The Car (1977) vs The Car: Road to Revenge (2019)
Sometimes at Darkmatters we ask the important question:
What if the villain… was a car?
Not a metaphorical car.
Not a car representing capitalism, patriarchy or Tottenham’s away form.
Just… a car.
And thus we have two gloriously daft, unexpectedly effective entries in the “vehicular malevolence” subgenre.
The Car
Directed by: Elliot Silverstein
A mysterious matte-black Lincoln Continental begins terrorising a small Utah desert town, running down cyclists, smashing through parades, and generally behaving like Jaws if Spielberg had swapped the shark for a two-ton demon sedan.
Sheriff Wade Parent (James Brolin) tries to stop it. The car has no driver. No motive. No brakes. No soul.
It is never explained. Which is precisely why it works.
It’s basically Jaws on land.
The town. The mounting dread. The sense of something unstoppable lurking just off-screen.
The car itself is shot like a monster — low angles, engine growls, POV shots bearing down on screaming victims. There’s no winking irony. The film commits. Fully. Which makes the absurd premise weirdly effective.
Delightfully blunt dialogue
When asked what it is, one character replies:
“Maybe it’s the Devil.”
No committee meeting. No exposition dump. Just — yeah. Sure. Devil car. Move along.
There’s also the dry Sheriff line:
“That car’s got a driver.”
“Who?”
“The Devil.”
Strengths
• Minimal explanation = maximal menace
• Incredible stunt work (pre-CGI, real cars, real danger)
• Deadpan ‘70s seriousness elevates the silliness
• Desert cinematography gives it mythic weight
Weaknesses
• Third act drags slightly
• Some performances are wooden enough to qualify as roadside fencing
(3 - Lean, mean, and enjoyably ridiculous. Not the classic I was hoping for but absolutely a cult petrol-fume delight..)
Car: Road to Revenge
Directed by: G.J. Echternkamp
A district attorney is murdered and fused with his experimental self-driving car in a neon-soaked dystopian future city. The car returns as a sentient revenge machine, slaughtering the gangsters who killed him. But after getting trashed the car is rebuilt with bit of the original killer car... more mayhem ensues...
Yes. It’s basically Christine by way of low-rent Blade Runner or Johnny Mnemonic.
And it’s greater than it has any right to be!?
Where the original was sun-bleached horror, this is cyberpunk B-movie chaos. Holograms. Corporate corruption. Self-driving AI. Revenge-em-up. Neon reflections on wet asphalt. Bastardised monster car made from parts of BOTH the original and the new one: nice! Cameo from Ronny ‘Robobcop’ Cox from the original film: win!!
It knowingly leans into its B-movie DNA, and that self-awareness gives it, for me, an edge the original didn’t quite have.
Thematically, it’s riffing on tech horror what if your autonomous vehicle decides you deserve judgment?
It has more plot, more lore, more silliness and is more fun.
At one point a character growls:
“You think you can outrun this car?”
Which, frankly, is cinema at its most efficient.
There’s also some wonderfully straight-faced tech babble about AI consciousness that feels like someone dared the script to say “revenge protocol” without laughing.
Strengths
• Cyberpunk aesthetic is surprisingly strong for a low-budget sequel
• Embraces its absurdity
• Revenge structure keeps momentum high
• Fun nods to possessed-car lore… very much in the shadow of Christine (which, yes, still reigns supreme in vehicular horror)
Weaknesses
• Acting occasionally wobbles
• Budget shows in some VFX
(3.5 - It shouldn’t work. Yet it kind of does.
And the cyberpunk twist gives it just enough personality to edge out its predecessor...)
Final Thoughts: Devil vs Digital Demon
The Car (1977) plays it straight and becomes unintentionally funny, which paradoxically makes it creepier.
The Car: Road to Revenge plays it pulpy and knowingly silly, which makes it more entertaining.
One is desert dread. One is neon nihilism.
Neither touches the holy combustion engine of Christine (please can we have cyberpunk sequel to that now??) But both deserve a spot in the late-night “cars behaving badly” marathon.
And honestly?
If your Tesla ever starts idling outside your bedroom window at 3am playing Roxette tunes…
Don’t check the app. RUN!
Darkmatters approves vehicular vengeance in moderation.
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