Joe Bob Briggs and Darcy the Mail Girl returned to The Last Drive-In with a Christmas-themed double feature that leaned hard into icy slashers and oddball shot-on-video energy. The night paired Iced (1989) with Curtains (1983), two films that could not be more different in execution yet oddly complemented each other in tone. One is cheap, grimy, and mean-spirited; the other is moody, theatrical, and strangely elegant. It made for an uneven but memorable episode that felt very on-brand for 80’s slasher representation on The Last Drive-In.
Curtains Steals The Night
Curtains is the clear standout. It’s been requested to be on the show for years now, so fans finally got to see it get its time. It is stylish, atmospheric, and far more thoughtful than most slashers from its era. The ice skating kill alone remains one of the genre’s most haunting sequences. There is a dreamlike quality to the film that makes it feel detached from reality, almost theatrical in its cruelty. Samantha Eggar brings real gravitas, and the masked killer imagery is genuinely unsettling.
This is where the Drive-In format shines. Joe Bob’s commentary added meaningful context about the troubled production and the film’s tonal weirdness. The discussion finally had something to chew on, and the episode’s energy picked up immediately. Curtains proves that slashers can be elegant, unsettling, and emotionally cold without relying on excess gore.
The biggest issue with this episode was balance. Pairing Iced with Curtains makes sense thematically, but the quality gap is massive. One film feels like filler; the other feels essential. Joe Bob and Darcy did their best to bridge that gap, but the uneven pacing and loose discussions made the contrast even more obvious.
Iced Is Cold And Cheap
Iced is exactly what its reputation suggests. It is low-budget, poorly acted, and often barely coherent. That said, it commits fully to its sleazy ski lodge slasher premise and never pretends to be more than it is. The kills are blunt, the characters are disposable, and the snow-soaked setting does a lot of the heavy lifting. Joe Bob framing it as regional trash horror felt right, because this thing survives purely on vibes and novelty rather than craft.
Watching it in The Last Drive-In context actually helps. On its own, Iced is a chore; stretched out with commentary, trivia, and context, it becomes tolerable and occasionally amusing. There is no hidden masterpiece here, just a time capsule of late eighties slasher desperation. If you like your horror ugly and dumb, it scratches that itch. If not, this one is a slog.
Conclusion
This was a night saved by its first feature. Iced is disposable regional slasher junk that works only in a hosted setting. Curtains is a moody cult classic that deserves its reputation and rewards patient viewers. The episode struggled in the latter half; but ultimately landed somewhere in the middle. Not an all-time great episode of The Last Drive In, but a reminder of why the format still matters when the right movie hits.
The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs streams live on Shudder on the first Friday of every month at 6 PM PST and 9 PM EST with episodes available on Sunday.
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