Scroll down to watch the trailer.
“Evil has many forms, now it returns as, The Car.
A car possessed. Who knows what it wants? They all know nothing can stop… The Car.
There’s nowhere to turn, nowhere to hide. No way to stop, The Car.
What evil force drives, The Car?”
Happy Friday everyone! It’s good to be back in the swing of things after the holiday. I hope your new year is living up to the hype so far.
Before we part for the weekend, I want to share an amazing relic of our car-centric culture with you: The trailer for a 1977 movie called, The Car. I had never heard of this film until my brother sent me a link to the trailer (below). It’s an extraordinary relic of American car culture…
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Isn’t that amazing? Meant as a cheesy horror film, this thing gives me all sorts of chills — especially in today’s world of zombie-like distracted drivers and AVs.
I didn’t watch the entire film, but the Wikipedia page says one scene depicts the demonic Lincoln Continental Mark III taking out two innocent bicycle riders trying to pedal across a high bridge.
And yes, I’ve already sent it to our friends at The War On Cars Podcast.
Try not to have nightmares!
See you back here Monday morning.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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Whoa, I spaced out and for a minute I thought the trailer was the local evening news here in Portland. Car smashing in to house (check), Car running cyclist off road (check), Car running in to parked cap cars ( check).
Storefronts… don’t forget the innocent storefronts minding their own businesses!
http://www.storefrontsafety.org
“Christine” “Death Race 2000” “Duel””The Wraith” and especially the Walt Disney short where Goofy changes from mild mannered citizen into a firebreathing maniac the instant he steps behind the wheel of his car are suggested (with no editorial comment)
Don’t forget Maximum Overdrive! I still think of it often.
There is an episode of Futurama that rings very similar to this. Called the Honking, Bender the robot gets turned into a wercar, cursed to transform into a car upon the full moon and go on murderous rampages. Its a good one:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Honking
Bite my shiny metal…bumper.
It’s just one of many. The movie Christine came to mind reading this and it tops this list:
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls054473727/
Me too https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aU5l2e9YlQ
One of the reasons its a relic is because in the day this was scary to most people, now it looks like one of the “truck” commercials they show during football games on TV.
Heaven forbid a product should accurately depict its use. When was the last time you saw an overweight model in a soda ad, for example?
I would love to see an accurate composite of the typical F-150 or Ram driver.
Back in the 70’s we thought it was shows like Star trek and Battlestar Galactica that best predicted what the future would look like. But it turns out that this movie was the nostradamus of its time.
Sorry, but this just reeks of a slow news day. : (
Toby,
Did you even read the post? The part where I mentioned it was the end of the week? Yeah. Sometimes I like to post something simple and fun. It’s not a “slow news day.” And by the way, did you happen to see the other stuff we posted today?
Have a great weekend!
Sorry Jonathan, I don’t mean to discredit the other work you do! Have a good one too.
Thanks Toby. I admit I am a bit hyper-sensitive to comments like that. Thanks for reading. And I appreciate your comments!
Jonathan – actually the trailer does include short portion of the car murdering the two cyclists…you can see it run up onto their rear wheels before they are flung over the bridge side int the gorge.
Sending chills down my spine…so much like the Tempe incident.
I LOVE THAT MOVIE! only bested by Christine and if you like trucks, check out DUEL! i own them all and will buy this on Blu-Ray asap.
Tell us more.
Or, on second thought, maybe don’t tell us more.
I want that car’s horn installed on my bike!
Off topic: As something of a connoisseur (or at least a recognizer-and-looker-upper) of random character actors, I give you, Ronny Cox.
In this ‘The Car’ trailer (1977): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6-yVoJTCo8&t=00m47s
Big break – Deliverance (1972): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsC4kf6x_Q0
In the 80s he started to specialize in jerkish authority figures:
Beverly Hills Cop (1984): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-dwgPmevis
(the most nuanced of the bunch, maybe because this character isn’t outright evil, just a tight-ass)
Robocop (1987): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvmFhcGCRzA&t=01m00s
Total Recall (1990): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBYwCoCLj7g (Michael Ironside tangent)
Star Trek TNG (1992): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePTiYrARlsc
She totally reminds me of my crazy ex-girlfriend… except she knows what a turn signal is.
Ugh… nesting… the Isuzi “stay inside the lines” commercial JL posted.
whoa kinda like downtown during rush hr. The Car
Scariest trailer because the movie looks so bad, or because you haven’t seen a scary movie trailer before?
Think i saw that car on 122nd yesterday
This reminded me of the evil SUV in episodes of the internet “TV” series “The Bicyclist” filmed in Portland over a decade ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aqxhORRGOU
http://thebicyclist.tv
https://bikeportland.org/2009/04/10/a-love-story-on-two-wheels-the-bicyclists-premieres-tonight-17069
I love this movie. In so many ways. I find it terrifying. Even before I was a cyclist. I saw this as a kid on NBC TV in the early 80s. I have seen it probably a dozen times since!