The Car

Six years after Spielberg's "Duel," this "The Car" resumes the theme and manages to make an equally dramatic and engaging film. Perhaps this is exactly what Elliot Silverstein has proposed and succeeded. Not seeing who the driver is, the big black car is the evil character, a devil-possessed car. Which "dies" in a massive explosion, but because is the devil himself, the end credits are flowing on the images with the wheels of the same car... Great performances by all the actors, James Brolin, John Marley, Ronny Cox, but specially by Kathleen Lloyd and R.G. Armstrong. Great suspense!

Well bad movie lovers this is the movie for you. "The Car" is a "thriller" so mind bogglingly awful that it would have come off better being marketed as a comedy. It's a Jaws ripoff about a mysterious black car that appears one day in a desert community and starts killing the townspeople. Policeman James Brolin (who is awful) is hot on the trail. It's funny to watch this car just appear, do its thing, and drive off. Where does it go? Where did it come from? Is there a driver? The script never addresses these issues. And the worst part is the script doesn't play fair. In some scenes the car appears to be supernatural as it disappears in front of our eyes. But in other scenes, such as when a woman throws a tree limb at it, the car appears hopelessly natural and real. So if you want to watch a really bad thriller with some decent actors (including Ronny Cox and John Marley) embarrassing themselves then get some popcorn, sit back, relax, and prepare to either laugh your head off or be properly disgusted at the cheap product on the screen.

Wow...is this one bad. A driver-less car terrorizes a Utah town mowing down residents and honking its horn a lot. There are exactly zero thrills in this lame-brained, poorly written, almost entirely miscast debacle. Elliot Silverstein, a director of limited imagination directs in the least imaginative way. There's no wit or style to be found. Instead, we're left with a JAWS rip-off, so dull it's nearly sleep-inducing. The cast includes James Brolin, Kathleen Lloyd, Ronny Cox, and, inexplicably, John Marley (as a small town sheriff!?!) Real-life sisters Kim & Kyle Richards play Brolin's daughters. They're awful. The visual effects are credited to the great Albert Whitlock, but they really seem limited to a reddish/blue tint in the title machine's windows.

I've seen "The Car" several times over the years. I am a big fan of horror movies and while this is not exactly a "classic" by any means, I still enjoyed it. The plot is basically a car which drives around a desert town killing everyone/anyone it can. In these types of movies, you tend to enjoy watching and choosing who becomes the victims. I found the acting to be a little trying at times. In fact, at times, very bad. I mean, having two actors scream at each other (in one scene) does not create tension, it creates confusion. I like James Brolin in this film and John Marley as well, even though he didn't have much to do. The star of the movie is "The Car". What I did not enjoy about the film was as a viewer I did not know anything about the car. Where did it come from? Why was it there? Was it the devil? A demon? I wanted to know more about this killing machine. I found that by the end of the film I was still a little confused. Also, I think this movie was a rip-off of the TV thriller released back in 1974, "Killdozer". The tale about a killer bulldozer terrorizing a construction crew. Possibly one of the worst ever made TV movies. The Car was much, much better. I remember seeing "The Car" at the movies. I think it stayed for about a week. Needless to say, the movie was a bomb. However, that does not mean it was a bad movie. There aren't very many horror movies that are a big success at the movie theatre. I think they tend to be more successful on video. It's a shame that this movie wasn't more successful because I was looking forward to a sequel. Who knows, maybe they'll release "The Car 2" or "Son of Car". All that being said, take my advice, rent this movie. Pull up a chair, put the lights on low, snuggle beside your favorite person (wife, etc.), grab some munchies and, no matter what you do, make sure you keep that remote in your hand at all times. Sit back and enjoy!

If it wasn't for the fact that this site is a great reference point...I would just give up ever consulting IMDb again. 'The Car' is an exquisite, dark, modern B-Movie CLASSIC. The consensus of people that would rather give 2007's 'Transformers' a virtual 8/10 and this absolute peach a mere 5 has just about done it for me. I just give up. Honestly...I advise anyone with a half gram of sense to do the same. Does this review system actually represent the mainstream of movie goers? Or is it merely indicative of the moronic, populist, dumbed-down tripe that marks "great CGI" and "All-Star Casts". I'm beginning to feel more and more that its the latter. Increasingly, it seems there is a stockade consisting of all celebrity line-ups and patchy plots repaired by Mac Monkey Special effects, that effectively provide a barrier between us (the viewer) and any real talent.

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source: The Car

Trailer—The Car

The Car

I first saw this film way back in '77 as a 13-year-old, and it's lost none of its entertainment value for me. There's no blood and gore, but it's equal parts exciting and chilling.