‘The Car’ (1977) Is Still Awesomely Bad Hell on Wheels Horror

There’s a long-running industry joke: when a film does really well, producers jump at the opportunity to capture lightning in a bottle… a second time. The phrase “lightning in the bottle” represents how elusive this is, but that doesn’t mean money-hungry producers have ever learned this lesson. It’s why so many slasher films, comic book franchises, Westerns, etc. exist. Very specifically, in 1975, Universal Pictures released Jaws, a movie that was so good it defined the term “blockbuster” for years to come. It created a cultural staple of summer blockbusters and earned $470 million worldwide on a budget of just $7 million. 

In the years that followed, eager producers let loose with ersatz shark movies: Mako (1976), The Last Shark (1981), Devouring Waves (1984), and many others. Even more shamefully amazing were the “Jaws on Land” ideas, replacing a shark with a bear in Grizzly (1976) and Claws (1977). By far, the most captivatingly strange interpretation came from Universal Pictures in 1977’s The Car. 

In the 2015 Scream Factory Blu-ray release, director Elliot Silverstein expresses the inherent contradictions he faced in creating this “Jaws-on-land” simulacrum. Silverstein speaks to the film like a job, not a passion project, despite his work in both the Western and horror genres. He still brought his professionalism to the project and tried very hard to convey to Universal that “the devil was in the darkness,” but they were facing God, “who was in the desert, in the bright sunshine.” 

In a bucolic town in the middle of the desert, a mysterious, black 1971 Lincoln Continental appears in jaundiced POV to wreck havoc on unsuspecting residences with no rhyme or reason. It’s up to Wade Parent (James Brolin) to find out what’s driving this madness as the Car strikes again and again, culminating in an explosive showdown in the valley’s gorge. 

And that’s it. That’s pretty much the movie. 

The name of the game was chaos for producers, but Silverstein was intent on creating an ominous film with a sinister antagonist. At every turn, Silverstein turned the suspense up to eleven. As the Car stalks around marching band rehearsals, creeps in the shadows of city streets, and roars down country highways, its driverless devilry is solidified. 

RELATED: Why ‘Orca: The Killer Whale’ Is More than a ‘Jaws’ Rip-off

Silverstein’s attempts to “bring on the devil” are clear from the opening sequence. The film is prefaced with a quote from Satanic Temple founder Anton Le Vey, who is also credited as a technical advisor. This is followed by the haunting, bass-heavy melody of Gregorian chant Dies Irae (similar to The Shining’s opening version, just two years later). No one can say this wasn’t “A for effort” horror. Sure, it’s total B-movie whacky cult cheese, but it was really never going to be anything else. 

There’s a solid horror film paved in these country roads. To this day, no one working on the film knows who was driving the car; whether it drove itself or the whether driver was the Devil remains unknown. Silverstein enlisted George Barris, whose previous work included 1966’s Batmobile and Dukes of Hazard’s General Lee, to modify the Lincoln Mach III coupe. 

A team of twelve lowered the roof three inches and added three inches in height and length to the fenders, giving it its signature malice. There are no door handles, and the windows are tinted in multiple layers to give it that all-black veneer. Four vehicles were used, with modifications totaling $84,000 of the film’s budget. And what is a spooky car flick without a signature horn? The Car spells out X in Morse code with a Hadley Ambassador Rectangular Bell horn. 

The sharp cheddar here comes from the acting and dialogue. In a world where everyone is either a police officer, teacher, or student, the campy interactions played straight stall the film’s greater potential. Harrowing as the mystery may be, there’s a clunky B-story to Wade’s courtship of schoolteacher Lauren (Kathleen Lloyd). Lauren becomes a pawn in raising the stakes in one of the flick’s most suspenseful (albeit hilarious when taken out of context) moments. 

John Marley, from Deathroom and many other “guy-who-was-in-that-thing” character roles, as Sheriff Everett is played straight with no margin for the oddball hijinks ensuing around them. Ronny Cox, as “Deputy #1,” turns in a solid performance as a recovering alcoholic who is pushed off the wagon when the terror revs up. R.G. Armstrong turns up as a “Chekhov’s Gun” explosives peddler and wife-abuser who witnesses a hitchhiker almost getting run down by the Car. Though it sounds like praise, the too-straight performances shatter the film’s tone. The dialogue is too crunchy and often laughable with sentences just not fitting in the mouths of these great actors. 

RELATED: Eco-Horror Films: The Evolution of Animals in Revolt in Cinema

Despite its successes in pulling off an evil car in the desert plot, The Car underperformed at the box office. Its Jaws meets Duel (1971) atmosphere failed to capture audiences and critics with its absurd character arcs and lack of special effects. Silverstein admits the studio was overwhelmed with projects, which left some of his more ambitious ideas on the table. In his interview, he laments greatly about what could have been done in the CGI era with The Car. Despite some amazing practical stunts, including a first-time-ever 196ft jump off a bridge and an effective barrel roll over two police cars, it missed the mark. It wound up in abject cult obscurity until the 2015 Blu-ray release. 

In its own right, because a good idea can never just be left on the table, The Car has garnered copy-cats including The Hearse (1980), Wheels of Terror (1990), Black Cadillac (2003), and a loving tribute in Futurama episode “The Honking” – in which Bender turns into a were-car in the make and model of The Car’s villainous auto. 

The Car has definitely earned its place as one of the best bad movies ever made. Cemented in The Official Razzie Movie Guide by Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson, it’s listed as one of the 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made. It carries the legacy as one of the first entries in the “Terror on Wheels” sub-genre, cementing the future of greats like Christine (1983) and… well, maybe just Christine. 

The truth is that The Car remains one of the best examples of killer car horror around. It stands out from just being a “Jaws” facsimile, and if you’re jonesing for a murder-by-motor marathon, The Car is exactly what the mechanic ordered.