The Car (1977)
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A mysterious, unmanned black car goes on a murderous rampage through a small town.
The story
Two cyclists are attacked by a mysterious matte black car in a canyon, leading to a series of hit-and-run incidents that terrorize a small town. The local sheriff's office investigates the vehicle, which appears to be heavily customized and lacks license plates. After the car kills a local resident and a sheriff, the investigation intensifies. The vehicle eventually enters the town and attacks a school marching band, fleeing into a cemetery where it is unable to enter the consecrated ground. The police engage in a high-speed chase across the desert, resulting in the destruction of several squad cars and the deaths of multiple deputies.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Two cyclists are killed by a mysterious matte black car in a canyon. After a hitchhiker is run over, the local sheriff's office investigates the vehicle, noting it has no license plates and no driver. The car kills Sheriff Everett Peck, leaving Chief Deputy Wade Parent in charge. Wade's girlfriend, Lauren, asks him to cancel marching band rehearsals, but they proceed anyway, leading the car to attack the band and chase them into a cemetery, where it stops at the consecrated ground. During a high-speed desert chase, the car kills five deputies. Wade attempts to enter the car but is knocked unconscious when the door opens by itself. Later, the car drives through Lauren's house, killing her as an act of revenge for her insults. Wade plans a trap in a canyon, but the car suddenly appears in his garage. Wade escapes on a dirt bike into the mountains where his remaining deputies set an explosive trap. Wade and Luke lure the car toward a cliff; it misses them and flies off, triggering a massive explosion that reveals a monstrous, demonic visage. The film ends with the car surviving and prowling the streets of downtown Los Angeles.
- First release year
- 1977
- Runtime (minutes)
- 98
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Elliot Silverstein
- Writers
- Michael Butler · writer; Dennis Shryack · writer; Lane Slate · writer
- Cast and characters
- James Brolin · null; Kathleen Lloyd · null; John Marley · null; Elizabeth Thompson · null; Ronny Cox · null; Kim Richards · Brolin's daughter; Kyle Richards · Brolin's daughter
- Genres
- supernatural horror; mystery; thriller
- Themes
- revenge; supernatural; technological terror
- Premise and plot tags
- unmanned vehicle; supernatural; slasher; road movie
- Franchise connections
- The Car
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 21 · scale: 100 · review count: 8
- Production trivia
- The car was a highly customized 1971 Lincoln Continental Mark III designed by George Barris.; The horn of The Car spells out the letter X in Morse code.; Church of Satan leader Anton LaVey served as an uncredited technical advisor.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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