A poor mans `Duel'
The Car is not a dreadful film, but in no way good. I couldn't help feeling that it was a very poor relation to Steven Spielbergs classic `Duel'. Throw in the mystery of a Twilight Zone episode and the ridiculiousness of the similar themed Killdozer. At least in Killdozer, it was explained very clearly how a strange force possessed the machine. In the Car, are we expected to believe that this machine has been running unmanned since time?, was it the work of a sinister force?, or was it driven by a midget, peeping unnoticed over the steering wheel?. The beauty of Duel was that the evil machine clearly did have a driver, although you never saw him, and that's what made it very tense and scary, something that this film is not in any way. `The Car' would have been far better if it was not played so seriously, with the addition of some black humour along the way.
The Car is not a dreadful film, but in no way good. I couldn't help feeling that it was a very poor relation to Steven Spielbergs classic `Duel'. Throw in the mystery of a Twilight Zone episode and the ridiculiousness of the similar themed Killdozer. At least in Killdozer, it was explained very clearly how a strange force possessed the machine. In the Car, are we expected to believe that this machine has been running unmanned since time?, was it the work of a sinister force?, or was it driven by a midget, peeping unnoticed over the steering wheel?. The beauty of Duel was that the evil machine clearly did have a driver, although you never saw him, and that's what made it very tense and scary, something that this film is not in any way. `The Car' would have been far better if it was not played so seriously, with the addition of some black humour along the way.