The Car (Retro Movie Review)

Review by Ken from Honolulu

“The Car” was made in 1977 by director Elliot Silverstein.  Starring James Brolin, Kathleen Lloyd, and John Marley, it tells the story of a sleek black car that unfortunately happens to be possessed.  The titular car attacks everyone it comes in contact with, eventually becoming the terror of an entire town.

I give film this a quality score of 9.0 and a relevance score of 9.0. The movie is extremely violent, and a lot of people are killed. However, it is not a blood-and-guts, slasher-style film. You don’t see any blood and you don’t really see the actual moments of death, either. You just see the terror of the victims immediately before they are killed, and once in a while the body afterwards.

You’ll catch on almost as soon as you start watching the film there is something unusual about the car, and you won’t be surprised when it starts actually doing strange things. However, the story still feels suspenseful, with the tension building as the car stalks victim after victim.

The visual style of this film is very good, but one of the truly great things about “The Car” is the sound design. The sounds are as much a character as the physical actors. While the car is driving along it employs a very distinctive truck horn, as well as other sound effects that help enhance its menacing personality.

The characters in this movie are very likeable people. James Brolin plays the chief deputy of a small Utah town. The actual sheriff ends up taking a secondary role to Brolin, but it makes sense that he would be back in the office coordinating and leading and leave the legwork to his deputy.  Brolin’s girlfriend is the local school teacher and is also a well-developed character, despite her short time onscreen. The interaction between her and Brolin is very enjoyable.  As a fun side note, this is the first film in which I ever saw three people riding a motorcycle at once (3 up, as it’s properly called), which added to the coolness factor for me personally.

The reason I give “The Car” a quality score of 9.0 is because it was made by a major company and had a fairly large budget.  It also used A-list actors of the time, and, in an era before CG, does a great job with entirely practical effects.

My relevance score of 9.0 reflects some of the potential subjects this film brings up for discussion. For example, is it possible for a demon to possess an automobile?  (Or to take the form of an automobile?) Can demons be killed by purely physical means, rather than spiritual means such as prayer?

Kids may be afraid of the car and the way it tracks down people to kill them, but they probably won’t be traumatized like they would by a bloodier horror movie. This is definitely a horror film, but it goes for supernatural horror rather than gore. There is no sex and almost no cussing, since “The Car” was made in an era when you just didn’t do that stuff on screen. It is not that bad of a film for kids, but if they are prone to nightmares, then you may not want to let them watch it. I would recommend the movie for ages 12 and above.

Overall, “The Car” is a good film and is fun to watch, as well as raising a few spiritual questions to be discussed afterwards.

Rated PG for some violence and scary images

Quality: 9.0/10.0

Relevance: 9.0/10.0