The Car: A Mediocre Horror Flick

The Car, starring James Brolin, Kathleen Lloyd and Ronny Cox, was released in 1977 and featured a demonic car that terrorized a small town in Utah. It was directed by Elliot Silverstein and was 94 minutes long. Although it wasn't the first horror movie featuring cars, it was a milestone for this sub-genre.

A strange black car shows up one day to stalk the inhabitants of Santa Ynez, a sleepy little town in Utah. No one knows where it came from or where it goes, it simply kills its victims by running them down. At first it kills a couple of bikers, but the alarm isn't raised until it turns its sights on the townsfolk. As the film progresses, the devil-car begins to pick off the locals, one by one. Once the sheriff is killed, it's up to the deputy, Wade Parent (Brolin) to step up and handle things. We soon discover that this car can't be damaged or destroyed by normal means.

Parent and his fellow officers set out to hunt down this hellish ride, but The Car proves too much for them and demolishes several police cars and injures Deputy Parent. Disappearing as quickly as it appeared; the local law enforcement team is left beaten and confused. Now taking a personal interest in Parent, The Car begins stalking his girlfriend, Lauren (Lloyd). She manages to escape death by seeking refuge in a cemetery, the demonic car seemingly unable to enter sacred ground. Later, thinking she's safe we find Lauren at home, talking to Wade Parent on the phone as he's lain up in the hospital. In the background we can just barely see the faint light of two oncoming headlights. With a thunderous crash, The Car smashes through the front of Lauren's home, demolishing everything, including Lauren.

Parent finally joins forces with the town thug, as well as demolition expert, in order to destroy this unstoppable car. When the pair discovers the evil machine lurking in Parent's own garage, they decide to lure it out into the desert in their attempt to destroy it. In the end, a little luck and a large amount of dynamite seem to do the trick as possessed auto is blown apart. If you watch the closing credits however, you'll notice that the devil-car may not be destroyed after all. I won't spoil the whole thing, but I will say that the film ended with a nice setup for a sequel, but after 30 years and counting I don't think that sequel is going to materialize.

All of the actors turn in decent performances, considering the plot and script were sub-par; even Brolin managed a passable attempt at acting. As I stated however, the whole premise of the movie is iffy. Nothing in the film indicates why the car showed up or any motive behind its need to kill. Not one would-be victim ever thought about moving out of the car's path, instead of running straight ahead. Did no one realize that the car would probably move faster than a person? This film is simply mindless drivel, aimed solely at garnering a little cash with some shock value. The plot is full of holes and the characters are two-dimensional.

What we have here is Jaws on land. After watching the film for 20 minutes or so, it becomes easy to draw parallels between the two films. In Jaws we have an unstoppable monster that prowls the beaches of a small town, eating the locals one by one while local police seem powerless to stop it. With The Car, we have an unstoppable monster prowling the high desert, picking off stragglers one by one while the local police seem powerless to stop it. In each case, the hero and his small band of companions go forth to do battle in a seemingly one-sided war, with little chance of success. The demise of the beast comes as a last ditch effort aided by luck and daring-do.

Oddly enough, this film has developed a certain fan base as a cult classic. There are some positive features of this film, which serve to save this film from being a total loss. The soundtrack is fairly exciting and spooky. The cinematography is as good as anything of the time. The biggest saving grace of this B-grade film is the car itself. It's big, dark and menacing, even when simply sitting there. This is due, in part to its eerily tinted windows and creepy grill which looks startlingly enough like a grinning human skull. Also, the sounds this thing makes would definitely scare anyone. Unfortunately, these few standout features just aren't enough to make this film anything more than a mediocre horror flick. If you like cheesy '70s horror, then you'll love this film.