capone666 The CarIf cars drive themselves who is going to tip the squeegee kid at the light?Actually, the self-driving vehicle in this thriller would most likely run them down.A mysterious black Lincoln Continental appears in town one day and proceeds to rundown cyclists, hitchhikers and the high school marching band. After the driverless death machine massacres the sheriff, deputy Wade (James Brolin) is left to protect the townsfolk.With a plan to draw the killer car into a canyon to crush it, the impenetrable auto preempts Wade's plan at every turn. Begging the question: is it possessed?Although it predates other haunted hotrod horror movies by a few years, this low-budget road movie lacks the style and story of those later releases. However, The Car has maintained a cult status amongst genre fans for its demonic origin.Sadly, it's not the devil perpetrating killer car attacks anymore, but ISIS. Yellow Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

maarck6 "The Car" wouldn't be the first suspense movie with a haunted, or predatory car, or whatever. No doubt influenced by Dennis Weaver's "Duel" (1971), and most likely a direct influence on movies "Christine" (1983) and Charlie Sheen's "The Wraith" (1986), and "Maximum Overdrive" (1986). It even manages to lift its ending from both "Duel", and "Five Million Years to Earth" (1967), and scenes were copied in both "Christine" and "The Wraith".An indestructible car, for some reason, shows up in a small desert city and starts killing people, its first victims being a young, and future, soap star Melody Thomas Scott, and an equally young hitchhiker John Rubenstein, who would later be known for his heavies. The deaths and the mayhem continues throughout the movie as people continue to be knocked off and the assistant sheriff continues to unravel, especially after his mentor, the sheriff, is killed. There is the requisite melodrama, the abusive drunk and his abused wife, the young single sheriff's two rambunctious children and his love interest, the hot school marm. There are no surprises to be found anywhere in this flick, it's just a fun "B" movie with an experienced cast doing the best they can with their material and for a paycheck.The cast includes such TV stalwarts as James Brolin, as the young sheriff; Kathleen Lloyd (Magnum PI) as the school teacher and love interest; Kim Richards (Escape to Witch Mountain, Tuff Turf) and her sister Kyle Richards (Halloween), both of whom would end up being reality stars; R. G. Armstrong as the mean drunk who would redeem himself somewhat; John Marley (The Godfather) who spent his long and illustrious career as both a heavy and a Mafioso here plays an-out-of-character good guy; Ronny Cox as a young assistant sheriff who's a drunk on the side; and soon-to-be professional stunt woman Leslie Hoffman. And let's not forget the writer/director Michael Butler who was also one of the co-writers of the unofficial Dirty Harry move "The Gauntlet" and the unofficial "Shane" remake "The Pale Rider'. Not a great movie by any means, but certainly fun if you're not expecting much and you just want some fun entertainment.

tomgillespie2002 Owing much to the popular 'road movies' of the 1970's such as Vanishing Point, Death Race 2000 and, in particular, Steven Spielberg's Duel, Elliot Silverstein's The Car also takes its influence from another Spielberg movie, Jaws. Released in 1975, Jaws killed it at the box office as well as terrifying its audience members, and Universal was keen to replicate this formula, only this time on land. Spielberg played with people's fear of sharks and the unknown beasts lurking in the water, so what ignites the same kind of terror and has people fleeing for their lives on land? Cars, apparently, and here a small town in the deserts of New Mexico is stalked by a demonic Lincoln Continental.Following the murder of two cyclists rammed off the road and a young hitchhiker crushed after insulting the passing vehicle, reports flood into the sheriff's office of an aggressive black car with apparently no driver. Sheriff Everett (John Marley) calls out for road-blocks to surround the town, but neighbouring areas never see the car enter or arrive. Chief Deputy Wade Parent (James Brolin) is having to deal with the issue of introducing his girlfriend Lauren (Kathleen Lloyd) to his daughters as a permanent member of the household, but this becomes the least of his problems when he finds himself placed in charge of saving his town from the unstoppable automobile.The similarities to Jaws are numerous and The Car was universally panned upon release for being little more than a rip-off without any of Spielberg's technical mastery. However, the years have been kind to The Car and it comes across now as a rather charming slice of 70's exploitation. Although the premise is ridiculous and without explanation, it takes itself quite seriously, and the titular Lincoln proves itself to be an intimidating foe at times. There is also a surprising amount of attention given to the colourful supporting characters, including Marley as the ageing sheriff with a still- burning love for a domestically abused childhood sweetheart, and a recovering alcoholic cop played by Ronny Cox. A fun if forgettable little movie, perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Matt Kracht The plot: A mysterious car arrives in a small, Western town, immediately killing several people.The Car is an interesting mix of the impressive, the inept, and the ridiculous. It starts off well enough, with a custom car terrorizing a hapless couple, but it quickly turns into a derivative Jaws clone. The acting and cinematography are both better than absolutely necessary for a Jaws ripoff, but it's difficult to really take the concept seriously. The characters in the movie also seem to have this problem. Whenever anyone suggests that they might be dealing with a supernatural car, the idea is instantly shot down, as a ridiculous concept. Nonetheless, they still accept that there's something very weird going on.The Car itself is probably the best part of the movie. As far as we know, it's driverless and perhaps demonic in origin. It has a lot of character, even in its design. The engine makes a monstrous racket, growling when people taunt the car, and the horn, which sounds like it comes from a large truck, laughs at its victims' misfortune. The imposing design also helps make the concept seem a bit more serious, instead of an ultra-cheesy affair. The car is never really explained or given any back story, as is often the case in minimalist 70s exploitation. In the end, we're left to draw our own conclusions, which may leave some people disappointed.The humans were less interesting than the car. Each of them has a bit of back story, but it's often played as filler. It's never outright boring, but the melodramatic elements do slow down the plot, compromising the previous minimalist elements. Each character gets a moment to shine, though the car seems to aggressively hunt them down afterward.There were a few themes that stuck out here and there, but, overall, I think that people who claim to see deep, philosophical treatises in this movie are crazy. The beginning is full of promise, the first half is mindless fun, and the last act gets dragged down by the requisite climactic battle. I found the climactic battle to be stretched out, boring, and not very thrilling. I think there was only enough material for about 45-60 minutes, but they dragged everything out for as long as they could. A bit of merciless editing could have made this a compelling short film, but, as a feature, I had trouble staying interested.As far as "killer car" movies go, this is pretty decent. Duel was much better, however, and I'd recommend that, instead. For something even cheesier than The Car, I'd suggest Super Hybrid or Maximum Overdrive.