Der Teufel auf Rädern

Lemme say this about "The Car" - the horror movie genre received a monumental boost in credibility with the release of this proud and noble pic. Gathering together some key horror movie elements (small desert town, scrappy desert folk, demonic Lincoln), the makers of "The Car" must've felt they were on top of a goldmine. They had an A-list cast led by the future Mr. Barbra Streisand and the awesome Ronny Cox. After a decade of love, peace and grooviness, America was once again ready for killer car movies. So what went so terribly wrong? Two words: Star Wars.

It's true. If it weren't for George Lucas, "The Car" would've been the surefire hit of 1977 and we'd all be reminiscing about the classic "Car Wars" trilogy and remembering how incredible James Brolin was as Indiana Jones.

Sadly, "The Car" disappeared into the night, never to receive the credit it deserved as a true horror breakthrough as a classic portrayal of man versus machine. Pitting a mysterious chopped-down souped-up Lincoln with a cruise-ship horn against a motley crew of never-say-die townsfolk, "The Car" follows the bloodthirsty path of a supercharged, soulless sedan as it brutally chews up scenery, cyclists, and one memorable french-horn-toting hitchhiker. It is indeed a chilling movie that eerily foretold future trends such as road rage and godawful James Brolin films, with an ending for the ages.

Bearing in mind, a great deal of this is sarcasm. But truthfully, "The Car" is highly recommended for the good-bad-movie lover - it is an excellent film to make fun of.

While traveling through the desert nearby the small town of Santa Ynez on their bicycles to camp, two teenage bicyclers are murdered by a mysterious black car. Then the car hit-and-run a hitchhiker and the crime is witnessed by the local Amos Clements (R.G. Armstrong). Sheriff Everett (John Marley) puts his men in alert and plans road blocks in the area to arrest the murderer. Sooner he becomes a victim of the car and Sheriff Wade Parent (James Brolin) begins a hunting of the vehicle that is threatening his town and seems to be impossible to be located. When his beloved girlfriend and teacher Lauren (Kathleen Lloyd) challenges the driver in a cemetery, the car hunts her in her home and Wade realizes that he might be dealing with supernatural powers.

The cult "The Car" is a supernatural tale of a creepy car that apparently might be driven by the devil himself. The entertaining story is visibly inspired in "Duel" and is inconclusive, and the viewer never knows for sure whether the car is driven by a demoniac being or by a wicked skilled driver. The havoc caused by the car is never graphic and that is a good point since the story is supported by the performances and the choreography of the stunts in the car chase. Further, thirty-two years later this movie has not aged. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Carro, A Máquina do Diabo" ("The Car, The Machine of the Devil")

I think those who are slamming this film are missing the point. The dialog does tend to be dull, and the characters are often uninteresting, if not one-dimensional. There is no explanation for where the car came from, where it goes, and who or what it is.

Welcome to real life.

If you're looking for a well-thought-out story with highly-developed characters, and a movie where everything that happens is explained and wrapped up at the end, this is the wrong movie.

If you're looking for a movie that at times feels like a cross between a news report and a diary, this is the one.

The unpredictability of the car, the unexplainability of its actions, the normalcy of the people in the movie all make a rather unbelievable story, well... believable.

And I LOVED the ending. I wish they had made a "Car II: the devil takes Manhattan." :)

Blair Witch Project takes shaky camcorder scenes about a witch we never see and spends the entire show having the characters scream and cuss at each other. It is a hit.

The Car combines beautiful cinematography, a logical progression of events, and gets you involved trying to figure out how to stop this monster. It is ridiculed as "70s trash."

Rent this film, & you decide who is right!

The devil made me do it. Really. I bought this VHS the second I saw it. It kept me awake with nightmares as a child, and the library offered no help in locating it until I hit that nice vowel-starting auction site. In re-watching it, I realized that there are signs of the decade it was created (especially in the bell-bottoms, I couldn't stop laughing when I watched the kids in the band practice their parade because the fashion world has come back to them again!), but there are other nice things.

One of the main details that this movie has is no explanations are made. The Indian woman comments about the ill wind that came with the car when she gives testimony. The sheriff's deputy feels that the reason it can't go into the graveyard is due to the hallowed ground. (Btw, the graveyard scene is the one that freaked me out as a kid). Parent (Brolin) discovers there are no handles on the doors, and another witness says that there's no driver. This all adds up to a nasty scenerio. Much like the later movie Poltergeist, you have to wonder if the Indians are right--get out of town! (they fled to the Deep Country--smart cookies!)

I adore Kim Richards, and her sister Kyle is a darling in this film. As an adult, I couldn't help but think who would take care of them should something happen to Parent. I think this is a good sign in a movie--you really begin to identify with the characters when things like this come to you!

The comment at the beginning from Anton gives the whole movie's plot a good basis. I do recommend this as a stay-home, eat popcorn, and enjoy flick!

;)

**** out of *****

I've seen "The Car" several times over the years. I am a big fan of horror movies and while this is not exactly a "classic" by any means, I still enjoyed it. The plot is basically a car which drives around a desert town killing everyone/anyone it can. In these types of movies, you tend to enjoy watching and choosing who becomes the victims. I found the acting to be a little trying at times. In fact, at times, very bad. I mean, having two actors scream at each other (in one scene) does not create tension, it creates confusion. I like James Brolin in this film and John Marley as well, even though he didn't have much to do.

The star of the movie is "The Car". What I did not enjoy about the film was as a viewer I did not know anything about the car. Where did it come from? Why was it there? Was it the devil? A demon? I wanted to know more about this killing machine. I found that by the end of the film I was still a little confused. Also, I think this movie was a rip-off of the TV thriller released back in 1974, "Killdozer". The tale about a killer bulldozer terrorizing a construction crew. Possibly one of the worst ever made TV movies. The Car was much, much better. I remember seeing "The Car" at the movies. I think it stayed for about a week. Needless to say, the movie was a bomb. However, that does not mean it was a bad movie. There aren't very many horror movies that are a big success at the movie theatre. I think they tend to be more successful on video.

It's a shame that this movie wasn't more successful because I was looking forward to a sequel. Who knows, maybe they'll release "The Car 2" or "Son of Car". All that being said, take my advice, rent this movie. Pull up a chair, put the lights on low, snuggle beside your favorite person (wife, etc.), grab some munchies and, no matter what you do, make sure you keep that remote in your hand at all times.

Sit back and enjoy!