Two movies for one price? How to tackle The Big Mo drive-in theater this summer

When you make the drive out to Monetta, about 40 minutes from downtown Columbia, it’s not hard to imagine you’ve slipped into a section of the rural South that now exists largely in stories of the past.

You’ll wind along country roads giving views of seemingly endless acres of pasture and farm land. Pine trees and ancient oaks line the highway, soaring sentinels that have stood the test of time. There are fields with row upon row of corn stalks and peach orchards. A chicken feed mill and hatchery juts out of the bucolic landscape, a signal of the intersection of industry and agriculture.

But out there along the Columbia Highway, amid that storybook rural landscape, a lone beacon has been lighting up summer nights with Hollywood’s best and brightest for most of the last seven decades. And after a year in which it was largely sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic, The Big Mo drive-in movie theater is back in the spotlight.

The Big Mo — one of only three drive-in movie theaters in South Carolina and the only one in the Midlands — is in the midst of its 2021 summer season, which began in mid-May. A year ago the theater, which originally opened in 1951 and has been owned and operated by Richard Boaz and family since 1999, was only three weeks into its 2020 season when the global pandemic triggered a shutdown of regular operations. The drive-in was able to limp along with some special screenings and events last year, but it was far from a normal summer.

But, as the pandemic has begun loosening its grip on South Carolina and the nation, and as major Hollywood studios are once again releasing new would-be blockbusters, the three-screen drive-in is back to popping popcorn and slinging hamburgers. This weekend will bring the opening of “F9,” the latest entry in the long-running “Fast and Furious” series, and industry insiders are expecting it to have the largest box office opening since the beginning of the pandemic.

Boaz told The State he’s glad to be back showing movies on a regular basis again — “It’s almost like therapy for me,” he explained, with a chuckle — and said going to the drive-in is a weekend outing that continues to resonate with audiences from the Midlands and beyond.

“A lot of people want to get outside,” he said. “It provides a kind of quintessential social experience. You can meet people in the concession line or the playground, or you can have a group of your own friends who meet out there and tailgate or sit in a group of chairs and laugh together. ... But, at the same time, if you want to not be bothered by other people, you can roll up the windows and be in your own world.”

Drive-in theaters aren’t as common as indoor cinemas — only Monetta, Greenwood and Beaufort have them in South Carolina — and the experience is unique. Here are a few key pointers before you hop in the car or truck and head to Monetta.

Yes, you get two movies for one price: This is one area where drive-ins stand out from standard, indoor theaters. Double features are a hallmark of The Big Mo. So, you pay one price and get to see two movies. Tickets are $9 for adults and $5 for kids age 4-11. Kids under 4 get in free. They only take cash at the box office, but the concession stand takes credit and debit cards.

“The double feature concept is jarring to some who don’t understand it at first,” Boaz said. “It is kind of traditional. When I used to go when I was a kid they had double features. It’s kind of what I knew, even when I went as a young adult. It also gives us an extra chance to sell more concessions, because you have an intermission. It does make for a long night sometimes [laughs].”

The sound for the movies comes over your FM radio: Older residents may remember the drive-in days of the past when there were little speakers mounted on poles dotted across the field, providing scratchy, tinny sound for the movie. Those days are gone. Now the sound plays out over the FM radio in your car, with each screen at The Big Mo having its own dedicated frequency. Some people choose to bring their own portable radios and sit outside their cars in tailgating chairs. The Big Mo also rents out portable radios, but Boaz notes those supplies are limited.

“We do rent them out, and we are actually having to get some more, because they seem to be becoming more and more popular,” Boaz said of the portable radios.

They’ve got more than just movie snacks: While The Big Mo can certainly help you out if you’ve got a craving for typical movie theater treats — popcorn, candy, soda — it also offers a host of heartier food items to satisfy your hunger as you’re taking in two whole movies during the course of a night. The drive-in has hot dogs, burgers, chicken sandwiches, corn dogs, pizza (whole pies or by the slice), French fries and chili cheese fries, nachos, funnel cakes and more. And, for a limited time each summer, it offers a confection that’s a nod to those nearby peach orchards.

“Right now it’s kind of the middle of peach season out there, so we have about a month period during the summer where we’ll do a peach cobbler with some vanilla ice cream on it during the intermission,” Boaz said. “We try to play the peach theme when we can.”

It’s a true night out (but be patient): Standard practice at an indoor cinema is to show up maybe 10 or 15 minutes before a movie, grab tickets and popcorn and be in your seat before the lights go down. But the drive-in operates at a different pace. On summer nights — particularly those during which a big blockbuster like “F9” is playing — Boaz recommends getting there an hour, or even two, before showtime. Movies usually begin at about 9 p.m., as it gets dark. Getting there early gives you time to find your preferred parking spot, place your food order, and generally unwind in an atmosphere that more closely resembles a tailgate party than a movie.

“People come out and, if they’ve got kids, they’ll play on the playground, they’ll throw Frisbees around, they’ll have cornhole boards,” Boaz said. “It’s a night out. The beauty of it is, perhaps unlike the indoor theater, you can have the ultimate communal experience or the ultimate private experience, depending on (whether you want to hang out with others or stay in your own car). It provides the kind of flexibility and freedom I’m not sure other outings do.”

The Big Mo drive-in is located at 5822 Columbia Highway North in Monetta. You can visit www.thebigmo.com for movie listings and other tips and theater rules. The phone number is 803-685-7949.