The Car

The Car

1977

Director- Elliot Silverstein

Cast- James Brolin, Kathleen Lloyd, John Marley, Elizabeth Thompson, Ronny Cox, R. G. Armstrong

           

Lest you doubt the film’s bona fides it begins with a quote by Anton LaVey from the Satanic Bible. The titular car, which looks like a cross between a hearse and the Batmobile, terrorizes a small southwestern town. Standing in the way of the demonic sedan is James Brolin (who would go up against a demonic house a few years later in The AmityvilleHorror).  Coming to his aid are his fellow cops including Ronny Cox (Deliverance, Total Recall, Robocop) and the town’s resident wife beater played by R.G. Armstrong (who had starred in Race withthe Devil the previous year) who just happens to own a dynamite business (foreshadowing maybe?).

            The film is frankly ludicrous. The car doesn’t just run people down in the streets, it crashes through their houses and does side flips in the air. The car stalks people and sneaks around with the stealth of a ninja (even finding its way into a locked garage). However, as silly as the premise is, the film takes itself so seriously, it’s impossible to let your guard down and laugh. It has an ominous score and the car itself really is scary with his it’s staccato horn and high revved engine.

            One thing I like about the film is that it never explicitly explains the nature of the Car. No priest shows up to warn us. We never know why it picked this particular town to terrorize. The only clues to its diabolic origin are the fact that it can’t cross hallowed ground and the monstrous image we see rise from the flames of the Car’s demise.

            The Car is a product of a bygone era. The decade from the mid-70s through the mid-80s was filLed with movies and TV shows that prominently featured custom vehicles. Smokey and the Bandit, the original Mad Max trilogy, Blue Thunder, Knight Rider, The Dukes of Hazard, Airwolf, Damnation Alley, Maximum Overdrive and Christine are just some of the better known examples. By the way, if you are thinking The Car is a rip off of Christine, guess again. The Car arrived several years before either the Stephen King book or the John Carpenter movie.

            The star of the film is, of course, the Car itself. It was designed by George Barris, whose most famous creations are the Adam West Batmobile, Starsky and Hutch’s Torino and the The Munsters’ roadster.  He was a true master of this craft. The car was later homaged (at least as far as I’m considered) in the Futurama episode, The Honking.

            Don’t watch The Car for thrills and chills. Watch it because it has truly achieved the status of a “cult” film. Watch it as an example of a long lost genre of films. But mostly watch it because it’s a real weird film.