“The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs” will premiere its season four debut tonight on streaming service, Shudder.
“Hey everybody, have you heard the news, Joe Bob is back in town!” The words, written by filmmaker, producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist John Brennan, denotes a whimsical introduction to “The Last Drive in with Joe Bob Briggs,” which has brought a cavalcade of fun-filled, schlocky horror flicks, commentary and special guests to AMC-owned streaming service Shudder since its debut in 2018. The show airs everything from unknown B-movies to horror classics, complete with commentary from the series’ titular host, Joe Bob Briggs, and is set to begin its fourth season this weekend.
“Throughout high school I made movies on a Hi8 camera with my friends,” Brennan told The New School Free Press over Zoom. “They all went on to do normal jobs like banking or teaching. I went to film school on Long Island.”
Brennan is an artist who has taken on a myriad of roles since entering the realm of horror. He began his foray into the film industry making movies on his own before moving to Los Angeles in pursuit of writing jobs.
“If there’s any film students or aspiring filmmakers out there heed my advice, do not be narrow minded, this is not the field to do that,” Brennan explained. “I made a huge mistake, for about 8-10 years of my career, by only wanting to do one thing. And while I did write about 12 screenplays, I never sold anything. I feel like I should have been interning and meeting people instead of working a day job and staying in my room, writing.”
After feeling as though he had exhausted his time in LA, Brennan moved back to New York City, involving himself in public access television and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre before answering an open call for volunteer editors at Lloyd Kaufman’s Troma Entertainment, an independent film studio based in Long Island City that has specialized in producing and distributing a slew of cartoonish, violent and often grotesque horror films for nearly five decades.
Since taking on the gig, Brennan has produced and directed a number of films and segments for the studio, most recently producing “#Shakespeare’sShitstorm,” a contemporary reimagining of “The Tempest,” which is currently holding screenings in theaters around the country.
Brennan’s musical background is less formal than his film training.
“I always did music as kind of a hobby, I’ve been home recording since the late 90s,” Brennan said.
The filmmaker’s musical background came in handy during the production of the 2017 film, “Return to… Return to Nuke ‘Em High AKA Part 2”, when budgetary constraints prevented the studio from securing the rights to Q Lazzarus’ “Goodbye Horses,” for a scene parodying an often imitated sequence from “The Silence of the Lambs,” in which Buffalo Bill performs a penile tuck.
“They couldn’t afford the Q Lazzarus track. I made the knockoff, everybody liked it and now it’s in the movie,” Brennan told the Free Press. “The producer, Matt Manjourides, always remembered that I did music, and when it came time to do ‘The Last Drive-In’ theme, he asked me to do a demo, it was liked by all, and approved within 24 hours. It was crazy.”
And just like that, Brennan was thrust into the role of musical director for “The Last Drive-In,” a role he has served since the series’ inception in 2018, penning the introductory theme song and soundtrack that was released in limited quantities on vinyl and online via the Ship to Shore PhoneCo in August of last year. Save for a few special guest spots, Brennan performed a bulk of the instrumental and vocal tracks himself.
The soundtrack delves into a number of contrasting stylistic territories, including punk rock, doo-wop and country.
“I have like six or seven influences that are always on my mind when making music,” Brennan said. “Ween, Frank Zappa, Wu-Tang Clan, Iron Maiden, Stevie Wonder, Madonna, Liz Phair, Phish — I’ve seen about 88 shows — and The Beatles of course.”
The show’s season premiere, which is set to air tonight at 9 p.m. on Shudder, will mark the series’ 100th movie.
“When we first started it we shot it in a shoe box in New Jersey for very little money, we just all believed in Joe Bob Briggs,” Brennan said.
Briggs has brought horror to the forefront of television since 1986, hosting the programs “Drive In Theater” and “MonsterVision.” The host, who boasts a comedic redneck schtick, presents drive-in movies with informative tidbits of commentary and information in between movie segments, often employing special guests that include actors, directors, producers and fans of the films he presents. “MonsterVision” aired its final episode in September of 2000. 18 years later, Briggs hosted a 13 hour film marathon that generated so much traffic, it crashed Shudder’s servers.
“We were all very surprised, we thought it was going to be his goodbye,” Brennan said. “It was designed as his farewell that he never got on ‘MonsterVision.’ Thankfully we’re here, going on our fourth season.”
The show is fuelled by a passionate love for the drive-in, and the crew’s fearless leader.
“Everyone behind the scenes is a fan of Joe Bob,” Brennan said. “That’s why the show is as good as it is. We all think Joe Bob is a really funny genius and a one take wonder.”
The show, as explained by Brennan, is shot live with minimal rollbacks or repeat takes.
“The difficult part is the set up,” Brennan said. “The easy part is watching Joe Bob and [co-host] Darcy work their magic. They have great chemistry, and I think it shines through. Every time we show an episode we trend on Twitter, so something’s going right!”
The series has shown a myriad of different films, from contemporary horror masterpiecess like “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” to cult classics like “Re-Animator,” to downright loathsome films like “Pieces” and controversial bits like “Cannibal Holocaust.”
“I think the curation has been pretty on point, we’ve gone from the highest of the highs to the lowest of the lows,” Brennan laughed. “My ultimate wish list would be a double feature of ‘Phantom of the Paradise’ with Paul Williams as the guest, and ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show.’ So it would be musical night!”
As a multi-disciplinary artist, John Brennan has a lot on his plate, and a lot of output coming in the near future. He has written 2 screenplays, including “Grossferatu,” which Brennan described as “the most disgusting movie about Dracula ever made.”
Brennan is also in the planning stages of a new album titled “The Last Drive Thru,” which will feature a cavalcade of songs about fast food.
Brennan’s story is one that paints a picture of an artist whose open mindedness landed him in incredible places with equally incredible opportunities.
“Sometimes giving yourself away for free when you’re first starting out is good,” Brennan said. “Give yourself away for free because that brings you to the attention of people higher up who will use you. They will use you at first, but then they’ll see you’re a hard worker, bring you into the fold and start to pay you. That’s what happened to me with Troma. If you’re being exploited, don’t do it, but if you’re getting something out of it like contacts, networking and experience, then sometimes it’s absolutely worth it to give yourself away for free. The only reason I got onto the Joe Bob Briggs show is because I gave myself away for free to edit ‘Make Your Own Damn Movie’ lessons for Lloyd Kaufman. Without that I would have never met Justin Martell and Matt Manjourides, and I wouldn’t have this great thing that I do.”
I play, I write, I play, I write...
Met him at the joe bob jamboree. Coolest mofo
John Brennan is one the coolest guys. So nice and fun. I would love to sit down, talk and have a couple beers with him.