“The Car” (1977)

Studio: Universal Pictures
Starring: James Brolin, Kathleen Lloyd, John Marley, R.G. Armstrong, Ronny Cox
Directed by: Elliot Silverstein
Rated: PG
Running Time: 96 min.

Synopsis: A possessed car terrorizes a small town.

REVIEW

I first saw this film back in the late 80’s on late night TV. Still today the film holds up and is a pretty good watch. The 70’s had tons of nature or machines gone wrong movies and The Car is one of the better ones. The film has the same vibe as Jaws and more so Duel, where there’s an unstoppable evil that stalks its prey relentlessly. The film has lots of action and suspense and a creepy car that’s possessed by the devil.

The movie starts off with this great scenic shot of a mountainside and a dirt road. There’s a time lapse that goes from night to day on the static shot. One thing I noticed was the music sounded a little like the music from The Shining, but this film came out three years earlier. So, I’m wondering if the composer to The Shining ripped them off. That wasn’t the only time I heard music in a film that was similar too The Shining. The other was a film I can’t place the title to, but it was an early 1960’s monster flick.

The first kill scene has two bikers riding along a mountain road. As they ride through a dark tunnel the scene cuts to the point of view of the car, which is shown in a sepia tone following the bikers. The bikers make it through the tunnel and the camera stays on the dark opening and we’re just waiting for the car to come out. We can hear its engine and see a little shine coming from the chrome. Then there’s a cool close up shot of the car speeding out of the tunnel. It catches up to the bikers and starts to terrorize them by honking its horn and riding along side them. It takes one of them out as they fall down the mountainside. It catches up to the other one and runs them off the road landing deep down in a river. The deadly car is now unleashed in this small town.

The rest of the film has sheriff’s officer Wade (played by James Brolin) investigating strange murders that happen that day. Once the sheriff is run over by the demon car, the officers and the whole town try to stop all this chaos that has come to their quite town. As the officers pursue the car they learn a little bit more about it. One, nothing happens when you shoot at it, two, it can’t drive on hollowed grounds like a church or a cemetery, and three, no one is driving the car.

Not since the big truck in Duel has a vehicle has been so scary, and this is years before Christine. They are plenty of scenes where the car is very creepy. Just the sound of its loud horn gives you chills. One scene has Wade’s girlfriend in her house and we see behind her through the window the headlights of the car coming closer and closer until it crashes through the whole house. There’s another scene where Wade is in his garage gathering up some tools. He leaves to go into the house for minute and then returns to find the car parked in the garage waiting for him.

Along with Brolin, the film has a great cast and many familiar faces. John Marley (The Godfather, Deathdream) who plays the sheriff, veteran actor R.G. Armstrong (Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents), horror favorites and sisters Kim and Kyle Richards, who play Wade’s daughters, and Ronny Cox (Robocop, Total Recall) who gives a great performance as a sheriff’s officer who is a recovering alcoholic who hits the bottle again because of all the chaos going on.

SPOILER ALERT: One thing I wanted to point out that happens at the very end is the town ends up blowing up the car and then inside the explosion is an image of the devil or a demon. When I first saw this I remember it being very creepy and eerie looking. When I saw it again it didn’t look that creepy. Not sure if it was because the DVD I have is a crystal clear transfer of the film and when I saw it many years ago the version was very gritty and it made that evil image more sinister.

The Car is worth checking out and is a good horror film. If you like films like Duel or Christine, you’ll like The Car. They are some great performances from the cast, cool action scenes with the car, and a well-done story.