different in Damian's music.

Something really personal.

I don't know, it's like his music was meant just for me.

-Really?

Yeah, I find that hard to believe.

-I'm disappointed in you, Mathew.

You must have read "Leaves of Grass" 100 times.

And why?

Because you always find something new.

-Yeah.

Julie, I just don't think it's a good idea.

I mean, you've worked very, very hard this term,

and now all of a sudden, you're neglecting your studies,

you're staying out late,

and I don't want you to screw up your chances at a scholarship.

-Ah, who cares?

-I care.

I care, Julie.

I mean, I like you.

You're a nice girl.

-Liking isn't good enough anymore, Matt.

I need something more from you.

And I know why you pull away from me.

It's her.

-You don't know what you're talking about.

There's no one in my life right now but myself.

And that's more than I can handle.

Julie? What --

[Crowd chanting "Rose, Rose"]

-You are the Black Roses.

The flowers of evil.

You have been chosen to smite the soil with the sword of pain.

-Roses, roses, roses.

-We are one with things that prey

and one with what we kill.

-Roses, roses, roses, roses, roses, roses, roses.

Victim, and I,

and thou, are one.

[Cheering]

Let's make blood sing.

[Laughs evilly]

-Demanded medicine to ease stomach upsets

among the hostages.

The Dusseldorf high court has found...

-Whoa, is that you?

Why don't you sit down and watch some TV.

There's not much on but, uh...

-Where's my mother?

-Well, she's out supporting her little family.

-Used to be even smaller.

-Yeah, well, that was back in the stone age.

Mmm, you really do know how to take care

of your old step dad, don't you?

-Yes, I do.

-Don't stop now.

[Grunts]

[Grunting]

-What a nightmare.

Oh, no.

10:00.

I missed the concert.

Julie.

Julie?

Julie!

Oh, Mrs. Sullivan I'm sorry.

I was looking for -- are you alright?

-I was waiting for the police.

-The police, why? What's happened?

-Well...

-Mrs. Sullivan, what's wrong?

-My husband -- I came home from work,

and there's blood all over the place.

I...I...

-Where is Julie?

Where's Julie, Mrs. Sullivan?

-I don't know where Julie is.

I pray to God nothing's happened to her.

-I'll find her, okay?

[Engine starts]

[Children shouting]

-Oh, you're one of Matt's little students.

Oh, teacher's pet.

[Screams]

[Children shouting]

-Neal?

Priscilla?

Damn.

[Telephone ringing]

Julie?

-Matt, it's me.

-Neal, what is it?

-Something happened.

There's been an accident.

Her car caught on fire.

She's dead.

Her car caught on fire.

And, uh, my little girl is dead.

-Priscilla?

[Knock on door]

[Doorbell rings]

[Knocking]

-Julie.

-Mathew.

I've brought you a present.

-What kind of present, Julie?

-Myself.

You know I've always loved you.

Julie, you're just a kid.

You don't mean that. I'm like a father to you.

Julie, no. Now, this isn't right.

-But, Mathew.

-Ah!

What are you doing?

Julie, what is wrong with you?

-But, Mathew, I've taken care of everything.

There's nothing left to stop us from always being together.

-Julie, no.

Julie, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

What in the hell is going on here?

Oh.

-[Growls]

[Growls]

[Screeches]

[Screeching]

[Roars]

[Roars]

[Screeching]

[Screeching]

[Snarling]

[Screeching]

[Screeching]

Fuck.

[Static crackles]

-Oh, fuck indeed.

It's got to be discouraging for a dedicated school teacher

when your star student slits the throat

of your ex-girlfriend, tries to go down on you,

then turns into a demon with giant teeth

and a glowing purple claw

that has to be eviscerated with a kitchen stool

through the gizzards, you know.

Sure, it happens, but weren't the Title IX programs

supposed to get rid of those kinds of disparities

in the schools?

So anyway, that actress is Karen Planden as Julie.

And you have just witnessed her entire career.

This is her only film.

John Martin, as the teacher, on the other hand,

would go on to an extensive career in soaps,

including "Days of Our Lives", "The Young and the Restless",

"One Life to Live."

So Swanthula and Dracmorda, you probably didn't hear

my intro to the movie because you weren't here yet,

but I was talking about the original Valentine's Day,

when Romans would run naked through the streets,

flagging one another with goat hide whips,

and then they would choose random sex partners

out of an urn.

But I feel that you're bringing the spirit

of the feast of Lupercalia,

if not the exact ritual, back to society with your work.

-I'm totally into that. -Me too.

-I really love that. -Proud to do it.

-Happy to do it.

-All right, and your goal in "Dragula"

is to create the world's most amazing super monster, right?

-Mm-hmm. -And to do that,

you use all the things we love here at "The Last Drive-In" --

classic horror, vintage science fiction, punk rock, wrestling.

Darcy is the wrestling expert.

-Hell yeah.

[Laughter]

-But you're more about '80s wrestling, right?

-Yeah, definitely inspired by our GLOW girls, yeah.

-Okay.

What's the main difference between '80s wrestling

and today wrestling?

-It was more offensive in the '80s.

-They were more willing to be politically incorrect.

-Yeah, I think so.

-That's how you got the crowd riled up is you had

a very politically incorrect villain.

-For sure, and they play it on everything --

sexism, like politics.

-Nothing was sacred. -Yeah.

-All right.

Well, the Boulet Brothers, "Dragula Resurrection"

has been on Shudder for a while now,

because you had the special in the plague year,

and then you had the season four,

and I think you've created two new forms of art.

First of all, a new kind of drag

that doesn't really have much to do

with our traditional notions of drag.

And secondly, a new kind of reality show.

Because, I mean, how much do you coach the competitors

on the behind the scenes stuff in "Dragula"?

-For like the reality portion?

-The stuff that at their homes or when they're interacting

with one another?

-That? None.

-Yeah, we really don't do that.

-We do encourage them to speak their mind.

You know, we will say,

"Hey, make sure you talk about this

that you're going through or whatever."

But it's things that they told us they wanted to talk about.

And then the camera comes on, and they'll get nervous.

So we'll remind them of what you know, what they wanted

to talk about, but we don't seed them anything or try to

push on something.

Whatever they're inspired by in the moment,

that's what we want to see on camera.

-So if they're obnoxious,

they're choosing to be obnoxious.

-Yeah. -If they don't like

another person, they really don't like the other person.

If they like another person, they really like that person.

-Yeah, yeah. All that stuff is very natural.

We don't over-produce their characters in any way.

-So it's not "Real Housewives of New Jersey."

-No, although we love "The Real Housewives of New Jersey."

But the show creates a pressure cooker, too.

You know, there's so much, there's artistic challenge,

but there's always that looming threat

of what you might have to do if you don't perform well.

And then it's like all your natural feelings.

Like, I like this bitch or I don't or whatever.

So we're lucky. I feel like We've we cast very well.

We love our cast. They become kind of part of our family.

But we put them in this pressure cooker,

and they just like, go off.

-Yeah, well, it comes across as very heartfelt

to the point that, you know, they all want the prize so badly

that there's a real sadness

every time somebody gets eliminated.

-Yeah. -Yeah.

You know, I don't even want to say --

I want to say we are taking a form of drag.

Maybe amplifying it and really spinning it more

into the horror space, but it's been there.

This like transgressive like punk drag

has been there since drag has been there I think.

It's just been sort of like forgotten and unsung.

So we want to take that and like,

bring it forward and put it in the spotlight.

And I think that's where you get some of that fever

to be seen and to win

because there traditionally aren't very many outlets

for those type of artists.

-Right, they're not celebrated. -They're not celebrated at all.

So we've created a platform that takes those things

that people are outcasts for and turns it into

their superpower, and we celebrate them for that.

-Well, what makes me feel a little bit better

when I watch those moments is, you know, I hope the losers

are still helped by the show in their careers

when they go back home.

-Oh. yeah, totally. No, they are.

-I don't think winning the show necessarily means

you're going to make the most money

or you're the most popular, because a lot of times,

you know, fan favorites will go home early,

but they'll go on to have a big career afterwards.

Like, they'll get booked at nightclubs to perform

and get other things going on.

So it's not always necessarily the winner that wins the most.

-Okay. -Yeah.

-Well, I hope you have 197 more seasons if you want

to do it for that long. -Thank you.

-And thank you for being here.

This has been wonderful to have you.

-Thank you. It's an honor to be here.

-Oh, it's such a pleasure.

We'd come and hang out with you again anytime.

-All right. Well, you can come anytime.

Okay, the only thing left to figure out in "Black Roses"

is how the courageous teacher is going to defeat

Damian and the mind control Black Roses band.

But we know we can do it.

And you know how we know?

They had that scene where he went to the library.

-Where one goes when they need to learn to fight

the Dark Prince, right?

-And he read books about witchcraft and magic,

and he Googled that fucker, you know.

So... -All you need.

-Okay, now for the thrilling conclusion to "Black Roses."

And the Black Roses band,

by the way, Carmine Appice is the drummer,

and he pulled together those musicians.

Carmine Appice has drummed for Rod Stewart,

Ted Nugent, Vanilla Fudge.

Does anybody remember Vanilla Fudge?

-You lost me at Vanilla Fudge. -Vanilla Fudge.

Vocals are Marcie Free of King Kobra.

Chuck Wright of Quiet Riot is on bass.

And Mick Sweda of Bulletboys is on guitar.

And the soundtrack is a collector's item

because of all the metal bands on it,

including Lizzy Borden, Bang Tango,

and, oddly enough, Tempest, the Christian Celtic rockers.

You know, so turn up the power, turn up the lights.

We're on a mission, and we rock all night.

You know, those are the lyrics

that will turn you into a satanic maniac.

So never, never recite those words. Ever.

Oh, my god, I'm changing. I recited "Drag Swan"!

Help me!

[Static crackles]

-Thanks, man.

[Horn honks, dog barks]

[Cheering]

-Adorn me, my flowers.

My children of evil.

Worship your master.

The Black Roses will rise.

Stay with me my children.

-Damian, Damian, Damian, Damian,

-Adorn me, my flowers.

My children of evil.

Worship your master.

The Black Roses will rise.

Stay with me my children.

Yes.

My soldiers of evil.

Soldiers of death.

Stay with me.

Worship your master.

Worship your master.

Evil.

The flowers will ignite the flame of death.

Soldiers of death.

No mercy shall be shown.

You are my soldiers.

Yes.

My soldiers of evil.

Soldiers of death.

Stay with me.

Worship your master.

Adorn me, my flowers.

My children of evil.

Worship your master.

The Black Roses will rise.

Stay with me my children.

Yes.

My soldiers of evil.

Soldiers of death.

Stay with me.

Worship your master.

-Damian, Damian, Damian, Damian.

Worship your master.

-Damian, Damian, Damian, Damian.

Get that man!

-Johnny, Johnny.

-Give him to me!

[Indistinct shouting]

Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight,

fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight.

[Crowd quiets]

-Oh, you're good, Matt.

Real good.

I'll give you that.

Best I ever come across.

-What'd you do with me kids, you son of a bitch?

-Your kids?

You had your chance.

Now they're mine.

[Laughs]

-What in the hell?

-Yes.

Hell.

[Laughs]

-Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight.

Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight.

Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight,

fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight,

fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight.

Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight.

Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight.

-[Roars]

[Cheering]

-Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight.

-[Roars]

[Growling]

[Cheering]

[Roars]

[Crowd chanting "Fight, fight"]

[Demon roars]

[Roaring]

-Show's over.

[Cheering]

[Screeching]

[Screeching]

[All shouting]

[Alarm ringing]

[Coughing, siren wailing]

Let's get the kids out of there. Let it burn.

Milt, Mickey!

Forget everything else, try to save the kids.

[Coughing]

-[Roaring]

[Siren wailing]

-What do you mean? Where's my father?

Where's my father?

-Jesus Christ, you were right all along.

The coroner just told me

that Priss was killed before the car ever caught on fire.

I've been a God damn fool.

-Oh, God!

Ah, motherfucker!

[Screaming]

Oh, fuck!

You son of a bitch!

-Stay down, stay down.

-This is a nightmare.

-Let's hope we wake up from it.

-[Roaring]

[Alarm ringing]

[Indistinct talking on television]

-In entertainment, Black Roses --

-Neal, turn that up.

-They return to the stage after a six month hiatus.

The big news for the teen crowd tonight.

Popular heavy metal band Black Roses

came to New York today on a five-day concert swing

before taking their show to Britain early next week.

The popular group has sold Madison Square Garden

for every single night in the first week of August.

And a record breaking half million fans are

expected to attend.

The band's controversial lead singer Damian told News 87,

"It's always been my dream to play Madison Square Garden.

I knew I could count on New Yorkers for their support."

And that concludes tonight entertainment update.

See you tomorrow.

Evil.

[Evil laughter]

♪♪

♪♪

♪ I'm a ♪

♪ Bad boy by my birth right ♪

♪ I look good, I'm locked in tonight ♪

♪ Got a ♪

♪ Chip on my shoulder as big as my hair ♪

♪ I got your girl ♪

♪ She's in my bed ♪

♪ I'm loud, crude, and really rude ♪

♪ People say I got an attitude ♪

♪ So I'll make it plain ♪

♪ Better know my name ♪

♪ Coming at you like a hurricane ♪

♪ I'm the king ♪

♪ King of Kool ♪

♪ It's a dirty job that I gotta do ♪

♪ I'm the King ♪

♪ King of Kool ♪

♪ I'm living proof that's it's the truth ♪

♪ I'm the King ♪

♪ It's such a strange uneasy feeling ♪

♪ Got no place to go ♪

♪ Feeling down ♪

♪ My feet stop kicking ♪

♪ I think it's time to go ♪

♪ Start to walking down my favorite main street ♪

♪ Everybody's acting so cool ♪

♪ I tell you something, baby ♪

♪ Just what I see ♪

♪ There's too many disease ♪

♪ I'm a stranger ♪

♪ Oh, I think it's time ♪

♪ I've got to blow this town ♪

♪ We're down to the city ♪

♪ That's where I got to be ♪

♪ I'm a stranger ♪

♪ Oh, I think it's time I've got to blow this town ♪

[Static crackles]

-All that research on the occult

that Mr. Moorehouse did in the library

led him to the perfect antidote to Demon Rock --

road flares and gasoline

purchased at the local Texaco station.

And once he goes on the attack,

Damian transforms into the bald bubble gum dinosaur

pus-faced lizard monster that he really is.

But his Godzilla-like power walk

is no match for bass drum mallets.

[Laughter]

No sequel?

What do you think, Darcy?

The Black Roses band is still playing at the end of the movie.

No sequel?

-I think that whole censorship controversy is kind of over

at this point.

-Really? -I think so.

-Yuki, can you get rid of this karaoke machine?

You know, I really never want to see this thing again.

-No.

-Why not?

-It is cursed.

-[Sighs]

[Laughter]

-Yuki, you did do a good job on

"How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?"

I closed my eyes. and I thought that was Al Green singing.

-Karaoke is from Japan.

-We know that, Yuki. Okay.

We're halfway through "Heartbreak Trailer Park",

our annual Valentine's special.

And, Darcy, you don't strike me as a hearts, flowers,

chocolates go out for romantic dinner,

Valentine, girl.

-Mnh-mnh. Absolutely not.

-What do you like to do on Valentine's Day?

-Horror and sex.

[Laughter]

-Oh, okay.

"My Bloody Valentine" and then some aardvarking.

-Yeah, baby.

-I remember you were so upset when I did a show in Austin

and they had me introduce "My Bloody Valentine",

and it was not Valentine's Day.

-Yes! You said only watch that movie in February.

-You're big on holidays.

-I live for holidays.

-And coordinating the movies with holidays.

I know that any time we do a holiday show,

I can just call you up and say,

"What's the best Arbor Day movie?"

And you will know the answer.

-I'm going to go with "The Guardian."

-See, that's what I mean. Like what?

-It's like a nanny who feeds babies to trees

and is becoming a tree, and it seems appropriate.

-So you really do know all the Arbor Day movies.

-I mean, any movie where people go into the woods

and don't come out would work really.

-Well, that's hundreds of movies.

-Yeah, we should do an Arbor Day special.

-All right, well, I'll consider it.

But do we have any mailbag?

-Yep.

-Oh, wait. "Guardians of the Galaxy."

-What?

-Well, Groot sacrifices himself to save the rest of the team.

He's a humanoid tree.

-You're like a walking, talking Google search.

-What, because I've heard of the highest grossing movie of 2014.

-Thank you, Darcy.

[Laughter]

All right.

All right.

This is what --

-Sorry. Yes, we have some mailbag.

This is one of the letters handed to you at

Joe Bob's Drive-In Jamboree last summer at the

Mahoning Drive-In in Pennsylvania

-Okay, so I've already read this?

I think I have read this.

-You have, but I thought it was really appropriate for tonight.

The Boulet brothers are all about empowerment,

and that's what this letter is about.

It's from Candy "The Final Girl" Allison in Brownsburg, Indiana.

-Okay.

"Joe Bob, 24 years ago, when I was a girl of 18,

I was and I still am completely obsessed with horror

and living on the wit and trivia on 'Monster Vision.'

You helped me in a way that family, friends

and even doctors couldn't.

I was very ill and couldn't step one foot outside of my house,

not even the front porch.

I had no idea what was wrong with me.

Only watching horror and 'Monster Vision' calmed me.

In an age when everyone had home computers and Internet, 1997,

I handwrote letters into the show.

My family was very poor, and having cable was a luxury,

so I assumed my letters would get lost in the shuffle.

Lo and behold, you wrote back to me by hand twice!

It was enough to get me to step outside.

A feat no one could get me to do.

And they tried it just so I could go to the mailbox.

I can't thank you enough for the time,

consideration, and inspiration.

Once I was able to step outside and break my agoraphobia,

I kept going and got better.

As a growing horror personality myself in the community,

as the hostess creator of

"The House That Screams" horror podcast,

I've never forgotten how such an acorn of hope

can bring forth a mighty oak.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I've waited 24 years to tell you this.

It's an honor."

She was right there in front of me.

She could have said this. I remember her now.

-You're intimidating.

-"Love, Candy, The Final Girl, Allison, Brownsburg, Indiana."

And I remember her because we took a picture together.

But the thing I remember

about getting letters in the actual mail,

and I still do get a few of those,

is that people always took more care

about really explaining what they wanted to discuss.

Because I get e-mails that are so incoherent

that I'm not really sure what the person is talking about.

I think because people don't check their typing

before they hit send.

So anyway, Candy, good luck with the podcast,

and apparently you had a full recovery

because anybody who was at that jamboree has no fear of people.

That place was jammed to the gills.

I got sensory overload from that experience.

-Dude, you were hallucinating.

-I was hallucinating!

You know, you get to a certain point of exhaustion

where reality starts to blur.

You weren't holding up so well yourself.

-I mean -- -I definitely hit the wall.

-People would come up to me and say,

"My favorite movie is 'Halloween'."

And I would say, "Halloween, I haven't heard of that movie."

I mean, really, I was brain dead.

I was just -- nothing was working.

-You kind of were, but it all worked out for the best.

-Yeah. I didn't need that part of my brain.

Okay, coming up next on

"Joe Bob's Heartbreak Trailer Park"

is the classic "Frankenhooker",

made by the legendary Frank Henenlotter,

who also made "Basket Case" and "Brain Damage."

And have we shown three Frank Henenlotter films

on this show?

-I do believe we have. -All right.

Well, we love Frank, and Frank is here

along with James Lorinz, star of the movie.

And I know this is one of your favorites.

-I love it.

-And I can just imagine the cosplay.

Are you going whole hog on this?

-Dude. -Hogzilla! Hogzilla! Hogzilla!

-Going full Hogzilla on this one, baby.

[Laughter]

-Okay. Whole Hogzilla. -Whoo!

Thanks, guys.

In the meantime, this is Joe Bob Briggs reminding you

to never kick a fresh turd on a hot day,

and the drive-in will never die.

[Laughter]

-We good?

-I know you're waiting for the joke.

You want me to tell a joke, don't you?

-I thought maybe we could skip it because it's a holiday.

-So the local United Way office realizes

that they've never received any donations

from the town's most successful lawyer.

-You like lawyer jokes? -We'll see.

-So the United Way person calls up the lawyer

and says, "Our research indicates

that you have a yearly income of $2 million,

but you don't give a single penny to charity.

Wouldn't you like to give back to the community in some way?"

And the lawyer says,

"Well, did your research also show that my mother

is dying after a long illness and she has medical bills

that are several times her annual income?"

United Way guy goes, "Oh, no, I'm sorry.

No, I didn't know that."

And the lawyer says, "Or that my brother is a disabled veteran

and he's blind and confined to a wheelchair"?

The United Way guy starts apologized,

but the lawyer interrupts him again, he says,

"Or the my sister's husband died in a traffic accident,

and she's now penniless with three children to raise"?

United Way guy feels terrible, and he says, "I had no idea."

And the lawyer says, "So if I didn't give any money to them,

why should I give any to you?"

[Laughter]

[Static crackles]

[Beeping]

♪♪

♪ Gas up, get with it ♪

♪ Your love I'm winning ♪

♪ Feels good, Saturday night ♪

♪ Got snacks, cold beverage ♪

♪ This is just the beginning ♪

♪ Come closer now, I swear I won't bite ♪

♪ But you know I'm lying ♪

♪ Turn the radio dial to 8-6-9 ♪

♪ Tap into the powerline ♪

♪ You're my bloody valentine ♪

♪ So let's get in the back, seats reclined ♪

♪ Apples, peaches, pumpkin pie ♪

♪ Beep beep, backseat at the drive in ♪

♪ Hop in, and we're gonna sin ♪

♪ The radio's fine, the movie won't mind ♪

♪ You and me, baby, private time ♪

♪ Beep beep, back seat, at the drive in ♪

♪ Hop in, and we're gonna sin ♪

♪ Stick shift drive in love ♪

♪ Stick shift drive in love ♪

♪ Guitar ♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪ Beep beep, back seat, at the drive in ♪

♪ Hop in, and we're gonna sin ♪

♪ Beep beep, back seat, at the drive in ♪

♪ Hop in, and we're gonna sin ♪

♪ Beep beep, back seat, at the drive in ♪

♪ Hop in, and we're gonna sin ♪

♪ The radio's fine, the movie won't mind ♪

♪ You and me, baby, private time ♪

♪ Beep beep, back seat, at the drive in ♪

♪ Hop in, and we're gonna sin ♪

♪ Stick shift drive in love ♪

♪ Stick shift drive in love ♪

[Static crackles]