The Car

Plot synopsis:
On the outskirts of Santa Ynez, two young people named Jimmy (Joshua Davis) and Suzie (Melody Thomas Scott) are riding bicycles along the highway. A vehicle comes from behind and drives right up on them, trapping them on a bridge. The sinister black sedan toys with them before killing them, crashing Suzie against the concrete barrier and then sending Jimmy plummeting to his death off the bridge. The car gives an otherworldly roar from its engine, and an ominous staccato blaring of its horn.Shortly after, near the entrance to Santa Ynez, a young hitchhiker named John Morris (John Rubinstein) observes a local named Amos Clements (R.G. Armstrong) chasing his wife, Bertha (Doris Dowling), out of their house and striking her. The young man attempts to intervene, but Amos demands he leave. As Amos and his wife go back in the house, the young man spies a black car coming up the road, preceded by a high wind. The driver almost hits the young man, and he screams obscenities after it. Suddenly, the car brakes to a halt, and backs up, running over the young man several times before driving off. Amos sees this from a window in his house, and calls the police.Meanwhile, police officer Wade Parent (James Brolin) is waking up with his girlfriend Lauren (Kathleen Lloyd), a local schoolteacher. Wade is a widowed father of two young girls, Lynn Marie (Kim Richards) and Debbie (Kyle Richards). Lauren wants Wade to socialize her with the girls so they can be up front about their relationship, as she is currently sneaking out of the house after she sleeps there, but the girls are already listening to the entire conversation just outside the bedroom door.After Wade drops the girls off at school on his motorcycle, he is summoned to the Clements house in the aftermath of the hitchhiker's death. Several other officers, including Sheriff Everett (John Marley) are interrogating Amos about the incident. Amos provides scant details about the car, and several of the officers note that Amos' wife seems to be rather quiet. Everett (John Marley) is furious that someone in his town has been murdered, despite the fact that Morris was not a local. At first, their vague description of the car turns up a report that someone spotted it driving out of town into a nearby locality, but when Suzie's body turns up, it's clear that something larger is going on. Police officer Luke (Ronny Cox) is terribly upset about it; Jimmy's body has not yet been discovered, and there is suspicion about his involvement in Suzie's death. Luke and Jimmy are close, and Jimmy has lied to Luke about his whereabouts, apparently in an attempt to conceal his relationship with Suzie. Luke is a recovering alcoholic; his wife Margie (Elizabeth Thompson) tells Wade and Lauren that Luke has been sober for two years.Later on that evening, Amos and his family are taken into the office for questioning after someone reports him abusing his wife again. Everett pleads with Bertha to file an official report about her husband's abuse so Everett can arrest him, but Bertha refuses. Everett and Bertha have history together, and Everett tells Wade that Bertha was his first love when they were both young. He watches sadly as she and her son get into their truck and drive off, while Amos goes across the street to a bar. Everett invites Wade to have a drink with him at the tavern, and Wade tells him he'll be along shortly. But as Everett crosses the street, he sees Amos crossing as well, and suddenly the black car roars to life down the street, heading right for Amos. Amos dives for the curb, and the car instead ends up running over Everett. Wade questions the few citizens who witnessed the incident, including an old Navajo woman who doesn't speak English. Chas (Henry O'Brien) is another Native American officer who translates for her as she describes what happened, but he refuses to translate one thing she says, telling Wade it's "Indian talk...she's a crazy old woman." But the dispatcher, Donna (Geraldine Keams), is also Navajo, and she later tells Wade what Chas would not: the woman claims there was no driver in the car.Wade assumes the Sheriff's duties, and requests that roadblocks be put up. He also tells Luke to contact the school and cancel parade rehearsals for the next day. However, a distraction occurs when Jimmy's body is discovered by a fisherman. Luke is despondent over the deaths of both Everett and now Jimmy, and he begins to secretly drink alcohol again.The parade rehearsal happens as scheduled, with Lauren and Margie leading the children. A high wind whips up soon after, and the car appears, shadowing the parade behind a line of tents. Suddenly it bursts through onto the main roadway, spooking the horses and causing them to stampede and throw their riders. The car rushes after the panicked group, striking several adults, including a police officer who was watching over the parade rehearsal. Lauren and the other adults lead them into nearby cliffs to avoid the car, and the large group dashes into a small fenced-in cemetery nearby. Amazingly, the car refuses to enter, despite the fact that it could easily pass through the gate. Lauren distracts the car by taunting it, while Margie sneaks out of the cemetery. The car almost runs her down as she runs across the roadway, but she makes it and summons help using the police officer's radio. The car returns to the cemetery entrance and Lauren continues to curse it, calling the driver a "chicken shit" and hurling a tree branch at it, striking the hood. The car seems furious, whirling in circles and striking one of the entrance pillars to the cemetery, but still it will not enter. Finally, the group hears the approach of police sirens, and the car speeds off. One frightened woman finally finds her voice and screams after the car, "Cat poo!", and the ordeal is finally over.The car speeds off and is spotted by one officer, who follows it up onto a cliff, but it surprises him and turns the tables, slowly pushing him to his death over the cliffside. As Wade rushes to the scene, the car emerges from the hillside and confronts two police cars driving side by side in a blockade. They hope to force the car off the road, but instead it goes into a barrel roll straight for them, rolling over their cars and causing them to crash. The officers inside are all dead, but the car emerges unharmed. Wade then arrives and confronts the car when it ominously rolls to a stop. He fires on it from close range, but the bullets do no harm, not even to the tires. Wade then walks up to the car. As he does so, the door suddenly flies open, knocking him down into a ditch. Wade then wakes up in the hospital, dazed from the experience. He talks with the remaining deputies about keeping the roadblocks up, and Lauren says she will stay at Wade's house with the girls. Wade sends Chas with Lauren to her house to get her things, and then he confronts Luke about why he did not cancel the parade rehearsal as instructed. Luke admits he's been drinking again, unable to cope with the grief of losing both Everett and Jimmy in the same day, not to mention all the other officers who are also now dead after their confrontations with the car.Chas escorts Lauren home, but she notices he is concerned about his family. She tells him to check on his family while she packs an overnight bag, and he leaves. As he drives back up the road, the car rolls silently out of the darkness and waits for him to pass, suddenly roaring to life and taking off in the opposite direction for Lauren's house. A strong wind whips up, and Lauren rushes inside, terrified. She calls Wade in a panic, terrified as she hears the engine of the car approaching. Behind her, the headlights can be seen in her window, and as she talks to Wade on the phone, suddenly the headlights levitate off the ground and the car bursts through her house at high speed, killing her in the process, before driving out the other side and off into the night.Wade and his deputies soon after investigate the remains of the house. Luke understands the significance of what has happened. He comments that the car couldn't enter the cemetery because it was hallowed ground, and it had a vendetta for Lauren because she cursed it. Wade is skeptical, but even he can't explain why the car was able to levitate through Lauren's house.Heartbroken over Lauren's brutal death, Wade is determined to avenge her. He enlists Amos, who works with dynamite, to set up a trap for the car; they will lure it into a quarry and explode the quarry wall, burying it. Wade goes home to check on his children, who are being tended to by Margie. Finding all of them asleep, Wade leaves a note behind telling Margie to take care of the kids. Passing through his garage, he is startled to find the car parked inside there, waiting for him. It traps him in the garage, threatening to run him down each time he makes a move for the door. Margie awakens, unaware of what has transpired and still expecting Lauren to arrive any minute. Wade warns her the car is there and she runs back into the house. The car begins to rev its engine to an ear-shattering decibel, causing the glass in the house to shatter. Margie and the children are terrified, until Wade manages to escape the garage and get to his bike. He takes off with the car chasing him, leading it away from the house and off to the quarry where the trap awaits. The men aren't finished setting up the charges, though, and Wade has to keep the car distracted by circling with it inside the quarry. Finally he overturns his bike and makes a leap for the rope the men have lowered down to him from the cliff; the car realizes what is happening and makes for the road, roaring up the cliffside toward Wade and the others. Wade and Luke stay right at the cliff's edge, luring the car closer, until finally they leap to the side and the car goes flying off the cliff into the quarry below. The men ignite the dynamite and the entire cliffside explodes, burying the car under tons of rubble. In the resulting fireball, a huge demonic apparition forms, vanishing as the fire subsides and the smoke clears. Wade and the others are sure they've buried the car for good.The film concludes with scenes of the car driving around Los Angeles, presumably waiting to claim new victims.

Tags: paranormal, cult, murder

Review:
The Car was, as New York Press writer Jim Knipfel wrote, "If Ingmar Bergman had made a horror movie about a murderous automobile, he would have made The Car." The philosophical edge didn't turn the story into a joke, but rather gave some weight to a fantastic and desperate situation, balancing the dread and the actions of the townspeople.The Car is visually stunning, the desert location is used in a very scenic way instead of vast empty spaces that usually are obvious for film economics.
This black sedan custom made for the film could just sit there and do nothing (well, it does sit on dark streets sometimes) and you'll get chills.Combine the scenery with the deadly car and the various personalities of the characters, and you have something more profound than just a movie about a mysterious car running people down.
James Brolin (the sheriff) does tend to stop and stare at walls as if to find answers, and Kathleen Lloyd (the school teacher) decides to get in a debate with the Car as it has them trapped in a strangely placed graveyard.While you won't be terrified out of your seat, you will definitely feel some goose bumps and find yourself with a serious look on your face as you gaze at several scenes.
Then there are films like The Car that have been sought after for years and celebrated when it arrived on VHS/DVD for the first time since its theatrical release in 1977.
Films as unique as The Car have held their own because there was care put into their production, more thought to its intention, and a long-lasting affect on those who have understood it and appreciated it.Sure, a horror film doesn't have to be full of "importance" to be a fun and scary experience, but when film makers take that chance to make something more unique, then good for them!
(i.e. Ronny Cox as an alcoholic falling off the wagon, James Brolin as a single parent trying to keep his daughters happy as he dates sexy Kathleen Lloyd.) What I'm saying is at its heart, this is a creepy, unsettling film with some really strange philosophical/religious questions at its core.
Anyone who sets aside time for a movie about a possessed car that runs people down knows they're not not going to get an Oscar winner.
Then again, how many horror films actually are?What's interesting about THE CAR is that no one, not even the audience, knows where the vile vehicle came from.
The film's climax does reveal who was behind the wheel (if you haven't seen it, I won't spoil it), but the hows and whys of the situation remain up to our individual interpretations.There's not a great deal of appeal in THE CAR to those outside its target audience of popcorn-munching horror buffs.
There is no explanation for where the car came from, where it goes, and who or what it is.Welcome to real life.If you're looking for a well-thought-out story with highly-developed characters, and a movie where everything that happens is explained and wrapped up at the end, this is the wrong movie.If you're looking for a movie that at times feels like a cross between a news report and a diary, this is the one.The unpredictability of the car, the unexplainability of its actions, the normalcy of the people in the movie all make a rather unbelievable story, well...
I like James Brolin in this film and John Marley as well, even though he didn't have much to do.The star of the movie is "The Car".
Gathering together some key horror movie elements (small desert town, scrappy desert folk, demonic Lincoln), the makers of "The Car" must've felt they were on top of a goldmine.
It is indeed a chilling movie that eerily foretold future trends such as road rage and godawful James Brolin films, with an ending for the ages.Bearing in mind, a great deal of this is sarcasm.
But truthfully, "The Car" is highly recommended for the good-bad-movie lover - it is an excellent film to make fun of..
Whether that's right or not, I know it's a heavily-modified 2-dr Lincoln, most likely a '67 or '68 model.This is a fun film to watch, whether you're out for a thrill or just to MST a bad movie.K. N.
The first time I saw this film my friend kept insisting that he had seen it years ago, and that the secret was that the car was Hitler's.
The Car is, by no means of the word, a true classic, but a good film none the less, if only for great cinematography, and a few unbelievable stunts.
I particularly liked the way there was no lame-ass Stephen king-ish "explanation" for the car's "attitude", and also enjoyed Brolin's no nonsense hero who doesn't waste time figuring out what the hell is going on, he just tries to destroy the freakin' thing.
The movie is also helped by  the strong supporting cast which contains several familiar faces, including Ronny Cox ('Deliverance') as the weak, ex-alcoholic Luke, the spunky Kathleen Lloyd ('It Lives Again') as Brolin's schoolteacher girlfriend, Peckinpah regular R.G. Armstrong ('Race With The Devil', 'The Beast Within') as a wife-beating redneck, and John Rubenstein (the oddball cult favourite 'Zachariah') as a "cool" French horn playing hitch hiker.
Genre fans will even get a kick out of Wade's daughters being played by the Richards sisters, Kim and Kyle (Carpenter's 'Assault On Precinct 13' and 'Halloween' respectively).'The Car' is no masterpiece but great 1970s trash that makes an entertaining popcorn movie..
The movie is a significant cut above many films of its kind, like "Killdozer", due to some spurts of intense action, emotional discharge (telling the car off in front of frightened kids in a cemetery), some surprises (check out the garage scene near the end), and some style (watch for the fire-shaped howling devil in the smoke cloud).
"The Car" is a "thriller" so mind bogglingly awful that it would have come off better being marketed as a comedy.It's a Jaws ripoff about a mysterious black car that appears one day in a desert community and starts killing the townspeople.
From James Brolin's inept performance, to Kathy Lloyd's ridiculous taunting of The Car, to Ronny Cox and R.G. Armstrong looking like they stepped in dog droppings, this thing lumbers along from one inane scene to another.
I guess when people see a terrible film when they're six or something, reality never interferes with their fond memories - it's one thing to say "this movie scared me as a kid", it's entirely another to not have the smarts to say, "Well, I watched it recently and it really is a piece of crap." It is - sorry to have to say it - it's a piece of crap from start to finish..
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.
Taking a leaflet out of Steven Spielberg's Duel, The Car creates its own aura of suspense & terror, and is a smartly crafted & skilfully executed horror that makes excellent use of genre elements to retain its tense vibe and, despite a few hiccups, manages to be consistently gripping from start to finish.Set in a small deserted town, The Car concerns a mysterious black car that surfaces in the town one day and goes on a killing spree, terrorising anyone & everyone it happens to come in contact with.
The plot mainly focuses on a local sheriff who tries to stop this menace before more people fall victim to it.Directed by Elliot Silverstein, The Car establishes its evil intentions within the opening scene and only takes it up from there.
The director is able to encapsulate the tale with an ominous ambiance and the way he utilises the car throughout the movie only adds a diabolical feel to it, which in turn amplifies the film's sinister tone.Sure the characters aren't well-sketched and dialogue is even worse, the performances, however, still manage to be passable, especially from James Brolin & John Marley, both of whom play their roles with flair.
And despite blockbusters taking over the cinema, there remained grimy little movies unafraid to broadcast their flirtations with the dark lord – The Devil's Rain, The Omen, Mephisto Waltz and this largely forgotten little thriller — The Car.I first saw this film in another way the 70s were different — we only had five channels.
Anyone that grew up in the halcyon days of nascent HBO can recite many of them by heart: Flash Gordon, Sharkey's Machine, Superfuzz, Scavenger Hunt, They Call Me Bruce and The Car. I can personally claim to have seen this film over 280 times, perhaps because the summertime was all reruns when it originally aired and perhaps because it was my grandfather's favorite movie (until Terminator 2 came out and that is a story for another article).You'll notice another difference about 70s movies right from the start of this film — kids aren't just put in danger to scare the audience.
The cast is the key here, with small town policemen James Brolin, John Marley and Ronnie Cox joining forces with dynamite expert R.G. Armstrong to corner The Car and blow it kingdom come.
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.
All of the actors take their parts seriously, be it James Brolin as the deputy sheriff who must lead the fight against the car after his boss is killed by the black fiend, or RG Armstrong as wife beater Amos who also just happens to be guy to go to if you want some explosives, or Ronny Cox as Brolin's friend on the force and one who struggles with alcoholism.
Watch The Car to find out more.The film is a very creepy horror-thriller with a lot of mystery surrounding The Car.I very much liked this movie - it really is full of suspense and thrills.
The cast is impeccable (I've always liked James Brolin), the flick is strangely atmospheric, the cinematography is great, the music is very good and the effects aren't half bad.
I love Kathleen Lloyd's performance as a spunky school teacher, and James Brolin as good humor but serious under sheriff and also the Richards sister as under sheriff's kids.The film itself held up pretty well in its 31 years, sure, the bell bottom jean and the fluffy hair style are kind of out-dated, but everything else could come right out of today's Hollywood studio.
It's left up to Sheriff Wade Parent and his officers to finally put to an end to this machine, where they learn they might be going up against something supernatural.Here's another to join the market of combining elements of other influential horror films, and this occasion it's "Jaws", "Duel" and "The Omen" finding their way into this clunky, but truly suspenseful and eerie midnight b-grade, drive-in feature.
Well even though the movie is dated squarely in the 70's, it does provide a riveting plot and decent entertainment, if you can get past the idea that a driverless, demon-possessed, indestructible car runs people down in a desert town.
A few days ago I saw the movie and thats when I decided to order the movie.The car is a really good movie and i recommend it to people who like suspenseful and mysterious movies.
This is a good film for the whole family but your elementary kids should watch it with Mom & Dad. I remember after seeing this film other "Killer Car & Truck Movies" came out such as Christine.
I guess the thing that was mostly creepy about it was that it sat on the lot, parked mysteriously motionless, amazingly mute, and seemed to be biding its time until we all focused our attention away from it, giving its best opportunity for attack.I have it now on DVD, and I couldn't be happier, (Barring James Brolin's near-expressionless character).Yes, this was a relatively low budget '70's Horror/Sci-Fi movie, but I think it has put its mark in pop culture.
The Car. I was not old enough to watch this movie in 1977,but i did read the book.Yes,this film is after a book.The book was 10/10 in my opinion,and it was really hard for me to not be old enough for the movie.18 years later a TV channel did run the movie,and my happiness and excitement to finally see the film was overwhelming.The film is not that great,but i have to say that i liked it a lot,and that because of the book i guess.I really wanted to see that big black devil care with that psycho horn,spinning around on the hunt for victims.Read the book first if you can find it on eBay or someplaces else,then see the film.It would be great to see a remake of this film,as the potential for a suberb horror film is great i think..
A really young James Brolin stars as the town's chief of police and Kathleen Lloyd is really hot as his wife and a teacher in the town's school.The movie kept my attention straight through and some scenes had me on the edge of my seat the first time I saw it, when I was ten or so.
By the end of the film, the same townspeople confront the car in a desert setting that looks more like Arizona than anywhere else..
The mysterious car seems to be bent on murdering anyone and everyone in its path -- and some people NOT in its path -- but the strange thing is, the car has no driver!** DON'T READ PAST THIS LINE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW HOW THE MOVIE ENDS!
Maybe it is the fact that it is a car that is killing people kind of like "Christine" that turns me off.
One guy's wife ends up even being killed by the car and that is one good point of the movie, cause it sure was surprising and I wasn't expecting it.
He is of course skeptical of accounts that there was no driver, but soon changes his mind when the car strikes close to the police department, then his home...Although this film has a good beginning and end, with some impressive stunts and an effective plot twist regarding costar Kathleen Lloyd, it suffers from some poor dialogue and needless subplots, which really drag it down; might have worked better at 75 minutes, as a semi-"Twilight Zone" inspired film, but at over ninety,(at least as it stands) it can't overcome these shortcomings.Watch out when that horn blows!.
Well, back in '77, the brass at Universal got the order ass-backwards.Steven Spielberg's STILL sphincter-shriveling, desert-road-trip nightmare DUEL worked great as a TV movie, though it could've been a masterpiece as a full-blown theatrical release, (and it was shown in theaters some years later.) When DUEL set off the sparks it did, though, THIS is what made it to theaters...a car from Hell that kills people.
Which is probably how you should treat it if you find it at the video store.And when you do start watching, try not to laugh too hard at the "scary" movie theme that uses a CAR HORN as its leit motif..
If you want to make a movie about a killer car, this is a good way to do it.In a dusty Southwestern town, a mysterious black sedan shows up, and begins to run over the locals.So the town's sheriff thinks of a plan to stop the madness.
Like a supernatural hybrid of Spielberg's Duel and Jaws, The Car sees the population of a desert town terrorised by an enormous, black, driver-less 2-door chop top intent on murder and mayhem, with local cop Wade Parent (James Brolin) doing his best to destroy the 4-wheeled menace.While John Carpenter's Christine is certainly the most famous demonic car in the movies, the massive malevolent vehicle in this '77 chiller is no less worthy of recognition—virtually indestructible and utterly merciless, this seemingly unstoppable and hugely imposing mechanical predator makes for a monster every bit as nightmarish as those that kill with tooth or claw.Special effects wise, there might be little to rival the magical sight of a wrecked Plymouth Fury repairing itself, but director Elliot Silverstein still manages to deliver plenty of impressive imagery and spectacular stunts along the way, the car running two young cyclists off a mountain road (and over the edge of a precipice), attacking a parade, ploughing headlong into a pair of police cars, and even careering right through a house.6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb..
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.
The best horror films of the 70's had just as much car chases, foot chases, shooting, explosions, and as high of a body-count as the action movies of the time.
James Brolin is good as a local sheriff investigating a series of deaths where the victims were hit by a black car that no one can seem to properly describe as it is a one of a kind vehicle.
If you like possessed haunted car stories, you should get this movie.