Death Car on the Freeway
Tags: murder

Plot synopsis:
Aereal images of lanes and lanes of highways with cars roaring by.Becky Lyons (Morgan Brittany) is an actress who is memorizing her lines while Robert "Bobby" Lessentein (Hank Brandt), a cute guy, is filling out the tank of her car. As she has forgotten to cash in a check, she puts very little petrol on his car, but it should be enough to get where she is going to be the first victim. Jan drives fast but well. However, a black van cuts her from her exit on purpose. The camera pans on the hairy hands of a guy who cleans his steering wheel, puts on some gloves and a casette on the cassette recorder and drives like a maniac after Jan, who is already getting ready to leave the freeway on the next exit. Suddenly, the black van appears again and pushes Jan's car away. Jan's car finishes dangling from one of the sides.Becky speaks to a reporter, Ace Durham (Alfie Wise), who presents the recording to the producers of his program. However, everybody seems to think that it is a publicity stunt, as she is in show business. Jan phones Pauline, who works at NTF, Channel Three, and gives her name first as Jan Claussen, but then she changes it to Jan Jeffries. Jan is apparently getting divorced from Ray Jeffries (George Hamilton), a big shot at TV who is having shoes made to measure.Jan sees a recording of Ray with a lady who says that cars have given women freedom. She is a kind of posh lady,and when Jan goes to speak with her, she is absolutely convinced that the man wanted to kill her for no reason.The lady had surgery twice because of the attempt on her life.Jan and Ace speak to Lieutenant Haller (Peter Graves) on their studio before going on air. They think that theere is coincidence enough to investigate, but Haller says that they are imagining things, as a case like that would be good for Jan's career.At a hospital bedroom,a nurse called Jane Guston (Tara Buckman) is telling bed-ridden Mr. Frisch (Abe Vigoda). that she is gong to meet her husband at the airport in forty five minutes to celebrate their anniversary. The nurse drives her red car onto the Ventura Freeway. As she is getting late, she passes the black van quite rudely. That sets the man off, who puts on the cassette again and pushes Jane's car several times. Another car who gets caught in the fracas pushes the black van out of the freeway, but it comes back even more savagely for revenge. Finally, it pushes Jane's car across the lanes so that another car crashes onto Jane's and her car is set on fire. The black van goes down a slope and joins the heavy traffic of another freeway.Jan visits Jane on hospital. Jane's husband (Buddy H. Farmer) tries to make her more positive, but Jane knows that with 60% of her body burnt she has no chance of getting alive. She mentions hearing some kind of music - country music with a weird fiddle thing going on.Jan immediately phones Lynn Bernheimer (Dinah Shore) to ask her if she knows what it could be, but she is meeting important people from San Diego and doesn't take her seriously.There is a call for Doctor Glenn de Grant (Jerry Jensen). On the background, this doctor announced to the pilot that his wife has passed away. He is terribly distraught. Jan leaves her telephone on a recorded message at Becky's answering machine, 5559807.Ray drives Jan home. He advises her to be more aggressive. Becky had not heard the music. Jan wants to prove that she can succeed on her own. He proposes that they have a drink,but she complains that he never listens to her. Ray is his usual jackass in spite of saying that he is seeing a therapist. Jan cuts the conversation and says that wants to go home. At 6431, she rushes to pick up the phone. It is Lynn, the posh woman from the tennis club, saying that she heard some kind of music. Jan shouts it out to Ray,who was already leaving. He pretends to be happy about Jan's progress.Barry Hill (Robert F. Lyons), is going to make a special with Jan live to tell women not to drive on their own on the freeway. Ace announces that on Ray's channel they have given that news first. Jan is distraught, as it was her story. Ray apologises with many words about that, saying it was not his fault. Jan just hangs up.The black van driver attacks again. At least four more women are dead.This goes on the news. The driver gets rid of the California number 247PCE and chooses another one. Also, he paints hisvan in another car.Another murder. Now, everybody calls the driver "the fiddler". Jan puts pressure on Haller.Jan interviews Dr Rita Glass (Gloria Stroock), who gives a psychological profile.The fiddler is a repressed personality unsure of his masculinity who has been domineered by his mother. He is a man looking to be killed because he has chosen a dangerous way of killing these attractive women. Mr. Blanchard (Hal Needham) has contacted Jan to show her what his school is about. Jan goes to Mr. Blanchard's Defensive Driving school. Blanchard accepts Jan as a student. At KXLA, she speaks about the fiddler again.One rainy day, the black van driver is following Jan, only that now the van is white. Jan has taken her first lesson, next time it will be defensive evasion.Mrs Anthony has a call from Mrs Risen. Her son Teddy has a temperature so she has to go and pick him up. She runs to her blue car and gets into the freeway on her own. A white van won't let her pass, so she honks and honks. Now there are two white vans, and the murderer driver sets the music on. Suddenly, the white van stops and the blue van crashes onto it. Now, the blue car has got caught by the white van with a trailer hookattachedat theback. A police car sees this weird thing and runs after them. Mrs Anthony tries to stop to a halt without avail. The white van leaves the freeway in a crash turn, all the time pushing Mrs Anthony's car around. He releases Mrs Anthony 's car in the precise moment that the police car crashes onto her.Haller blames women's terrible driving for calling the fiddler's attention.Jan returns home on her own. She suspects something. She hears something while she is chilling out on her own.Somebody knocks on the door. Somebody says it is "flowers by telegram". It's moronic Ray, who laughs the scare off. He congratulates Jan on her success, as her investigation of the fiddler's case is drawing loads of attention to her. However, he gives good advice: Jan should be careful, as she is the prototype of woman the fiddler is looking for. He goes onto saying that she should have a different job, but Jan feels that he is just jealous, as she is becoming more famous than him. Jan feels that women are being attacked because they are resourcetful, intelligent and successful. Ray leaves, feeling rejected after Jan reminds him that sticking their necks out goes with the job.Rosemary (Barbara Rush) is going on vacation for two weeks at a spa in Arizona, and Jan is going to replace her. Lynn realises that it's her chance,so she tells her to pick it up. Jan hesitates, and asks for Rosemary's advice: should she stay with her man or take her chance? Rosemary says that she will not be happy if she quits.Jan is being followed and attacked on a secondary road. Both the van and her car end up in a ditch. Luckily,it was Blanchard, training her.Jan's program is going to be cancelled, says Ralph Chandler (Frank Gorshin) as the car make does not want to advertise anymore. Haller also called to request that the channel sends another reporter. Ray recommends her to resign before the channel lets her go. With a black mark on her CV, she wont be able to find another job. Jan prefers to stick until the end. Ray offers to call Carl and take her up. Jan feels that Ray is scared that she makes it on her own. Ray denies it, but he believes that she can't succeed without him. Ray doesn't want her to leave upset after what he has said.Another car wreck.However, Jan says that there is no fiddler. Apparently, more men have died because of car accidents than in the two World Wars, as there is a million deaths per year on the roads. She says that it was mass hysteria and mass media invention about the fiddler. Ace and Rosemary look at her with satisfaction. She says that car makes should stop making commercials encouraging males to drive faster and aggressively.Ralph, Ace and Rosemary are sorry that Jan has been fired. Ray says that right now Jan is unemployable. He will pull some favours and give a job to Jan. Ran is obnoxious and a bully, and wants to take her home.A man phones Jan. It is probably the fiddler saying that she should come over to look around because of friend of his knows who the fillder is,but is not sure. Ray wants to take her home, but she refuses to go with him. Ray says that he has taken a huge risk for her, but Jan says that she can do whatever she wants, and goes to meet this man.She exits the freeway and goes to a shop with a big painted advertisement saying "Roy's Muffler Radiator". It is not a good area, and she feels weird and watched. She is scared of an aggressive dog, a gang of motorbikers, but keeps on walking.She enters a dirty place. There is some graffiti saying "Phantoms". A rat falls in a mousetrap. Several guys look at her menacingly.Bobby (Jack Collins) and Maurie (Sig Haid) are the ones who have called her. They have stolen cars, but they "don't want to kill nobody". They usually prepare cars for motor races. The gang are supposed to be a social club and call themselves the Roaches. They socialize, but other guys don't socialize, go to a party, have friends or like girls. But somebody like the fiddler would never join a club like that. That guy would sit outside the club and just sit there outside ,without speaking to anybody. Nobody liked the guy. He had a scar on the side of his face and would play country music all day long.Jan leaves. Everybody stares at her, but she is looking for Eddie (Roger Aaron Brown).She speaks to Eddie about the guy with the black van who used to play country music about a year ago. The guy has a scar on his face, almost a hidden eye, and is re-painting a car in blue. Jan suspects it is him.Eddie gives him the address of John Evans, 8921 Herald Street, La Crescenta, California without a word and leaves. But Jan decides to follow him. The bikers laugh at her, as she looks very scared.Jan goes to that address.She speaks to Helen Sheel (Harriet Nelson), a blind lady. She says that John moved two days ago, but maybe he will go onto living on his van again. Mrs Sheel gives the key of the crappy apartment / shack where John used to live. Jan enters and sees photos of accidents, a collage of photographs of accidents everywhere. Mrs Sheel says that John may come back later. Jan calls the police.Haller congratulates Jan and says thank you. They are convinced now that she was right.Jan leaves on her own, and the fiddler is following her. Jan goes onto the freeway and the fiddler repeats her ritual: the music, the cleaning of the steering wheel, the gloves. Now it is a van in dark blue with flames graffited on. Jan realises that the van is very close and accelerates.At first, the thinks it was a false alarm, as the van exits. She relaxes but the fiddler surprises her driving like crazy. she tries Blanchard's manouvers. She takes an exit of a road still on construction. The van is pushing her. Jan moves away, but the van crashes onto the announcement of "End of freeway" and explodes in a million pieces.Jan stops to see the van burn.Credits.Nancy Stephens ... ChristineJim NegeleHank BrandtMarguerite DeLain

Review: For car fans there's a lot of cool old cars to look at and some decent crashes.
It definitely borrows from "Duel" (one of the immensely overrated Spielberg's only decent films) but manages to come up with a fresh take on it.
The best thing about this movie is that the action is for real, back in the days when movie-making was real blood and sweat, instead of the computer crap we see today.
When these cars crash, you can see where if something went wrong, there would have been more trouble on the set.
But that's real movie making, not drawing cartoons on a computer.This movie definitely has the odd tricks and turns a lot of tv-movies did from the day, and still sometimes do.
I was always impressed by this film's use of action and suspense.
We see the killer's actions, but we don't know why he's going after these Women.We feel the helplessness of the victim's and the powerlessness of the police to do anything.
This is not just another car chase/crash movie.
There's Hitchcock like suspense and action that helps the story line, not muddle it into an idiot film like most car chase flicks.I sure miss this movie and I wish there were plans to put it on video soon.
A good film like this needs to be viewed often because it also has a sobering socio-political message to it.It is also a pity that such outstanding film making has passed away.
Too many TV and theatrical film makers are making boring hyper violent films that make no sense and give us car chases and crashes that have no real visual impact other than mindless destruction and sheer stupidity..
Great little TV movie about a crazed car killer.
DEATH CAR ON THE FREEWAY is one of those atmospheric US TV movies that were made throughout the 1970s and seemed to fizzle out around 1985 or so, when all TV films became safe, sanitised and terminally dull.
Still, that's not the case with this film, which is a great little exercise in suspense as it tells the story of a crazed van driver who enjoys killing women drivers in car accidents.The film is low budget, sure, but it's a lot of fun and it contains all the right elements for a good thriller.
The murderer is a spooky, Michael Myers-alike who we never really get to know or understand, which makes his actions all the creepier.
The sound of a fiddle has never been so sinister as it is here.The film was directed by Hal Needham, a noted stuntman, so needless to say the car chase scenes are exemplary, with some pyrotechnic effects that beat the hell out of modern-day CGI ones.
The intriguing cast list incorporates George Hamilton, Peter Graves, and Frank Gorshin, and there's a neat cameo from Sid Haig too.
The television film Duel directed by a young Steven Spielberg had a driver menaced by an unseen truck driver.
The film got a cinema release in some places.
Obviously inspired by Duel is the 1979 Television movie Death Car on the Freeway where an unseen driver known as the Freeway Fiddler (because he puts on bluegrass music) is terrorising women drivers and pushing them off the freeway.
It is surprising that no other driver notices the maniac loose on the road when he is bashing into other cars and being a danger to everyone!The police (represented by Peter Graves) are reluctant to take these incidents seriously and at one point blame the women for being bad drivers for getting into these scrapes.
At least it is a social commentary regarding sexism and the police force!Shelley Hack is the reporter who makes the story public and plots to catch him even taking special hazardous driving lessons in case the Fiddler pursues her.The director is Hal Needham, a former stuntman and a director associated with Burt Reynolds and films such as the Cannonball movies.
There are some good car stunts from such an esteemed stunt director but it also suffers from rather dull made for 1970s television movie narrative.George Hamilton is wasted as Hack's ex beau and star news reporter.
The film loses focus when it dwells on relationship issues and when it introduces some kind of Hells Angels type of group who may know the identity of the Freeway Fiddler.An interesting premise made bland and even silly when it should had been grittier..
The TV equivalent of a drive-in version of "Duel," and okay for what it is..
With Hal Needham behind the camera and Shelley Hack - one of the last of "Charlie's Angels" - in the main role, you've probably guessed that "Death Car on the Freeway" won't be of Spielberg standards.
It isn't, but I remember getting some low-brow entertainment out of this TV movie way back when.Women drivers are being run off the road and killed by a strange man who a TV reporter (S.
Hack) dubs the "Freeway Fiddler" because he always plays fiddle music before going into action; she can't finger the misogynist van driver (and indeed we never see the driver, but the resemblance between this and "Duel" pretty much ends there) but she plots to catch him before he can continue his reign of terror.
machine in a race to the death.Writer William Wood and director Needham don't deliver a great feminist tract, nor is this an actors' showcase; but they do keep the automotive action coming, and it's not a message TV movie by any means.
It's basically a pulp novel on the screen, and it's not bad - something that certainly can't be said for some of the director's bigscreen movies ("Megaforce," anyone)?.
Taught little tele-movie featuring a maniacal van driver bearing down on lone female motorists, causing mayhem, death and destruction.
It's a serial killer movie with a twist; the van is the modus operandi and the signature is a frenetic bluegrass tune blaring from inside, earning the killer 'The Fiddler' nickname.
Novice TV anchorwoman (Hack), desperate to emerge from beneath the shadow of her former husband (Hamilton), investigates the road rage attacks for the network news service, becoming not only an expert, but part of the story itself, which attracts attention from seedy individuals, who may be linked to the killer.Director and veteran stunt co-ordinator Hal Needham has crafted a tense mystery thriller on a TV budget, incorporating a raft of well-executed stunts, and some big names in the cast.
The 'tanned one' plays his usual character (i.e. George Hamilton) and while Hack is a bit like her surname, there's good support from veterans Rush, Gorshin, Graves, Vigoda and co in the wings.
Even pretty Morgan Brittany is realistic as an over-zealous, aspiring actress, keen to emphasise her near-fatal encounter with 'The Fiddler'.There seems to have been an attempt to convey the message of journalistic objectivity, and professional integrity in media, but neither Hack nor Hamilton are credible enough to carry that pretext.
Despite this, Needham plays his aces at the right times, employing his experienced cast for scene fillers, and handing the rest of the movie over to the outstanding stuntwork to deliver the action sequences, which are superior to those employed in many feature films.
Duel II: Rush Hour Rage!.
Who better than Hal Needham, notorious stunt driver and director of many good ol' boy car chase movies like "Smokey and the Bandit" and "Cannonball Run", could direct this modest but worthwhile TV-thriller with numerous crashes and exploding vehicles?
The resemblance with Steven Spielberg's phenomenal "Duel" is unmistakable, but that doesn't necessarily makes this film a blatant rip-off.
Both films center on a psychopath who, seemingly without much of a motive, uses his/her vehicle as a deadly murder weapon.
In "Duel" it's a filthy old truck in the middle of nowhere, whereas in "Death Car on the Freeway" it's a Dodge van on the traffic-infested highways of California during rush hour (which is probably why he occasionally has to switch license plates and re-paint).
William Wood's scenario also hints that the murderous van driver does have a motive, in fact.
The "freeway-incidents" are tense and spectacular, in spite of the obvious budget restrictions, which is a good thing because the rest of the film is overly talkative and somewhat dull.
The crashing cars burst into flames illogically fast, if you ask me, but that only makes it more exciting.
Although it's "just" a TV-movie, "Death Car on the Freeway" stars a fairly impressive number of familiar names, like Peter Graves, George Hamilton and Robert F.
After rewatching the exceptional TV-movie, Duel, recently, I started searching for other, similar flicks in the "horror on the highway" genre, and stumbled onto this quite odd, obscure (and quite bleached- out) flick about a van driver and targeting single women on the LA motorways.
The print that I saw was quite bleached out, making some scenes almost unwatchable.
The film also had a decidedly brown/ grey pallet, which coupled with the print's washed out, faint look, made it look like a sepia-toned black-and-white movie.Part of the reason Duel was so effective was its setting on a lonely desert road over the course of a single day.
With this film's action transplanted to busy LA motorways, it loses the feeling of isolation, and taking place over several days robs it of the urgency and immediacy Duel also had.
The unseen driver targeting numerous people instead of just one, as Duel did, makes it difficult to get attached to any of the characters, or care if they survive.
The idea of the van driver changing the look of his van to confuse the people (after a description is broadcast on television) was a novel twist the first time, but lost its effectiveness when it was done repeatedly.
There were some decent enough car crashes and (curious) explosions, but they are widely separated, and what lies between is a lot of women's lib and feminist ramblings shoved down the audiences' collective throat, and the whole ordeal is further negated by the fact that we know the killer's identity will remain a secret, burned to a crisp in some fiery climactic explosion, and, sure enough......
Six cylinders.
A woman is badly shaken when she is run off the freeway and nearly killed by a crazy van-driver.
Her story is not taken too seriously by TV or the police - until another woman is killed in similar circumstances, also by a dark van.
The police seem to have no leads, so a TV reporter starts investigating the similarities between the cases.
As the deaths mount, she takes hazard-driving lessons.
When she finally locates the driver's whereabouts, he's missing, but chases her onto the freeway.This movie has some loud music.
It's no a horrible movie, but it's directed like a TV movie which takes something away from the film.
The print I saw was so bleached out the color was nearly gone and sometimes it seemed like I was watching a b&W movie.The verdict: 6..
The Freeway Fiddler.
Or so the killer in Death Car On The Freeway Was Called.I have a soft spot for good car chase movies and this one was as good as it gets.
Directed by Hal Needham (ex stuntman who brought us Smokey And The Bandit and all of Burt Reynolds subsequent smash em up movies) this movie is dated in many ways.First of all, the movie has some definite you go girl I am female hear me roar undertones.
The movie came out in 1979 and the feminist movement was in full swing.
There isn't anything wrong with it, but because it is so obvious it dates the movie.Secondly, if you have ever seen an episode of CHiP's you should have an idea of what the stunts in this movie look like.
The stunts are real (not CGI) performed by real stunt men, risking their lives not over paid actors sitting in front of a blue screen.Okay, so the acting is a little cheesy.
The movie is over acted to say the least.
Made for TV movies rarely satisfy on the same level as a big screen picture, but then again you don't have to pay for them.
This one fires on all cylinders.
A psycho in a van decides that women have over stepped their boundaries and begins stalking and killing them on the highways of California.
Shelly Hack is a television news reporter willing to risk everything including her career and life following the story.We never see the killers face, just his hands and feet.
When the movie ends we never learn who the killer is.
I think the movie does a good job of implying that it could be anyone.
The movie also has a message that still holds true today.
In their commercials they show their cars being driven in a way that will either land you in court or in the hospital.This is one of my favorite movies of all time, probably because it reminds me of my childhood (I was 5 when it first aired).
When it comes to the biggest TV movies of all time, you have to include Steven Spielberg's Duel on the list.
A battle between Dennis Weaver and an 18 wheeler for a taunt 74 minutes that stayed in viewer's minds for way longer.That leads us to this film, which originally aired on CBS on September 25, 1979.Janette Clausen (Shelley Hack, TV's Charlies Angels, plus Troll and The Stepfather) is a crusading reporter who has moved up from writing feature stories to being on the air herself.
She sinks her teeth into a story about a van driver who she feels has been targeting and killing only female motorists, taking on not only the male establishment but even Detroit auto manufacturers and advertising itself!
If you're a 1970's TV star buff like myself, you'll have a field day with this film.
And hey look - that's Dinah Shore as a tennis pro who may have faced off with the villain of this piece, the Freeway Fiddler, before!As Billy Mays used to say before he died from doing too much blow, "But wait, there's more!"The Riddler, Frank Gorshin, is here!
You got your throat slashed in Silent Night, Deadly Night and here you are in this TV movie!
Sure, you were in Dallas, but you also started your career in Gypsy but found the time to be in movies I care way more about, like being the Virgin Mary in Sunn Pictures' In Search of Historic Jesus and the TV movie The Initiation of Sarah!Nancy Stephens!
She's probably best known as Nurse Marion Chambers from the Halloween series of films.
Now you do!Is that Hal Needham as the driving instructor?
Hal formed Stunts Unlimited, which did all the stuntwork for Burt Reynolds' biggest films, but he also directed Megaforce!
He also directed this movie and did a ton of the stunts, too.Death Car on the Freeway sets up a slasher who kills targeted women with his evil black van, particularly strong women who excel beyond men.
We never see him or learn more about him than that, but if this reminds you a bit of Death Proof, Quentin Tarantino's part of Grindhouse, you're not alone.The best part - for me - was when Jan goes to meet a gang of street racers and Sid Haig shows up!
I ran around the house screaming, "SID HAIG!" so many times that Becca had to tell me to settle down and covered me with a blanket until I calmed myself.When Jan ends a report by saying, "This is Janette Claussen for KXLA from the scene of the Freeway Fiddler's latest attack, and not at all anxious to leave the scene, horrible as it is.
Because when I do, I'm going to be like thousands of other women, in a car on Los Angeles' 491 miles of freeway...
This is better than 'Duel'.
Don't get me wrong, I like the film 'Duel' but after a while it's hard to keep watching the road pass by.
'Death Car on the Freeway' gives the viewer a break from being on the road the entire film.
Don't underestimate the breaks because behind your back the film is building in suspense and action.The characters in this are better than 'Duel' as well.
Not just the one annoying guy behind the wheel and the killer but a whole array of well developed characters.The action is better.
Sorry Speilburg your camera tricks are nothing compared to the real deal here.The sparse character insight to who the killer is makes you want to know who he is even more.
With 'Duel' all you get is the car.
The actions sequences are unrivaled as mentioned before and the fact that the mysterious black van explodes fits and works well.
The best part is that you never really get to see the killer.
Only his hands when he puts on his black gloves to drive deadly.
Very gialloesque.This is probably my second favorite movie of all time.
It's still a good movie but next to this film...it's run off the road..
One of the cheesiest and worst movies from the 1970s.
Death Car On The Freeway is one of the worst and cheesiest 1970s movie ever made.I give it about the same rating as movies like Rollerboogie and Car Wash.The movie comes from a time period of a lot of made for TV movies that started with ABC's movie of the week back in the early 70s.There are a lot of made for TV movies that are excellent like Seven In Darkness,Dr.Cook's Garden and Shadow On The Land.Death Car On The Freeway has one of my favorite actors Peter Graves.This movie was far beneath him but I guess it paid the bills.Shelly Hack looks good but is not a very good actress.I recommend this movie for lovers of cheesy 70s movies with a disco soundtrack!I have this movie.