"Oh great brothers of the night who rideth upon the hot winds of hell, who dwelleth in the Devil's lair; move and appear." These words are heard quoted from The Satanic Bible by none other than creative consultant and Church of Satan leader Anton LaVey to set the mood for the 1977 supernatural road thriller The Car.
Director Elliot Silverstein never reaches the suspense or perspicacious intensity that Spielberg mastered in Duel and doesn't deliver the excessive thrills and excitement of Roger Corman's Death Race 2000, but The Car some how manages to offer enough impressive stunts, eccentric characters and stylish atmosphere to succeed as a moderately entertaining 98 minutes of vehicular mayhem.
In The Car, James Brolin mustered enough charisma to channel a poor man's Roy Scheider as Chief Deputy Wade Parent—leading the crusade against the demonic death machine with the assistance of his deputy Luke Johnson, played by Ronny Cox. Cox is a genuinely talented character actor, but his character doesn't have enough weight to allow him the kind of indelible performance one would expect.
The real star of the movie however, is the customized 1971 Lincoln Continental Mark III designed by George Barris—you're probably familiar with some of Barris' previous work, like the 1966 Batmobile. The creepy design of the homicidal automobile is menacing in its own right, but seeing it speed down the sun-drenched desert backdrop— compliments of Gerald Hirschfeld's absorbing cinematography—gives it an extra layer of atmospheric dread.
Composer Leonard Rosenman's reworked version of the traditional Catholic "Dies Irae" is quite haunting as well, allowing the tension to build just enough for the chase scenes to remain effective. In a nutshell, The Car doesn't contain the craftsmanship or scares of Carpenter's Christine and isn't ridiculous or silly enough to be Maximum Overdrive, but has just enough creative fumes and excitement to be a solid recommendation to scratch that killer possessed car itch that we all have from time to time in our cinematic cravings.
Scream Factory delivers a solid presentation as usual, making The Car look and sound better than you could ever hope for and while not packed with extras, there's enough new interviews with the director and actors to satisfy this movie's following. Overall, this release is worth a look for the morbidly curious and certainly worth picking up for those already fans of this cult classic.
Movie Score: 3.5/5, Disc Score: 4/5
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