Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13205 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-10-05
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 92 minutes

Synopsis
Sheriff Wade Parent is a man who must stop a large, black 2-door sedan from terrorising a small New Mexican town. No one knows the car's origin, who is driving it, or how to stop it. After it kills three people, the Sheriff must find a way to stop this seemingly indestructible machine. Who is behind the wheel? Could it be...Satan? That may be the case given that late Church of Satan leader Anton LaVey was given a 'Technical Advisor' credit on the film! Though a chorus of jeers greeted it when it surfaced in 1977, 'The Car' is an oddly gripping and altogether unconventional horror film. From the director of 'A Man Called Horse' and a script co-written by Michael Butler, writer of 'Pale Rider'.

Customer Reviews

The Car 1977
THE CAR 1977
Review

Any movie that begins with a quotation from Church of Satan founder (the late) Anton La Vey, has to have something interesting going for it. In the case of The Car, the presence of a La Vey quote is extremely fitting, for the dark and demonic themes within might just get you thinking about the spiritual world. The film is an interesting and stylish attempt at taking a concept and making it more potent. It also predates both the book and film of Stephen King's famous "evil car" story Christine.

The Car is set in a rather non-descript Southwestern town called Santa Ynaz (filmed in Utah). One day, out of nowhere, a menacing, black car rolls into the town and starts killing people off. Sheriff Wade Parent (James Brolin) finds himself desperately trying to figure out a way to stop the mysterious car, but every attempt to do anything about it results in disaster. The car seems completely invincible and able to do almost anything. It comes and goes as it pleases, never being spotted or seen until it's too late. Wade is a man on a mission, but his police officers keep being killed off and hope is diminishing. Though some people have supernatural explanations on their lips, no one really knows what drives the car. The car lurks about the locality unseen until it suddenly appears and kills. Though people try and hunt it, the sedan always seems smarter.

Skilled direction turns this script into an above-average horror film. The central cast is filled with excellent dramatic actors like Ronny Cox, John Marly, and R.G. Armstrong, and some time is spent giving the characters some depth. We are given little peeks into their personal lives, for good or for bad, and it helps to flesh out the dynamics of this small town. The black enigmatic car itself is a cleverly customized Lincoln, crafted for the film by Barris Kustoms (who have done a good deal of custom film work), and certainly looks the part with heavily tinted windows and no visible door handles.The driving and stuntwork in the car sequences is excellent, and adds a professional level of atmosphere.

The 2:35:1 aspect ratio is used extremely well. Quality-wise, this widescreen version is very good, but slightly flawed by the film's obvious age. Some scenes have grain and compression artifacts, which isn't helped by the level of smoke and dust in the picture. Despite those instances, the film does have excellent color level, detail, and black level.

The Dolby 5.1 audio track center channel is a little muddy at times, especially dialogue, for the most part the mix works. Directionality has been added (mostly in the car chase sequences) and the musical score has been beefed up a bit. Surrounds are used quite a bit for added imaging and enhancement. The LFE channel gets some great, throaty roars from the engine of the sinister car, as well as most the other motorized vehicles. Unfortunately, the original soundtrack didn't have much frequency range so the whole thing is harsh sounding at times.

The Car is a great example of movie totally battered into obscurity, despite being critically praised. It has a great cast, excellent effects (some of which come from legendary effects artist Albert J. Whitlock), and very effective direction. It was the last major film for director Silverstein, who had made Cat Ballou and A Man Called Horse. In a very intelligent move, the film also avoids any easy explanation of the situation. Why this film isn't a classic is a mystery, however it does have a 'cult' staus and is sought after worldwide. Anton La Vey was the credited "technical advisor". Highly Recommended.

what a nasty little car !
a black sedan is killing people ,the local sheriff (james brolin)is determined to get to the bottom of it,some say the devil himself is at the
wheel!
lots of car chases ,the sadan realy does look menacing!
there was a spate of video releases about evil vehicles in the 70s & 80s,
"the car " "killdozer" "duel" but i like this the best.
the region 2 anchor bay dvd is a nice copy but i prefer the region 1 ntsc
double sided copy with 16:9 widescreen one side & full frame the other.
and...theres a great animated start screen! honk ! honk ! ahh!

A LOT OF FUN
A series of weird deaths is plaguing a small town in the Mid-west. A town sheriff, Wade Parent (James Brolin) is assigned to investigate the deaths. The only witness to the second murder, Amos Clements, (R.G. Armstrong) is useless, as he can barely describe what happened beyond seeing a mysterious car run the victim over several times, then drive off in a hail of dust. As the town's sheriffs gather to determine what to do about the murder, it's decided not to put much stock into figuring out the causes of the deaths and treat them like bad accidents. As life goes on in the town, no one suspects a thing. When the murder of the town's captain (John Marley) forces them to accept that there is some sort of killer on the loose, Wade has his work cut out for him, since there are no real clues to hold the case together. The only thing they know is a report that the car was driver-less. Taking it with a healthy grain of skepticism, Wade starts to probe the mysterious deaths, and discovers that the reports about the car just might be true, and that the car might have some demonic reason for it's appearance.

The Good News: One of the main reasons why I consider this film an underground classic is the car itself. The car is pretty creepy, and the borrowing of "Duel" by never showing the driver is absolute genius. The fact that the grill is what we generally see of the car makes it even more terrifying because it's the one thing you remember about the car. When you see it later in the film, that becomes terror by association, exactly like the theme is in "Jaws." The honking of the car's horn is also a good scare tactic, as it signals the deathly intentions of the car. The car also disappears into the day with an abnormal amount of dust thrown up to hide the car, keeping its secrecy and making the car more mysterious. What is also a change is that the film feels a bit more real than most films at that time. The procedures taken against the murderous car feel like real-life events that just might happen. That shifts into overdrive when we learn that the car just might be driver-less. The sand-encrusted windows are a great example of making the car seem even more terrifying than it already is. It is also a great last half with a nice car chase, filmed at high-speed and full of action that sets a great feeling for the ending. For all that, the best part is the car's appearance at a town pep-rally. Watching the car trying to run down the last stragglers of the running heard desperately try to out-run the car is a great suspense scene. Then the final outcome is even more suspenseful as we watch the car track the parade to a small graveyard that it can't enter, and the desperate effort to get help.

The Bad News: One of the few beefs against the film is that there are almost no on-screen deaths. They are either shrouded by dust or an object of some kind, or they are filmed so that nothing can be seen at the angle they chose. The image is there, but we can't see the damage being done. I think that hurts the film, because knowing what the car is doing to the people would drive up audience sympathy with the humans more because the car becomes that more vilified. Second, is that there are way too many characters that serve no purpose to the story and do not provide anything other than to stand around and deliver lines. If they were to be killed off or simply removed from the story. That also leads to the final grief: there's almost no body count in the film. It starts off with three great deaths in twenty minutes, then nothing for what seems like forever as the characters are set up for way to long with no real knowledge given to help solve the mystery of the car. More deaths or less characters: either way, that would've helped out the film a lot.

The Final Verdict: With a bit more of a body count, this would definitely be a lot better known film. For a seventies film, this is one of the better films from that period, and the mystery surrounding the car is greatly played out. This is a good choice for fans of those kinds, as well as those who enjoy a straightforward film that doesn't require too much thought behind it to enjoy.