Interview: Darcy the Mail Girl delivers stories behind The Last Drive-In
By Carla Davis
1428 Elm: December’s Red Christmas marathon was one of my personal favorites, because it was really well-rounded where you and Joe Bob were concerned. We laughed at your antler impalement, and teared up at the sad personal stories each of you told at the end. Was this something that the two of you talked about in advance, or was it ad-libbed? Either way, it was captivating.
Darcy the Mail Girl: Thank you! The antler impalement was something he wanted to do before we even knew for sure we were doing a Christmas show. I think it was brought up during the Halloween Hootenanny that if we did come back for a Christmas special I was getting impaled! I think he thought that would scare me somehow, but are you kidding me? That was a dream come true! The “sad” theme came about because he really did think we had a Horror Host Christmas Party thing happening, but it all came apart kind of last minute.
He was legit depressed, and not feeling festive, but I was trying to pep him up and help him find his “Horrorday” Spirit. We talked a bit off camera about what would cheer him up, and since he knows a lot about me, he asked me to tell that story. I really didn’t want to, but he said he’d share one of his sad stories if I did, and refused to drop it. He’d get a little smiley when I entertained the idea, but bummed all over again if I said no.
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I really just wanted him to be happy and realize how amazing it was that we got to have our little Mutant Party, even without guests, so eventually JB won out. It was scary to be that open, but I’ve gotten a lot of messages from folks who went through similar experiences, so now I’m glad we did end up getting so personal. I just hope if we do another one next year we get to keep it peppy!
1428 Elm: We know you are a genuine horror fan, what is your favorite “current” horror film, and why?
Darcy the Mail Girl: Hmmm…If Terrifier counts, put me down for that one! I LOVE that movie and am counting down the seconds til’ Terrifier 2 comes out! There’s also a little movie called Scarehouse from 2014 that I LOVED, and think deserves a lot more attention. If you want even newer than that, though, I love Ready or Not with all my soul, and The Banana Splits Movie from last year was surprisingly a lot of fun!
1428 Elm: You tweeted a photo of yourself recently standing next to a stack of boxes, and announced that “every single episode of #Monstervision and #DriveInTheater” were in your hot little hands. That’s exciting news, what is your dream for digitizing the episodes? Do you have a plan for making them available for the fans?
Darcy the Mail Girl: I’m just starting to figure all that out right now. All I know is that JB did nothing with these for so long, and that’s a travesty! I want to get these out to the people who loved these shows (including myself) ASAP, and maybe introduce some new fans to an amazing era of TV history they missed out on. There’s a reason why Joe Bob is a living legend to so many of us, and a big part of that is evident in this footage that is super hard (and in many cases literally impossible) to come by anywhere else.
1428 Elm: The Last Drive-In has been a huge success for Shudder, and although an announcement was made that the series was being renewed, nothing has been said yet about a premier date. When can we expect that announcement? I mean, I NEED TO KNOW!
Darcy the Mail Girl: VERY SOON! I promise!
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Are you a fan of Shudder’s The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs? Do you think Darcy is his most compelling Mail Girl? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section.