Customer Reviews

The Car

5 star:		(91)
4 star:		(54)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I love the 1977 film "The Car" for a number of reasons. One of which, I suppose, was that I first saw this "B" horror flick at the neighborhood theater as a child. Yes, it scared me then and makes me smile now.

"The Car" is so extravangantly cheesy as to be almost surreal. To really understand the greatness of "The Car," one must compare it to John Carpenter's "Christine," another haunted car film based on one of Stephen King's weakest novels. I've seen "Christine" once and really don't care to view it again. I've seen "The Car" many times and will watch it every chance I get.

Accurately noted by several reviewers, "The Car" is really "Jaws" on land. This souped up automobile is a sleek black Lincoln possessing a fog horn and a bumper the size of Wilford Brimley's mustache. It runs over bikers, hitchhikers and tuba players with hungry ease, tormenting the local yokel police force with demonic glee. 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. These actors have been around the block a few times in films far better than "The Car," but their experienced presence adds a note (albeit a small one) of respectability to the precedings.

But before this salty crew goes after the metallic Beezlebub beast, The Car must terrorize a high school band, Brolin's hometown squeeze Kathleen Lloyd (whatever happened to her?) and several unlucky travelers in the wrong place at the wrong time. Needless-to-say, car insurance companies were left mightily frustrated after The Car paid a visit to Santa Ynaz.

I don't know why The Car likes to drive in the desert, just as I don't know why it seems to have a crush on James Brolin, teasing him unmercifully while slowly picking off his crew one by one. I do know that the car chases in this film are tremendously exciting. The direction and editing is crisp. Leonard Rosenman's musical score is above average. And the final confrontation, while laughable in its epic excess, is memorable.

"The Car" is a fun movie, glorious in a "B" movie comic book kind of way. It's "Creature From the Black Lagoon," "The Omen," "Jaws" and "Smokey and the Bandit" all rolled into one hilariously transcendent package. It is celluloid pulp fiction, with the nutritional value of a whopper and fries. Please grill the onions.

This is a great little supernatural film and a must for fans of the 70's TV movies or B movie suspense thrillers.

Great cinematography, superb score and another EXCELLENT car designed by the George Barris, King of the Customizers and the man who brought you the General Lee, the 60's Batmobile, the Munsters car and Starsky and Hutch's Torino.

Because the photographer makes full use of the 2:35 widescreen in all shots, this one is a must for widescreen - don't settle for the fullframe copies that are circulating or you will definately miss one of the most redeeming aspects of this film!!

Only mistake I saw was that they really should've given a bigger part to the Native American Deputy as there was alot he could have added to the story.

The sound of The Car when the motors running and the horn honking terror seal the deal on this well made flick. Get it on DVD now........

I haven't seen this film in twenty years or so, but it was worth the wait. I saw part of it when I was seven (now twenty-eight) on network TV, and I was scared out of my wits at the part where the car runs two bicyclists off the road. I also remember the scene where it runs over the town sheriff.

I decided to just go ahead and get this movie without seeing the whole thing first. It was great. I think the scariest scenes are these: First, the part where the police officer is guarding the parade and you see a brilliant flash in the distance, indicating the car's windshield (funny, being that the windshield didn't appear to be glass). Second, the part where James Brolin's girlfriend talks on the phone is chilling. She just keeps talking while the minute headlights just keep getting bigger and bigger until it plows through her living room, killing her.

I'm surprised a sequel was never made so we could find out where this car came from. It makes its appearance in the desert, but where was it beforehand? Interesting, unexplained stuff!

Wow! I cannot believe I found this movie. For the past 10 years, I have not seen it and have been looking for it all over--video stores, online, searches. This was THE scariest movie for me as a child as I remember watching it on Saturday late-night TV from 11:30-1:00am. I went to bed terrified and hiding under the sheets. I was 12 or 13 when I watched this and now at 29 I'm sure I'll have flashbacks from the first time I saw it. Can't wait to buy it!

The late-night classic from the 70's returns. Out on the rural highways and byways speeds Satan's evil sedan running down the unwary, no matter how righteous. This beautiful "B" horror film, wheeled in with the wave of "Devil movies," including the Exorcist, in the 70's. But the twist here is that a driver-less CAR is doing Satan's bidding! There's also some strange parallels to a certain shark movie released the same year. There's loads of shots of the CAR prowling the desert roads, sweet "point of view" shots from the evil vehicle's interior, and the glorious "HORN FROM HELL" literally scaring the be-jesuz' out of those motoring-mortals. The music is a little dated, as is the production value, but the premise is so classic, it is worth owning, especially to shake-up a horror movie marathon or a "when cars attack" themed evening.

Classic moments include the CAR struggling unable to cross onto "hallowed ground" to get it's victims and the ultimate fate of the Satan's ride.

Futurama satirises "The Car" and "The Howling" in an episode called "The Honking." The made-for-TV Herbie remake with Bruce Campbell has a "Car" homage with an evil VW beetle made by Nazis.

First of all I must say i have loved this movie ever since it was released back in 1977. Second, I am disappointed in Universal's re release of this classic. I have Anchor Bay's version of this classic, and it is a great version. The problem i have with this re-release is the fact that they seem to have forgotten to put in some of the sound effects on the audio track on the disc. The remastered picture quality is better on the Universal release, than on the Anchor Bay version, but the lack of the sound effects leaves something to be desired. When the car is in the garage with James Brolin, revving the motor and trying to kill him, there are no screams or dialog, with Margie or the kids screaming. Yet if you switch the audio to the French version, the dialog is there, I just dont get it. Personally, i would save the money if you already have the Anchor Bay version, I am also disappointed that this being a Universal release, that there was nothing hiding in the Universal vaults, like added footage, or any bonus material. This just seems like another attempt to re-release something just to make a quick buck, Please Please try to improve on these in the future. Thanks

I remember seeing this one alone late at night (in my parent's house with the big picture window facing the point where the road forks to bypass our house and car light shining into the darkened family room) when I was little and I watched most of it from under a blanket. I watched the DVD from under a blanket as well. Despite bad acting, a dumb script, and some looooong parts with no action, the movie really manages to create a sustained feeling of dread that never lets up until the (admittedly hokey) end. The cinemetography and special effects are great, and George Barris' Car is really menacing looking (See Barris TV & Movie Cars in books- it has a short section on it), and a better actor than most of the stock cast. Great, creepy fun.

"The Car" manifests James Brolin's absolute summit of the acting craft, reflecting the finest performance he ever gave in one of the best films ever made -- about a driverless car that kills people and cannot be stopped. (Before you denounce this concept as implausible, take a look at "Yentl.") Brolin's delivery in "The Car," his use of his features, expressions, voice and body to totally immerse himself in the character of a small-town law officer facing the challenge of a lifetime, is unparalleled by any other work in his career. This film should be required viewing in every school of drama in the nation, to demonstrate to young actors what they could become if given the right opportunity.

And it was terrific seeing young Ronny Cox in this movie too, fresh off his broke-arm, drowned-in-the-river portrayal in "Deliverance." (At one point in "The Car," we see Cox weeping -- and you just have to think he was actually upset from watching Brolin's performance on the set, which so easily enabled him to produce tears.)

"The Car" (a film FAR superior to Kill Dozer, though the concept is the same) was James Brolin's peak, the apex of his entire acting portfolio. There really was nothing left for him to do after this, but marry Barbra and witness her incomparable participation in the aging process.

When I first saw this movie, it was during the wee hours of the morning, and it was on TV. To say the least, it scared me to death. Now that was the "edited for tv" version. This IS WAY better, still love the horn, and the roar of the engine as it speeds by. Now if you are a Knight Rider fan, the cars "ending" was used in the first apperance of "Karr" (Knights All Roving Robot). They used the stock from this movie, to represent Karr flying off the cliff to his end to his destruction as well.

I am glad to see The Car on video, outstanding quality. I prefer the "wide screen" because it shows more of what is going on around in the scene. Huge difference then the one I saw on TV.

Anyways, this is a great movie for all you "Machines vs. Man" horror movies. And I guess you could call this movie "The Grandfather Of Christine".

Living not far from Amsterdam in the netherlands, I saw this movie when I was 15 years old.
And I saw it again, and again. The Car runned in the Rembrandsplein Theater for 4 months I believe, and after a year, it was back, to scare people for a next couple of weeks.
Between those periods there came star wars...
I realy felt in love with THE CAR. It was so scary!
But more so....Exciting!
It played with tabu-like supressed wishes, it played with the killer in each of us. Who doesnt want to do sometimes what the car did without any remorse? What stops us is the notion that some things can not be reversed, can not made undone.
And we don't like to feel sorry.....
But this car does not care.

This is in my opinion the best road suspense movie ever made, althaugh acting was not "state of the art", but James Brolins acting makes the threat of the car very serious and believeble.
And I always liked the cinematography of this movie, simple and effective.
The real actor in this movie is the demonic car.
Basicly built on a lincoln, many people say a mark 3, but it realy has the grille of the mark 4 (it is bigger than the mark 3's grille), the outer chrome frame is painted black in the case of this monster. There is a kind of Rolls Royce like armor around this car, and the car seems even to have a kind of face.
And I dont mean a face like in Thomas the railway-engine :-)
Already crazy by the car of tv-detective Cannon, this "thing" made me a lifetime lincoln-fan.
Has anyone noticed that some of the later concepts by Lincoln have some influence by the customcar in this movie? (Lincoln Sentinel, Lincoln Mark 9)

The strongest parts of the movie are in my view:
1 The simple straight forward editing. (back to basics)
2 The uneasy way the movie also uses silence. (also used in Duel)
3 The wanna-have soundtrack of Leonard Rosenman.
4 The use of sound effects (the horn of the car, the mix of several engine sounds (at the bikerchase it sometimes sounds like a truck)
6 The big policechase in the middle of the movie, the graveyard-scene and of course the garage-scene and the (last)phone-scene with Kathleen Loyd

And the roll-over stunt is so good!

Have fun with this movie and cover your ears.

Richard Schüssler