It’s A Bloody Good Time at ‘Murder at the Drive-In’ (Review)

On the first majorly wet and cold evening of the Fall season in Denver, I kept checking Audacious Theatre’s Facebook page expecting to find a cancellation post for their opening night performance of Murder at the Drive-In. Instead, the only thing I could find was a recent post announcing a complete sell out of the very limited (five date) run, and that additional tickets had been released in response.

With no dedicated home location, Audacious Theatre’s pop-up style and scrappy budget frequently puts them in very non-traditional venues like a comic book store or bowling alley. This brings a certain novelty to the performances as well as inevitable logistical obstacles. But Audacious Theatre always demonstrates creative adaptability in response to these challenges, and in their signature not-taking-ourselves-too-seriously style.

Faced with the newer, greater challenge of also making pandemic-friendly theatre, for Murder at the Drive-In they chose the increasingly popular drive-in format and then leaned way into it. An illuminated “Shining Light Drive-In” sign welcomes us as we pull up next to a carnival-esque ticket booth where we check in and are directed to our parking spot. These minimal flourishes are highly effective at creating the drive-in vibe, as are the roaming employees picking up trash and milling around before the show.

The backdrop to the main event is a showcase of really bad, very cheesy 80’s horror movies — complete with relevant fictional “coming attraction” previews at the beginning. This programming decision aligns well with Audacious Theatre’s penchant for dry, understated humor and sets the scene for the chaos that will eventually unfold tonight.

Just like the Itchy-O drive-in experience I caught in August, Murder at the Drive-In utilizes local airwaves to broadcast the show’s audio components on the radio. Most of the vocal acting isn’t live, though; it is recorded to sound as if it’s live. Not long after the screening began, a friendly drive-in worker comes on air to let us know about some “technical difficulties” with the film, which then morphs into an unfortunate run-in with a zombie.

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Things progress quickly in the 45-minute performance, and suddenly the action we are listening to moves from the projection booth and into the parking lot. The loose storyline for the remainder of the show floats around the idea that horror movie villains were running amok at the exact drive-in that we were parked inside of. There is a lot of choreographed fighting between the monsters, and what I could see of that is fun. But between the inherent viewing restrictions of a watch-from-your-car show and the lack of lighting in the parking lot, I’m afraid I miss a lot of the action as well. Undoubtedly, the most thrilling part of Murder at the Drive-In is having the monsters approach and peer inside our car, tap on our windows, and attempt to open our locked doors. I’m proud to admit they even got a few jump scares out of me, which is no easy task for this haunted house actor and enthusiast.

The entire experience also has an additional game layer with with Murder Bingo At The Drive-In. Populated with horror movie tropes like “inept security guard or police officer” and “can’t run without tripping,” each vehicle is instructed to stamp their bingo card as certain things were said or acted out. This drove home just how absurdly comical the whole thing was, and added a fun layer of interactivity.

Most tickets to the production were set at $50 or $55 per vehicle, with an extra $5 being charged for “murder spots” where your car gets hit with washable blood splatters. Front row “murder spots” were also available for $60 per car. Given the viewing restrictions previously mentioned, I’d say the extra $10 would have been money well spent to be closer… and bloodier!

Some might be quick to critique the experience as being too short (it did go by fast) or too amateur (the movie screen was a bit small and using theatrical lighting to direct the audience’s attention would go a long way), but I’d be quick to challenge that assertion. What Audacious Theatre lacks in budget and production they make up for in enthusiasm and originality. From the action-packed fight scenes to the deliciously dark humor, I found Murder at the Drive-In to be perfectly on-brand and exactly as promised: a pandemic-proof horror-comedy filled with murder, masked killers, and unceasing scary movie tropes!

Murder at the Drive-In has concluded.

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