Course contre l'enfer

Two couples are on vacation and driving around in a huge motor home. They are Roger (Peter Fonda), Kelly (Lara Parker), Frank (Warren Oates) and Alice (Loretta Swit). One night while camping they see a Satanic ritual where a young girl is murdered. The members of the cult find out and the couples spend the rest of the movie with witches after them to kill them.

The story is a little silly and the dialogue is pretty bad but this is the type of movie that used to pack them in at drive-ins. It's full of action, fast-moving and has likable (if one-dimensional) characters. It's basically a chase movie disguised and marketed as a horror film. The killing in the movie isn't that explicit and the nudity in it is purposely blurred out-some people think it was edited from theatrical prints but it was always that way.

The acting doesn't really matter--I mean who's seeing this for the acting? Still all four actors give their all to this. The only thing that bothered me was Swit and Parker screaming nonstop when anything happens and letting Fonda and Oates "save" them. It's quite amusing to see Parker being attacked by witches in this one since she played the evil witch Angelique in the "Dark Shadows" TV series in the late 1960s. The climax is either a perfect one or a lousy one. I'm torn between the two myself.

Quick and fun with a really incredible car chase at the end.

Let's hop into the wayback machine and return to the North Cedar Drive-In Theatre in Spokane, Washington, circa 1975. It's hot and muggy and my best friend and I are seeing maybe the fortieth movie of the summer, sitting in my Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser or his 12 year old F-250 (I can't remember which). We sit back to watch Race With the Devil, an obvious B-grade horror flick we've heard great things about from friends.

I haven't seen Jack Starrett's RWD since that night in the summer of '75, but I distinctly remember how good it was, how merrily hell-bent-for-leather the action was, and the way it tied into our goofy fear of Satanic cults and human chains thirty years ago. If you were around the greater Spokane area (now there's an oxymoron!) way back when, you must have heard the stories coming out of Rathdrum, Idaho, north of Coeur d'Alene. This flick was shot in the southwest, but with all the rural versions of urban legends clanking about the Idaho Panhandle, Race With the Devil seemed like a home movie.

I believe the movie made a gob of money that year.

I recommend Race With the Devil in no small part for the fact that it's obvious the people involved are having a great time, a must for a low-budget movie. It has the pacing and the chills to scare teenagers wearing long hair and bell bottoms and, I'm sure after I order a copy from Amazon, it will put a grin on the face of this paunchy, middle-aged nostalgist.

Never mind the nasty dismissal in the annual paperback guide to movies by critic Leonard Maltin and cronies. This is classic, exhilarating *and* suspenseful drive-in entertainment, man!

Real-life good friends Peter Fonda and Warren Oates play buddies Roger and Frank, who embark on a vacation with wives Kelly (Lara Parker) and Alice (Loretta Swit) that includes, or will include, activities such as camping, motorcycle racing, and, hopefully, skiing. Frank has even procured a state-of-the-art RV for the occasion. Unfortunately for this quartet, Roger and Frank end up witnessing a Satanic ritual & sacrifice taking place across a river. The Satanists (supposedly played by actual Satanists) realize they've been witnessed and thereafter relentlessly pursue the heroes.

Actor / director Jack Starrett ("Slaughter", "Cleopatra Jones") stepped in on short notice to replace original director Lee Frost (Frost and co-writer / producer / actor Wes Bishop being familiar names to exploitation aficionados) as 20th Century Fox was dissatisfied with what Frost was turning out. And the results make for a fine viewing experience. The tension just builds and builds throughout the whole thing. Just get a load of the sequence where the nervous Kelly sees, or seems to see, menace in every strange face around her. This will have the audience thinking, "Just how many people are in on, or could be in on, this whole damn thing?" You'll wonder, too, if there's *anybody* trustworthy in the cast of characters.

Particularly exciting scenes are those where Roger and Frank have to rush to get their vehicle going again before the villains can catch up, and where they and their wives must deal with an attack by a pair of rattlers. But best of all is the invigorating, breathless climactic action featuring some extremely impressive human and vehicle stunts. Leonard Rosenman's music score is ominous through and through, and there's one Hell of a distinctive looking tree to serve as an enduring image. Fonda, Oates, Swit, and Parker are immensely likable, and the supporting cast includes old pro R.G. Armstrong as the sheriff, Bishop as Deputy Dave, Phil Hoover as the creepy looking mechanic, and Paul A. Partain (Franklin in the original "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre") in a bit part. The movie features one of the most priceless of the downbeat endings common to 1970's cinema, ending this on a perfect note.

"Race with the Devil" is must viewing for anybody looking to discover the drive-in favourites of decades past.

Nine out of 10.

Another 70s movie that anyone who's a fan of the time period should watch. Another movie that I probably wasn't old enough to watch when I did.

It manages to be a creepy movie that's suspensful. Was probably only beanded a horror because it was made at abtime when there were a lot of cult activities in the news. I'd say it's more a thriller.

I honestly don't think it's aged badly. It also has the benefit of not needing the "we've got no mobile signal" line that modern movies suffer from.

As low budget horror movies go, "Race With The Devil" has aged well. The plot is simple--two couples en route to Aspen for a long overdue skiing vacation, end up in the wrong place at the wrong time, and witness a human sacrifice. The rest of the film deals with their attempts to escape their pursuers, who happen to be modern day witches! Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Loretta Swit (M*A*S*H) and Lara Parker (Dark Shadows) are the couples in question, and R.G. Armstrong is the local sheriff they enlist to help them. All the performances are fine, especially the vastly underrated Oates, who is only now receiving the acclaim long due him, (he has since passed away) and his acting is as compelling as ever. The just-released DVD includes a commentary from producer Paul Maslansky and Lara Parker, a retrospective documentary with Peter Fonda, trailer, still and poster galleries and radio spots. Enhanced for widescreen TVs the film looks great, and is a great one to watch late at night (if not alone) when you feel the need for a few genuine scares.