You take Jaws and The Exorcist, combine them with Detroit steel and you have 1977’s The Car. Throw in Spielberg’s DUEL and Corman’s Death Race 2000 and you have a little more of a feel for the market this movie was put into.
The movie is about a car that stalks the desert southwest killing all it comes across, while James Brolin is the Sheriff’s Deputy who does all he can to stop it and save the small town he lives in.
The most compelling scenes in The Car clearly show the vehicle balking at the opportunity to freely murder those chased into the consecrated ground of a graveyard. And, later, when Brolin’s character confronts the car after it kills five fellow deputies he realizes his bullets haven’t even put dents into the demonic auto.
Leader of the Church of Satan at the time, Anton LaVey was given a “Technical Adviser” credit on the film and his quote, “Oh great brothers of the night who rideth upon the hot winds of hell, who dwelleth in the Devil’s lair; move and appear”, appears in the opening credits—taken from the “Invocation of Destruction” in the Satanic Bible.
Clearly, Christine is a superior film, but The Car is, effectively, the first time a movie convinced anyone that an automobile could be doing the work of the devil.
That car was a customized 1971 Lincoln Continental Mark III made by George Barris. Four cars were made for the film, but all but one were destroyed in the course of making it.
Take a look at the sweet ride that is… The Car:
Weird movie. Has its moments, for sure. And the offing of the main lady is a bold move.
ReplyDeleteTrue, tough, but uneven film.
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