Two rival race car drivers crash. One of them burns to death, but the other survives. Cut to several years later. The one guy is now a trucker, and the other is still dead. His red #66 (an obvious reference) car has now been restored, freeing the sinister apparition to roam the highways, looking for victims to mow down.
It's a familiar theme, cars possessed by an entity with an attitude. "The Car," "Maximun Overdrive," "Christine," and others were run by demons, or ghosts, or aliens, or they were living beings themselves. The evil presence's identity is too obvious, and so can't be developed much. The script then is just limited to endless car chases and failed attempts to destroy the thing. There's a subplot about a teen finding out who her dad is. They must be related; both of their acting skills are equally limited. Or maybe the director is to blame for this: there's one scene where they've just escaped a car attack and witnessed two people die horribly, so how do they react? They're cruising down the road, kidding with each other.
What would a movie like this be without clichés? 1) The evil car has many chances to finish off its main target victims, but doesn't do it. 2) The good guy's truck breaks down at the worst possible moment. 3) The sheriff is a dumb hick who insults people. 4) The teen dimwittedly wanders into trouble with the monster. And so on.
However, the film never really attempts to be anything noteworthy, and just goes for some goofy horror chills. On that level, oddly enough, it actually works. An OK movie to laugh at if you have nothing else to do.
