EDITOR’S NOTE: Redbox machines are full of terrible B-movies. You know it. I know it. Each week, a brave Daily staffer will take the plunge and watch one of them so you don’t have to.

When writing a Redbox film review, you know what you’re in for; watch a terrible film and write a bad review, tearing it a new one.

That’s only sort of what I got when I watched the 2007 film “Drive Thru.” I expected to watch one of those horror movies that was self aware of it’s awfulness and proceeded to make fun of itself.

It wasn’t; rather it was one of those B-movie horrors that actually tries to take itself seriously, which is actually pretty sad.

The story follows Mackenzie Carpenter (“Gossip Girl’s” Leighton Meester), a rebellious high school senior on the verge of turning 18, who realizes that a mascot, Horny the Clown, from the fast-food restaurant Hella-Burger is out killing 18 year olds. Got it? Good.

It’s a really standard B-movie slasher premise, but it tries way too hard.

For example, Mackenzie is “rebellious” in the sense that she’s a liberal living in the upper-class right wing town of Blanca Carne, Calif.

She calls her schoolmates things like “Banana Republicans” and detests her once-flower child parents, because they sold out.

The film is full of these “pro-liberal” sentiments that I don’t really have a problem with because good films — even horror ones — have hidden meanings, but in this film, it’s just too obvious and uneven.

I’m sorry, but it’s hard to take your film seriously when the evil clown is sending messages to teenagers through very bad ’80s gimmicks like Ouija boards and magic eight balls.

Of course it’s a B-movie, and it comes with it’s standard set of problems like bad costumes, bad acting, bad editing and so on.

But it’s just depressing watching a bad film that’s not in on the fact that it’s a joke — like a dog after a porcupine attack or watching a 5-foot-2-inch person try to dunk a basketball. Don’t bother.