Holiday Auto Theatre

Image courtesy of Holiday Auto Theatre

The drive-in theatre, according to Wikipedia, made its debut in 1933. Following its premiere, it became very popular around the United States and in other parts of the world. In recent years, however, its level of popularity has fallen. Today, only a limited number of drive-in theatres remain, often tucked in the countryside and unknown to most people.

With a ticket in hand for free admission and refreshments, my family and I headed out to the closest drive-in theatre, Holiday Auto Theatre in Hamilton, Ohio. With plans to watch Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, we left the house early to make it to the theatre with time to spare and to grab a good spot, allowing us to fully enjoy the movie and all else the theatre had to offer.

Image courtesy of Holiday Auto Theatre

That was our plan. What really happened, however, proved quite different. After making a wrong turn, we drove into the theatre twenty-minutes late. We were met with a full lot, forcing us to park in the grass at the rear of the theatre. Our view of the screen (which appeared microscopic from our location) was partially blocked by a large truck in front of us. We were also direclty behind a small road, meaning cars would constantly pass by during the movie as families entered and left the theatre.

Adding onto the list of less-than-great things that happened during our time, my animal-loving brother thought it'd be a great idea to bring our dog, Maggie. She freaked out during the whole movie, whining and refusing to sit still. Furthering the distractions were crickets chirping behind us, mosquitos biting us, a small child crying in the distance, and fireworks exploding nearby. The popcorn, although free with our coupon, was also slightly burnt.

In the midst of this complaint marathon, I was clueless what was happening in the movie. At one point, Shia LaBeouf was starting his life at college, the next, he was in some meat-shop, and finally, we found the star in Egypt as massive robots battled all around him. I'm sure the effects were stunning and the storyline was fantastic, but with all the distractions around me, I didn't have much of a clue what was happening.

I must admit that 90% of what went wrong, from the seemingly-miniature screen to the loud noises around us, was our own fault. Had we arrived earlier and grabbed a good spot near the screen, I'm sure we would've enjoyed the movie much better. It was not the theatre's fault that crickets chirped in the trees behind us or that somebody thought it'd be a brillaint idea to light fireworks on a nearby property as a movie played next-door, but these distractions and annoyances ruined the experience none-the-less.

However, with a second ticket for free admission and refreshments, I'm willing to return a second time (with plans to arrive earlier) to give the theatre a second chance. For this reason, we'll leave the overall rating off of this review.