Tag: 1977

The Car (1977)

Posted on by fenrisfil

Years before Stephen King wrote his movie about an evil car in “Christine”, there was “The Car”. This is a story about an intimidating black car that goes on a psychotic killing spree around a small American town. The movie is directed by Elliot Silverstein and written by Michael Butler, Dennis Shryack and Lane Slate. The movie stars James Brolin (Westworld, Amityville Horror) as “Deputy Wade Parent”. Supporting cast includes Kathleen Lloyd, John Marley, Ronny Cox and Elizabeth Thompson. The car itself, a highly customized 1971 Lincoln Continental Mark III, was designed by famed Hollywood car customizer George Barris. This was rebooted in 2019 with “The Car: Road to Revenge”, but we don’t talk about that. It was also directly parodied in the Futurama episode “The Honkening”.

Wade is a deputy in the desert town of “Santa Ynez”, Utah. He has two daughters that he is raising by himself. His girlfriend “Lauren” (Lloyd) is a free spirited teacher of the town school. Life in this quiet town is heavily disrupted with the appearance of a mysterious car that seems to be going out of it’s way to kill people. The local police are tasked with taking the vehicle down and bringing it’s driver to justice. Though according to one witness, there is no driver. As the police close in, it becomes apparent this is no ordinary car and it will require more than simple road blocks and guns to stop it.

The Honkening

Well, I it’s nice to finally get what that Futurama episode was parodying. I recognised the car design right away. Notably different though is that the real thing doesn’t come with any kind of explanation. I’m not one that says it’s always better to not know. Some genres such as Science Fiction tend to be better when you do get to the bottom of the mysteries. But that is a genre of discovery. Horror is a genre of fear, and fear of the unknown is universal. Things get more complicated when you cross genres (Especially for Sci-Fi/Horror), but this is straight horror and so keeping it mysterious was smart. We don’t even get to find out if there really was no one behind the wheel.

Another thing I’d like to mention about this film is the use of the “Dies Irae” musical motif. I wouldn’t be shocked if the name means nothing to you, but you would probably recognise it. Dies Irae is a 13th-century Gregorian chant meaning “Day of Wrath”. The melody was re-purposed in classical music to evoke fear and foreboding and that trend carried over to horror movies where it found recurring use. It’s most famous (Though not first) use is probably in 1971’s “A Clockwork Orange”. It also appears in “Friday The 13th” and “Doctor Sleep”. It fits here remarkably well and helps to push the viewer to the conclusion it wants in regard to what the car is. Nice work.

Motor Mayhem

Overall this is a surprisingly good movie. The premise simple and since they don’t ever reveal anything about the car, it stays simple. The cops have to stop the psychotic rampage of a mysterious black car. That’s it. To make that kind of plot work you need to have some interesting characters and they achieve that. That’s not to say any of those characters are super deep and conflicted or even especially charismatic. It’s more that they aren’t 2-dimensional and feel like real people. Out from the lead and a fair way into the supporting cast you have characters with their own motivations and backstory. All smoothly worked into the story.

But the car itself is also a character. It throws tantrums and holds grudges, but it also love to play with it’s prey. It acts pretty much as you would expect pure evil to act. Unlike “Christine”, the more famous killer car, this machine has no owner and no affection for anyone. Though it won’t bother to kill an unrepentant wife beater. The devil recognizes his own. The car also looks the part. A heavily customized 1971 Lincoln Continental Mark III, with darkened glass, no door handles and other tweaks. Add to that some mean engine sounds and horn and a windstorm that heralds it’s arrival and you have an imposing presence and quite the non-human antagonist.

Conclusion

It’s been a good few years since I watched “Christine”, so it’s hard to do a comparison. I think this probably isn’t as good, but it’s definitely a worthy challenger and it should be remembered came a good few years ahead of even the novel of Christine. There’s a good chance King (And John Carpenter) was influenced by this film. While the plot is simple and the movie probably won’t blow you away, it’s execution is about as good as you could expect in 1977. Like a lot of 70’s horror it has a little unexpected edginess. Being a likable character won’t save you here. This is a very strong 6.5/10. Recommended.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

The Sentinel (1977)

Posted on by fenrisfil

Tonight I’m reviewing Michael Winner’s 1977 supernatural horror “The Sentinel” from Universal. The movie stars Cristina Raines as model “Alison Parker”. Support comes from a vast array of movie stars from the past, present and future (For 1977) including Ava Gardner, John Carradine, Christopher Walken and Jeff Goldblum. Richard C. Kratina provides cinematography and Gil Mellé, the music. The movie is based on the novel of the same name by Jeffrey Konvitz. Winner and Konvits adapted the screenplay between them.

Alison Parker is a fashion model with a history of suicide attempts. These date back to an incident where she walked in on her father during an orgie. After moving into an apartment block in Brooklyn she begins to experience strange physical problems. These include fainting spells, insomnia and hearing things. She begins to become agitated by her bizarre neighbours, only to be told that the only other resident there is an elderly reclusive priest. Meanwhile, Alison’s lawyer boyfriend Michael (Chris Sarandon) is being investigated by cops Gatz (Eli Walloch) and Rizzo (Christopher Walken) over the suspicious death of his wife. Alison and Michael attempt to unravel the mystery involving the apartment and the mysterious priest. Ultimately a dark secret will be revealed.

I Am The Way Into The City Of Woe

This is very much a 70’s horror. Edgier and less subtle than the 60’s with more than a little weirdness. It has a pace that starts off slow but builds up more momentum as it goes and then throws everything but the kitchen sink at you for the climax. The movie knows how to unsettle the viewer while keeping them glued to the screen. Michael Winner obviously knows what he is doing, but a lot of this is fairly normal stuff for the era and demonstrates why 70’s horror was so effective. With the Christian/Dante themes I can’t help but compare this to the disappointing “The First Omen” film I reviewed earlier in the month. This demonstrates exactly the kinds of things that film lacked. Specifically, the edginess and the commitment to a religious view point (And associated fears).

That said, this movie clearly takes a lot of influence from Rosemary’s Baby. The way the other “Residence” of her apartment block approach her in a friendly and yet creepy manner and how ultimately they have evil intentions towards her. That is straight out of Polanski’s playbook. Between that and the influences of the various demon/devil related movies of the 1970’s this movie doesn’t feel especially unique or original. But it’s not cliched. Compared to many of the modern takes on this sub-genre, it actually feels relatively fresh. The story itself is straight forward and relies on a slow reveal of information to drag it out. Most of the events in the film don’t really matter that much and several plot threads seem to disappear into the ether.

Abandon All Hope, You Who Enter

Among the many peripheral characters are Christopher Walken and Jeff Goldblum. Both have very small roles, which is a shame but it’s early in their careers. Goldblum plays a director and Walken plays a cop. Of the two Walken comes closest to having some relevancy to the plot, but both threads drop away before the final act. Effectively the police are just there to imply that Alison’s boyfriend Michael may be a murderer. They drift out of the woodwork for the second act and vanish again by the third. Goldblum’s role has even less impact as it’s tied to Alison’s day job as a model, something that barely factors into the story.

The strength of this movie is entirely in the events that happen in the apartment block itself. The introduction to the neighbours, the revelation that they may not be real and the parade of weirdness in the fact act. These elements are what makes this film interesting. It’s not enough to raise it up to a true classic, but it is memorable and unsettling. The pacing is good, but the plot could have been structured better so that all the threads felt worthwhile. This is a solid 6/10. Recommended, but don’t expect to be blown away,

Rating: 6 out of 10.