The Car is the star in this tense, single-minded thriller. Belonging to the "Duel" / "You Drive" / "Christine" school of driverless car TV and cinema, it is a testament to its makers that the film manages to be suspenseful and unnerving for most of its ninety minutes.

Unlike "Duel", the climax does suggest that a supernatural force had possessed The Car -- however, from the scary appearance of the thing, I'd lay bets that the vehicle was nasty long before it was possessed.

A masterstroke is the car's horn. It's frightening and creepy. And in the scene where The Car attempts to enter a cemetery, it is used to chilling effect.

The film is also very well shot and makes great use of wide angle lenses and low angle traveling shots. The car itself, built by the geniuses behind the Batmobile, is a prize, a lumbering, bloated killing machine with a hot grill and curved edges.

Underrated and under-appreciated.

What a flick. I just bought the widescreen edition and watched it to celebrate the new century. Let me briefly list a few of its many strong points, most of which are essential to the success of the 1970s "Killer Object/Animal" horror subgenre:

1. Colorful small-town (desert, Southwest-y) flavor. A parade or similar celebration (rodeo, picnic) should occur. 2. Quirky dialogue. 3. John Marley acting beligerent. 4. A Panicked Crowd Scene, with folks dashing for their lives as the demonic beast/machine/inanimate object heads their way. 5. A smart-alleck hippie who meets a horrible end.

Seriously, though-- this film isn't "scary" in the traditional sense, but its true power lies when you really start thinking about the car itself. Where did it come from? Is the Devil driving? And is it plaguing our major characters because of their sins? (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. And how many horror films can claim that? A solid 7/10.

An admirably sober-minded entry in the demonic killer car fright film sub-genre, this surprisingly creepy and unnerving picture has a big, ugly, driverless black sedan terrorize the dusty, desolate desert armpit burg of Santa Ynez, New Mexico. It runs over several folks left and right before stalwart Sheriff Wade Parent (an excellent, properly steely and courageous James Brolin, who ironically went on to become a spokesman for Amco!) forms a posse to track the evil automobile down and destroy it.

The admittedly absurd fantastic premise stretches credibility to a near breaking point, but thankfully the plot's patent ridiculousness is successfully surmounted by Elliot Silverstein's smooth, plain, unfussy direction, Leonard Rosenman's ominous, menacing score, Gerald Hirschfield's gritty, panoramic cinematography (the widescreen shots of the arid, sprawling desert terrain evoke a harrowingly palpable sense of isolation and vulnerability),a grimly serious, brooding tone that's rife with dread, despair and a particularly nerve-wracking sense of gradually escalating hopelessness, all-around bang-up acting (Ronny Cox is especially fine as a weak, alcoholic deputy),realistically drawn warts-and-all characters, judiciously used special effects, and, most significantly, a remarkably solemn, mature and even complex script by Dennis Shyrack, Michael Butler and Lane Slate which refuses to explain the car's uncanny supernatural powers, therefor creating a marvelously ambiguous and very unsettling gloom-doom mood that's further enhanced by generous sprinklings of believably harsh unfairness and stark amorality (both caring, compassionate original sheriff John Marley and Brolin's sweet schoolteacher girlfriend Kathleen Lloyd are killed while vile, hostile wife beater R.G. Armstrong helps save the day). The typically terrific Anchor Bay DVD for this genuinely scary and gripping 70's vehicular horror outing offers a gorgeous'n'gleaming letter-boxed presentation along with the theatrical trailer and a couple of nifty thumbnail bios.