O Carro Sinistro

Moving into her old house, a woman trying to restart her life grows increasingly convinced a driver-less Packard hearse is haunting her and her house and tries to stop it from consuming her life.

Overall this was quite the disappointing effort. One of the film's few good points centers on the titular vehicle and the eerie, ominous air that really works effectively in this sort of effort, as not only is the moments where it appears quite impressive but also manages some decent moments here. The early scenes of the car appearing only for it to be unresponsive to her yelling at it before driving off makes for quite effective build-ups to the centerpiece sequence of it abducting her and dropping her off at the funeral which is quite chilling in concept before the disturbing idea of whether it's a dream or not as this one isn't clear wither way which makes it work. Likewise, the film really works in the final half when it finally lets itself go and features a lot to like from a tense chase through the house and eventually into the car chase in the finale all coming together quite well which really works for this one. That's about all that really works here for this one as there's a few rather challenging parts to hold this down. The main factor here is the fact that there's hardly any action whatsoever in the first half here which really makes the first half incredibly tough to get into. Consisting mainly of drawn-out and lame scenes around the town, a rather trite and lame romance and endless scenes of her around the house slowly succumbing to the presence in the house, all of which is insanely dull and just not that interesting. Scenes of her arguing with a lawyer trying to settle an accounting error in the estate, trying to secure a local handyman or just generally being harassed for living there don't make for all that exciting times which is basically all that's featured here. There's a few small haunting thrown in to confuse this as a horror film, yet none of them last nearly as long as the seemingly endless and overlong drama scenes that don't do much of anything for the pace or storyline here. The other big flaw here is the fact that there's hardly any motivation for the romance which tends to come in from out of nowhere and further bog down the pacing here with some really tired and lame scenes that don't have any real impact on the film itself. These here are the film's big problems which hold it down quite heavily.

Rated R: Violence, Language, Brief Nudity and a mild sex scene.

I admit The Hearse is not the last word in brilliance, but there seems to be something about it that kept me hooked. A simple plot centres around 30-something Jane recovering from a bitter divorce and the death of her father by deciding to stay at her aunt's house, which unbeknown to her, is haunted. Strange phenomena starts as soon as she settles in: lights going on and off, windows suddenly opening and closing, and (the main point) a suspicious looking Hearse appearing at her door.....

You obviously wonder what is going to happen next: is the Hearse simply a matter of imagination on Jane's part or is it something a lot more serious? The Hearse as a whole contains very little in the way of gory, blood dripping scenes; it is in fact a movie where the viewer has to go into the mind of the central characters and try and discover their motives as to why certain events happen. Why are the local people against Jane; what is the suspicious nature surrounding a nice young man called Tom that she unexpectedly meets? Many questions arise that are quite (albeit QUITE) addressed come the end of the film.

Lead star Trish Van Devere sets a good example of a strong-minded woman who is understandably spooked and scared by the unusual goings on. You actually feel for Jane! Her co-stars, however, can't be so easily forgiven - atrocious acting in some parts.

What makes this film work in some respect is the sense of coldness and eeriness surrounding the Hearse (despite the driver's constant smiling), and the strange goings on in this house; it is very reminiscent (as another reviewer mentioned) of the 2001 movie The Others. Admittedly, the final 15 minutes or so of The Hearse is a let down; I obviously don't want to give it away, but I'm sure for viewers who have witnessed the film, it could have been done with a lot more style and a lot more vigour. Then again, The Hearse was never meant to be this big budget horror movie in the first place - a typical B-movie flick that does recommend a slightly better IMDb rating than the current 3.3 I feel. 5/10

A woman, Jane, moves to a large house in a small town which she has inherited from a dead aunt. The locals shun her on account of believing her aunt was in league with the devil. Soon, Jane is haunted by the appearances of some ghosts, including a mysterious hearse which constantly menaces her.

This film fits comfortably into the haunted house film bracket, which by 1980 was firmly a popular sub-genre of the horror film with movies such as The Amityville Horror (1979), The Changeling (1980) and The Shining (1980) raking it in at the box office. It would only be fair to say that The Hearse is fairly derivative of some of the big hitters of its day but I have to say I found it to be a pretty good effort on the whole. Trish Van Devere puts in an engaging performance in the lead role, while Joseph Cotton, veteran actor of various classics from the past like Citizen Kane (1941), appears in one of the numerous genre flicks he pitched up in in the last decade of his career. Aside from the ominous black hearse, the sinister events incorporate an odd reverend, a satanic church and ghostly appearances of a woman at a window. By the end of things, it's true that the relevance of everything has not been fully established but when it comes to stories about ghostly goings on, this is not exactly a problem in my book. A bit of ambiguity is not really a bad thing.

I have read reviews good and bad for this film and find that I cannot disagree with any of them, for The Hearse is good in certain respects and not so good in others. Watching this film recently, for the first time in many years, I was reminded of other stories that came both before and after it, 1963's The Haunting and 2001's The Others coming immediately to mind.

There is nothing better than a good ghost story with mood and imagination and The Hearse claims these properties to some degree. That it is an over-cliched film with comic relief that doesn't quite fit counts against it, as does the unlikely and disappointing ending. Trish Van Devere, a competent if not supremely talented actress, and the always pleasing Joseph Cotton are the lead players, although Ms. Van Devere's screen love interest, David Gautreaux as Tom, came close to stealing it from both of them. I did not feel that Joseph Cotton had enough screen time to please his fans, but as they say, `Always leave them wanting more!' The story: Jane, portrayed by Ms. Van Devere, inherits an old house in the country. Jane's aunt had practiced Satan worship in it and the local town folks were not pleased to see her niece move in. In a nice addition to the storyline, we learn that Jane had a nervous breakdown after a messy divorce and her mental stability quickly comes into question. Jane sees images in the house and is convinced that somebody is stalking her in a sinister looking funeral home hearse. Throughout the course of the story she has interesting encounters with such diverse people as the local estate attorney, hardware store operators and their son, an oddball minister and her new love interest. Who was after her, and why did he/she want Jane out of her aunt's house? There are many red herrings and barely enough chills and thrills to attract the younger audiences that were just then, in 1980, two years after Jamie Lee Curtis and Halloween, making their presence felt at the box office and soon-to-be neighborhood video stores. As stated, the ending was a real letdown after it seemed the film had come to a satisfying conclusion.

Perhaps that is why this film generates strong emotions; it tries to be too much to too many. That it has something for everybody and, for the most part, succeeds in putting it all together is one of it's major strengths. The fact that this also causes it to be disjointed and somewhat awkward at times is the downside of this, but remember, The Hearse was never intended to be a summer blockbuster. That a film such as this can still generate intelligent discussion 22 years after its release is remarkable in itself.

Anyone who used to watch Mr. Show may recall that sketch. It basically puts several stereotypical characters in a spooky old house. They quiver as noises crash all around them. But what are they supposed to be afraid of? The creature? It's ghost? The curse? The return of the creature? What then? It's pretty funny. Check it out on youtube. Anyway, this film is kind of like that. Which cliché are we supposed to be afraid of here?

The Hearse is simply a dull collection of about every old horror film cliché you can think of. A recently divorced woman moves into her late aunt's spooky old house in the countryside. On her way into town, and on several other occasions, a big old black hearse seems to be trying to run her off the road! A bad omen. The locals are outwardly hostile, since they hated her aunt and know the house is haunted. The only local who seems to like her is a horny teenager whose parents own the hardware store. And then, there's this weird gentlemanly dude who shows up to court her in an old-fashioned way...

The plot thickens (kind of) when the woman finds her aunt's diary and learns that she was about to marry a preacher, but then dumped him for a Satanist! Yikes. And then the spooky old house seems to come to life. Windows break for no reason. Pipes clang together. Music boxes play on their own and move around. And all the while this old hearse keeps showing up on the roads or in her driveway. What does it want? Who is the mysterious "Tom" who wishes to win her over? Honestly, you'll figure it all out pretty quick.

The film just can't decide what is at the center of all the strange happenings. All the writers seemed to want to do is add a bunch of supposedly spooky elements into a pot and stir until something watchable came out. The acting is passable. Trish Van Devere isn't bad at all. Joseph Cotten needed more screen time, but they likely only got him for a few days of shooting. The film borrows heavily from other horror films such as The Car, Let's Scare Jessica to Death, The Amityville Horror, and maybe even The Fog. There really isn't an original idea to be found. The hearse itself is just a plot point that isn't really explained. It looks menacing, but almost seems like an afterthought that could have been written out altogether. Not a drop of blood, or any real suspense to be had. Really no reason to see this one. I'm frankly amazed it ever got a DVD release. 4 of 10 stars.

The Hound.