Color, 1977, 96 mins. Directed by Elliot Silverstein
Starring James Brolin, Kathleen Lloyd, John Marley, R.G. Armstrong, John Rubinstein, Elizabeth Thompson, Roy Jenson, Kim Richards, Kyle Richards / Written by Michael Butler & Lane Slate / Music by Leonard Rosenman / Cinematography by Gerald Hirschfeld
Letterboxed (2.35:1) (16x9 enhanced) / Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: DVD - Anchor Bay (MSRP $29.95)
Don't be fooled by the critical raves on the packaging which call this film "existentialist" and liken it to Ingmar Bergman (?!?); this is horror schlock territory all the way. Sheriff Wade Parent (James Brolin, doing a warm up for The Amityville Horror) becomes appalled when both visitors and residents in his small desert town are plowed down by the aforementioned malefic car, which emits a really annoying honk after each kill. He even begins to fear for the safety of his girlfriend, Lauren (Kathleen Lloyd, doing her best Paula Prentiss impression), and his kids, Kim and Kyle Richards (who appeared separately in damn near every '70s movie all the way from Escape to Witch Mountain to Halloween). The cops become especially concerned after one of their own, John Marley (best known for waking up with a horse's head scene in The Godfather), gets offed by the car, along with John Rubinstein, who makes the most of his one scene by chewing all the scenery in sight. What really sets The Car apart from all the killer shark/bear/tarantula/bulldozer movies of the period is its tendency towards unpredictable, nihilistic plot twists, with one kicker two thirds of the way through that should stop most viewers in their tracks. (Don't watch the trailer first!) The film spends a lot of time etching its characters, such as recovering alcoholic cop Ronny Cox, which makes it a bit richer and more interesting than standard direct to video horror today, and the expert widescreen lensing by Gerald Hirschfeld perfectly captures the arid locations and gives the car itself a convincing sense of demonic fury. On the other hand, Leonard Rosenman's clunky score overstates most of the horrific moments and pounds viewers on the head when it should simply creep up behind them.
Not surprisingly, the DVD itself is close to flawless. While a pointless pan and scan transfer has also been included, the anamorphic letterboxed version is really the only way to watch this. Gorgeous hues, no noticeable artifacts, and a killer Dolby 5.1 remix make this quite a nice showpiece -- it's truly surreal seeing so much time and expense going into a film like this while Jaws remains unavailable at all on DVD. The menu screens are also extremely amusing.
For some reason filmmakers around the middle and end of the '70s were obsessed with cars. You want comedies? Smokey and the Bandit. The Cannonball Run. Horror? Duel. The Hearse.. Heck, even Death Car on the Freeway. It was inevitable that someone would eventually do a movie called The Car, and the results are exactly what you would expect: a big driverless old car from hell (literally) careens around the desert and causes mayhem. And there's your plot. Thanks to late night TV and occasional (cut) screenings on The Sci-Fi Channel, The Car has actually built up a sizable cult following over the years, and obviously someone at Anchor Bay must really love it judging from the relatively spectacular treatment it receives here. Finally, while Universal shunted the film off to the sidelines for the past twenty years, fans who have been shouting for The Car can have a version that presents this goofy little gem in all its glory.
