(1977) **
“Oh great brothers of the night who rideth upon the hot winds of hell, who dwelleth in the Devil's lair; move and appear,"
A small, rural town in Utah is menaced by a large, mysterious coupe that appears out of nowhere one summer afternoon. The motives for the car remain unclear but at least one of the town’s denizen’s remarks that there was no driver at the wheel. The car finds no shortage of people to run over including a parade and a carnival. After the town’s sheriff is mowed down his deputy, a handsome James Brolin takes over the job. The coupe seems to enjoy fucking with Brolin, even showing up in his garage at one point. After Brolin experiences some personal loss he makes it his mission to end the reign of the black menace.
The Car was clearly influenced by Spielberg’s “Duel” and by “influenced” I mean ripped-off, but the results are good old fashioned, stupid fun. As near as I can tell the small town where the action takes place has a population of about 40; why the Prince of Darkness would choose this place as his stomping ground makes little sense. I would suggest he go to NYC but then the poor bastard would spend half his time stuck in traffic. Another question that might pop up during your viewing of The Car is why would such a small town have such a large police force? At one time I counted 10 deputies. The Car is one of those silly movies where people keep finding themselves standing in the middle of deserted streets only to be mowed down by a large, loud, horn-honking vehicle that makes its presence known long before it arrives. In all of the “car menace” films it seems like the easiest solution would be to go where a car could not reach you. I always find it amusing that people run down the street while being chased instead of running off to the side. I suppose that would just hurt the car’s feelings in a “Heeeeeeeeeeeeey” kind of way. Silly fun.
