Super Monster Movie Fest 2025 at the Skyline Drive-In

August 26th, 2025

It's still drive-in season, so I wanted to take the opportunity to show off one of my all-time favorite theaters! This past Saturday, I took my girlfriend on a date to the Skyline Drive-In for Super Monster Movie Fest. The Skyline has been open since 1950, and is one of about twenty surviving drive-ins left in Indiana. I found it back in 2017 when I was a sophomore in college, and ever since my first trip, I've made it a goal to go back at least once or twice a year, even if it's quite a long drive from where I live. Out of all of the drive-ins that I've been to, this one is easily my favorite, and I jokingly like to refer to it as my home away from home.

So, what is it that makes this drive-in stand out from all the rest? One of the biggest highlights of this theater is the variety of films that they show. The two drive-ins close to my hometown mainly show newly released mainstream films, with the occasional retro showing thrown in every now and then. While the Skyline does show new releases, they also have several special events throughout the year that are dedicated to throwback genre films. The first time I ever went there was for Super Monster Movie Fest, an annual dusk-till-dawn event that plays anywhere from eight to ten monster movies over the course of two nights. Some other fun events include Skyline Scares, which is dedicated to horror films, and Guiltless Pleasures, which celebrates cult films of all genres. A past event that I really enjoyed was Pandemonium Picture Show, another dusk-till-dawn event that was a two-night celebration of grindhouse / exploitation films, complete with a live burlesque show. These events bring in a lot of people from both inside and outside the state, and if you go to more than one, there's a good chance you will recognize attendees from past events and maybe strike up a friendship. Every event I go to gives me the comfy feeling of a bunch of misfits getting together to enjoy the weird stuff that they like as a group. It's like a horror convention at a much smaller scale.

At many of these events, vendors will set up tables outside the concession stand and sell things like tapes, DVDs Blu-Rays, old monster magazines, one-sheet posters, model kits, action figures, you name it. With boxes upon boxes of stuff to sift through, you never know what treasures you may find for a decent price. This time around, I managed to pick up a couple of old issues of Famous Monsters of Filmland and Fangoria, as well as a few movies for cheap. My girlfriend grabbed a couple of other monster magazines, and she surprised me with a box set of forgotten Giallo films as an early birthday present. I have to take a moment to say that I love that woman so much. She's so thoughtful with the things she likes to get me, and I can't wait for the chance to dig through it and see what the movies are like!

The past Super Monster Movie Fests that I've been to were normally themed around a certain type of creature - like water monsters, bugs, mad science creations, et cetera. This year's theme wasn't a type of monster, but instead a location - movies set in high schools or colleges. I thought it was a weird decision at first, but since they've been running these fests for 14-15 years now, it's only natural that they would start to run out of specific types of monsters to highlight. Even though we only went to one night of the event, there was still plenty to enjoy. First up was Trick or Treat from 1986. I had heard of the movie before, but I had no idea what it was about. I went into it expecting a standard, mid-80s slasher film with forgettable characters but memorable kills. Instead, what I got was a bonkers story of a heavy metal singer who dies in a fire and transfers his spirit into a vinyl of his final album. When the record is played backwards, his spirit is unleashed into the world to take out his vengeance on the people who made him and his fans outcasts. When you take a story that ridiculous and combine it with a soundtrack that is made up of mid-80s hair metal songs, it makes for a gloriously cheesy and fun time. The film's main star was also there in person to do a live commentary and a comedy show. It was a hilarious experience, and I'd recommend any fan of 80s horror and heavy metal to check the movie out.

Next up was Brian De Palma's Carrie. I first watched the movie way back in high school, and this was my first time rewatching it since then. I remembered not liking it on my first viewing because of how different its ending is from the book's, but this time around, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sissy Spacek's portrayal of Carrie White is equal parts scared, vulnerable and damaged, but she also has this sense of hopefulness that is struggling so hard to get out. The movie has a fantastic buildup, at first keeping most of the tension reserved for scenes between Carrie and her mother and the other students at school planning their "prank." The tonal shift at the climactic prom scene hits you like a truck, and the rest of the movie is a Technicolor bloodbath that leaves you feeling sad but satisfied at the same time. In fact, the climax is so good that it may be a little too much for some viewers. My girlfriend isn't normally a fan of a lot of horror, and she found the ending to be pretty devastating. She got really invested in the high school drama between the characters, and really wanted to see Carrie get her happily ever after ending. I still think I like the book's ending more, but as a whole, I can totally see why it's still considered one of the best Stephen King adaptations.

Last up was Ginger Snaps, which was another blind viewing for me. I really only knew the title and nothing else about it, so I wasn't expecting to get a werewolf movie that is also a commentary on the effects of puberty. Emily Perkins and Katharine Isabelle have great chemistry as the leads, playing two outcast sisters whose close relationship is torn apart when one is infected by a werewolf. The movie draws a pretty interesting parallel between lycanthropy and the "curse" of womanhood. As one sister is slowly succumbing to the infection, she is also dealing with the effects of her body entering puberty - terrible mood swings, mad attraction to boys, and things of that nature. It's fitting that this was paired with Carrie, and both movies share bleak endings that really make you feel for the characters and the trauma that they go through. Emily Perkins in particular does an awesome job of portraying hopelessness and despair as she realizes that she likely can't save the person that means so much to her. Topped off with some awesome practical werewolf effects and makeup, this one was a real treat, and easily my favorite film of the night. Afterwards, with a long drive ahead of us, we called it a night and headed home.

This was the first Super Monster Movie fest that I had been able to attend since 2021. After the long absence, it felt so good to be back, and getting to share that experience with the woman I love made the night even better. There are a couple of other events happening at the Skyline in the coming months, and if my wallet holds out, I'll be going and writing about them here. If you live near Indiana and want to check out the best theater that the state has to offer, make the drive to the Skyline - where the monsters live!