Death Car on the Freeway (1979 TV Movie) User Reviews

Great little TV movie about a crazed car killer

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 9 March 2015]

DEATH CAR ON THE FREEWAY is one of those atmospheric US TV movies that were made throughout the 1970s and seemed to fizzle out around 1985 or so, when all TV films became safe, sanitised and terminally dull. Still, that's not the case with this film, which is a great little exercise in suspense as it tells the story of a crazed van driver who enjoys killing women drivers in car accidents.

The film is low budget, sure, but it's a lot of fun and it contains all the right elements for a good thriller. The murderer is a spooky, Michael Myers-alike who we never really get to know or understand, which makes his actions all the creepier. The sound of a fiddle has never been so sinister as it is here.

The film was directed by Hal Needham, a noted stuntman, so needless to say the car chase scenes are exemplary, with some pyrotechnic effects that beat the hell out of modern-day CGI ones. The intriguing cast list incorporates George Hamilton, Peter Graves, and Frank Gorshin, and there's a neat cameo from Sid Haig too. Shelley Hack is a likable heroine, fighting sexism in the workplace while tracking down the maniac. No, there's nothing to dislike about this film whatsoever...

Way better than you'd think!

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 10 March 2018]

When it comes to the biggest TV movies of all time, you have to include Steven Spielberg's Duel on the list. A battle between Dennis Weaver and an 18 wheeler for a taunt 74 minutes that stayed in viewer's minds for way longer.

That leads us to this film, which originally aired on CBS on September 25, 1979.

Janette Clausen (Shelley Hack, TV's Charlies Angels, plus Troll and The Stepfather) is a crusading reporter who has moved up from writing feature stories to being on the air herself. She sinks her teeth into a story about a van driver who she feels has been targeting and killing only female motorists, taking on not only the male establishment but even Detroit auto manufacturers and advertising itself!

If you're a 1970's TV star buff like myself, you'll have a field day with this film. You've got Peter Graves (Mission: Impossible) as Lieutenant Haller, the main cop on the case. There's George Hamilton as Jan's ex-husband who keeps trying to control her. And hey look - that's Dinah Shore as a tennis pro who may have faced off with the villain of this piece, the Freeway Fiddler, before!

As Billy Mays used to say before he died from doing too much blow, "But wait, there's more!"

The Riddler, Frank Gorshin, is here! Is that Ozzy's wife, Harriet Nelson? Why yes, it is! Do I spy Barbara Rush from It Came from Outer Space and Peyton Place? I do! Abe Vigoda! You're here too! I feel like I'm on Romper Room using my Magic Mirror to see all my friends!

Tara Buckman! You got your throat slashed in Silent Night, Deadly Night and here you are in this TV movie! Even better, you drove the Lamborghini with Adrienne Barbeau in Cannonball Run and even appeared in Never Too Young to Die!

Morgan Brittany! Sure, you were in Dallas, but you also started your career in Gypsy but found the time to be in movies I care way more about, like being the Virgin Mary in Sunn Pictures' In Search of Historic Jesus and the TV movie The Initiation of Sarah!

Nancy Stephens! We love you! She's probably best known as Nurse Marion Chambers from the Halloween series of films. But did you know she's married to Halloween 2 director Rick Rosenthal? Now you do!

Is that Hal Needham as the driving instructor? It is! Hal formed Stunts Unlimited, which did all the stuntwork for Burt Reynolds' biggest films, but he also directed Megaforce! And guess what? He also directed this movie and did a ton of the stunts, too.

Death Car on the Freeway sets up a slasher who kills targeted women with his evil black van, particularly strong women who excel beyond men. And while he does it, he plays fiddle music! We never see him or learn more about him than that, but if this reminds you a bit of Death Proof, Quentin Tarantino's part of Grindhouse, you're not alone.

The best part - for me - was when Jan goes to meet a gang of street racers and Sid Haig shows up! I ran around the house screaming, "SID HAIG!" so many times that Becca had to tell me to settle down and covered me with a blanket until I calmed myself.

When Jan ends a report by saying, "This is Janette Claussen for KXLA from the scene of the Freeway Fiddler's latest attack, and not at all anxious to leave the scene, horrible as it is. Because when I do, I'm going to be like thousands of other women, in a car on Los Angeles' 491 miles of freeway... all alone." you'll be riveted, wondering when the killer will strike next. Seriously, maybe it's because I've spent the majority of a Sunday just allowing YouTube to randomly reward me with TV movies while I rest up and enjoy some magical napping, but I love this movie.

Duel II: Rush Hour Rage!

[Coventry · 5/10 · 2 July 2014]

Who better than Hal Needham, notorious stunt driver and director of many good ol' boy car chase movies like "Smokey and the Bandit" and "Cannonball Run", could direct this modest but worthwhile TV-thriller with numerous crashes and exploding vehicles? The resemblance with Steven Spielberg's phenomenal "Duel" is unmistakable, but that doesn't necessarily makes this film a blatant rip-off. Both films center on a psychopath who, seemingly without much of a motive, uses his/her vehicle as a deadly murder weapon. In "Duel" it's a filthy old truck in the middle of nowhere, whereas in "Death Car on the Freeway" it's a Dodge van on the traffic-infested highways of California during rush hour (which is probably why he occasionally has to switch license plates and re-paint). William Wood's scenario also hints that the murderous van driver does have a motive, in fact. He exclusively targets attractive women alone in a car, so that must make him a misogynic and underdeveloped pig that can't stand that women grow stronger and more independent nowadays. So, symbolically, the person on his tail is a rather timid and initially insecure female journalist who just liberated herself from her self-centered husband and doesn't get taken seriously by her management, or the TV Company's management. The "freeway-incidents" are tense and spectacular, in spite of the obvious budget restrictions, which is a good thing because the rest of the film is overly talkative and somewhat dull. The crashing cars burst into flames illogically fast, if you ask me, but that only makes it more exciting. Although it's "just" a TV-movie, "Death Car on the Freeway" stars a fairly impressive number of familiar names, like Peter Graves, George Hamilton and Robert F. Lyons. Horror and cult fanatics should particularly keep an eye open for a brief appearance by Sid Haig.

Action & Suspense Classic

[Titan_52001 · 29 May 2004]

I was always impressed by this film's use of action and suspense. We see the killer's actions, but we don't know why he's going after these Women.

We feel the helplessness of the victim's and the powerlessness of the police to do anything. This is not just another car chase/crash movie. There's Hitchcock like suspense and action that helps the story line, not muddle it into an idiot film like most car chase flicks.

I sure miss this movie and I wish there were plans to put it on video soon. A good film like this needs to be viewed often because it also has a sobering socio-political message to it.

It is also a pity that such outstanding film making has passed away. Too many TV and theatrical film makers are making boring hyper violent films that make no sense and give us car chases and crashes that have no real visual impact other than mindless destruction and sheer stupidity.

A Psychotic Solution to Rude Drivers

[Uriah43 · 5/10 · 22 May 2023]

This film essentially begins with a young woman by the name of "Becky Lyons" (Morgan Brittany) driving on one of the busy freeways in Los Angeles when she encounters another driver who won't let her get into the next lane. Frustrated that she has just missed her exit, she then tries to speed up in order to take the next offramp but, once again, that same driver prevents her from doing so. To make matters even worse, the harder she tries to distance herself from him, the more reckless he becomes--which eventually results in her having an accident that nearly kills her. Naturally, being the large city that it is, it isn't long before television reporters on the scene to question her about what happened with one particular journalist known simply as "Jan" (Shelley Hack) becoming convinced that there is more to this story than meets the eye. At first, her concerns are dismissed by a local detective named "Lieutenant Haller" (Peter Graves) who considers any possibility of it being a deliberate homicide attempt as absurd. Things change, however, when several more women experience the exact same thing--and as they inevitably turn fatal, it soon becomes clear that a serial killer is using the busy streets of Los Angeles as his hunting ground. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this film started off reasonably well but suffered somewhat when the scenes shifted from mystery to action. I say this because some of these action scenes were a bit over-the-top and not that realistic. Even so, this wasn't a bad made-for-television movie and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Feminist ramblings on the freeway

[Zbigniew_Krycsiwiki · 3/10 · 23 June 2015]

After rewatching the exceptional TV-movie, Duel, recently, I started searching for other, similar flicks in the "horror on the highway" genre, and stumbled onto this quite odd, obscure (and quite bleached- out) flick about a van driver and targeting single women on the LA motorways. The print that I saw was quite bleached out, making some scenes almost unwatchable. The film also had a decidedly brown/ grey pallet, which coupled with the print's washed out, faint look, made it look like a sepia-toned black-and-white movie.

Part of the reason Duel was so effective was its setting on a lonely desert road over the course of a single day. With this film's action transplanted to busy LA motorways, it loses the feeling of isolation, and taking place over several days robs it of the urgency and immediacy Duel also had. The unseen driver targeting numerous people instead of just one, as Duel did, makes it difficult to get attached to any of the characters, or care if they survive.

The idea of the van driver changing the look of his van to confuse the people (after a description is broadcast on television) was a novel twist the first time, but lost its effectiveness when it was done repeatedly.

There were some decent enough car crashes and (curious) explosions, but they are widely separated, and what lies between is a lot of women's lib and feminist ramblings shoved down the audiences' collective throat, and the whole ordeal is further negated by the fact that we know the killer's identity will remain a secret, burned to a crisp in some fiery climactic explosion, and, sure enough.....

Fiddler on the roam

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 4 July 2014]

The television film Duel directed by a young Steven Spielberg had a driver menaced by an unseen truck driver. The film got a cinema release in some places. Obviously inspired by Duel is the 1979 Television movie Death Car on the Freeway where an unseen driver known as the Freeway Fiddler (because he puts on bluegrass music) is terrorising women drivers and pushing them off the freeway. It is surprising that no other driver notices the maniac loose on the road when he is bashing into other cars and being a danger to everyone!

The police (represented by Peter Graves) are reluctant to take these incidents seriously and at one point blame the women for being bad drivers for getting into these scrapes. At least it is a social commentary regarding sexism and the police force!

Shelley Hack is the reporter who makes the story public and plots to catch him even taking special hazardous driving lessons in case the Fiddler pursues her.

The director is Hal Needham, a former stuntman and a director associated with Burt Reynolds and films such as the Cannonball movies. There are some good car stunts from such an esteemed stunt director but it also suffers from rather dull made for 1970s television movie narrative.

George Hamilton is wasted as Hack's ex beau and star news reporter. The film loses focus when it dwells on relationship issues and when it introduces some kind of Hells Angels type of group who may know the identity of the Freeway Fiddler.

An interesting premise made bland and even silly when it should had been grittier.

The Freeway Fiddler

[Bandit1974 · 7/10 · 6 January 2006]

Or so the killer in Death Car On The Freeway Was Called.

I have a soft spot for good car chase movies and this one was as good as it gets. Directed by Hal Needham (ex stuntman who brought us Smokey And The Bandit and all of Burt Reynolds subsequent smash em up movies) this movie is dated in many ways.

First of all, the movie has some definite you go girl I am female hear me roar undertones. The movie came out in 1979 and the feminist movement was in full swing. There isn't anything wrong with it, but because it is so obvious it dates the movie.

Secondly, if you have ever seen an episode of CHiP's you should have an idea of what the stunts in this movie look like. Spectacular, if you ask me. The stunts are real (not CGI) performed by real stunt men, risking their lives not over paid actors sitting in front of a blue screen.

Okay, so the acting is a little cheesy. The movie is over acted to say the least. Made for TV movies rarely satisfy on the same level as a big screen picture, but then again you don't have to pay for them. This one fires on all cylinders. But, perhaps that is because I have a taste for the tackiness that only the 70's could offer.

The plot? A psycho in a van decides that women have over stepped their boundaries and begins stalking and killing them on the highways of California. Shelly Hack is a television news reporter willing to risk everything including her career and life following the story.

We never see the killers face, just his hands and feet. When the movie ends we never learn who the killer is. Just who he could be. I think the movie does a good job of implying that it could be anyone. The movie also has a message that still holds true today. Automobile manufacturers advertise their products in a completely reckless fashion. In their commercials they show their cars being driven in a way that will either land you in court or in the hospital.

This is one of my favorite movies of all time, probably because it reminds me of my childhood (I was 5 when it first aired). I would classify it as a guilty pleasure.

Fiddler on the Road

[Chase_Witherspoon · 7/10 · 12 January 2010]

Taught little tele-movie featuring a maniacal van driver bearing down on lone female motorists, causing mayhem, death and destruction. It's a serial killer movie with a twist; the van is the modus operandi and the signature is a frenetic bluegrass tune blaring from inside, earning the killer 'The Fiddler' nickname. Novice TV anchorwoman (Hack), desperate to emerge from beneath the shadow of her former husband (Hamilton), investigates the road rage attacks for the network news service, becoming not only an expert, but part of the story itself, which attracts attention from seedy individuals, who may be linked to the killer.

Director and veteran stunt co-ordinator Hal Needham has crafted a tense mystery thriller on a TV budget, incorporating a raft of well-executed stunts, and some big names in the cast. The 'tanned one' plays his usual character (i.e. George Hamilton) and while Hack is a bit like her surname, there's good support from veterans Rush, Gorshin, Graves, Vigoda and co in the wings. Even pretty Morgan Brittany is realistic as an over-zealous, aspiring actress, keen to emphasise her near-fatal encounter with 'The Fiddler'.

There seems to have been an attempt to convey the message of journalistic objectivity, and professional integrity in media, but neither Hack nor Hamilton are credible enough to carry that pretext. Their cheesy white dentures and auto-cue reading skills enough to convince you they're news mannequins, but nothing more. Despite this, Needham plays his aces at the right times, employing his experienced cast for scene fillers, and handing the rest of the movie over to the outstanding stuntwork to deliver the action sequences, which are superior to those employed in many feature films. The sense of hysteria that he builds in the narrative is well weighted for a fitting climax, and the audience isn't left disappointed. Worth a look.

This is better than 'Duel'

[eagle804 · 10/10 · 8 December 2007]

Don't get me wrong, I like the film 'Duel' but after a while it's hard to keep watching the road pass by. 'Death Car on the Freeway' gives the viewer a break from being on the road the entire film. Don't underestimate the breaks because behind your back the film is building in suspense and action.

The characters in this are better than 'Duel' as well. Not just the one annoying guy behind the wheel and the killer but a whole array of well developed characters.

The action is better. Sorry Speilburg your camera tricks are nothing compared to the real deal here.

The sparse character insight to who the killer is makes you want to know who he is even more. With 'Duel' all you get is the car. Boring! The end is the best because of many reasons. The actions sequences are unrivaled as mentioned before and the fact that the mysterious black van explodes fits and works well. It's strangely satisfying plus it always catches you off guard considering how close the reporter came to catching him. The best part is that you never really get to see the killer. Only his hands when he puts on his black gloves to drive deadly. Very gialloesque.

This is probably my second favorite movie of all time. I hope whomever has the rights to it puts it out on DVD.

Last Thought: You might think I was really hard on 'Duel' but I merely gave it a square shake. It's still a good movie but next to this film...it's run off the road.

Fun but absurd

[kidlopo-1 · 6/10 · 30 March 2020]

You really have to suspend your disbelief. Its like a world where California Highway Patrol doesn't exist and no one can read a license plate. But if you like an over the top potboiler with 70s TV all star cast it's worth the watch

Pretty good

[stevenfallonnyc · 18 April 2004]

Look at that title, that plot and that cast, and what do you get? Definitely a 70's TV-movie. And it's really not a bad one at that. For car fans there's a lot of cool old cars to look at and some decent crashes. It definitely borrows from "Duel" (one of the immensely overrated Spielberg's only decent films) but manages to come up with a fresh take on it. The best thing about this movie is that the action is for real, back in the days when movie-making was real blood and sweat, instead of the computer crap we see today. When these cars crash, you can see where if something went wrong, there would have been more trouble on the set. But that's real movie making, not drawing cartoons on a computer.

This movie definitely has the odd tricks and turns a lot of tv-movies did from the day, and still sometimes do. But given the era and the plot, that only adds to the fun. Definitely a good choice if you can find this one.

Six cylinders

[artpf · 6/10 · 14 November 2013]

A woman is badly shaken when she is run off the freeway and nearly killed by a crazy van-driver.

Her story is not taken too seriously by TV or the police - until another woman is killed in similar circumstances, also by a dark van.

The police seem to have no leads, so a TV reporter starts investigating the similarities between the cases.

As the deaths mount, she takes hazard-driving lessons. When she finally locates the driver's whereabouts, he's missing, but chases her onto the freeway.

This movie has some loud music. It's no a horrible movie, but it's directed like a TV movie which takes something away from the film. The print I saw was so bleached out the color was nearly gone and sometimes it seemed like I was watching a b&W movie.

The verdict: 6.

One of the cheesiest and worst movies from the 1970s

[climbingivy · 7/10 · 10 February 2012]

Death Car On The Freeway is one of the worst and cheesiest 1970s movie ever made.I give it about the same rating as movies like Rollerboogie and Car Wash.The movie comes from a time period of a lot of made for TV movies that started with ABC's movie of the week back in the early 70s.There are a lot of made for TV movies that are excellent like Seven In Darkness,Dr.Cook's Garden and Shadow On The Land.Death Car On The Freeway has one of my favorite actors Peter Graves.This movie was far beneath him but I guess it paid the bills.Shelly Hack looks good but is not a very good actress.I recommend this movie for lovers of cheesy 70s movies with a disco soundtrack!I have this movie.

A TV version of "Duel"

[GOWBTW · 8/10 · 7 December 2019]

If you remember the 1971 thriller "Duel", this movie is right up the alley. However, it like a cross between "Duel" and "Psycho", only mobile. A bold news reporter(Shelly Hack, Tiffany Wells on "Charlie's Angels) makes a report about highway killer who uses his van to run off women drivers. Named The Highway Fiddler, known for playing bluegrass music in his van, he targeted those who are driving alone on the highways. There were some survivors on the lunatic. And one received a ticket from the highway patrol. She did get upset about it. Better than dead I would say. It's got an all-star cast: Peter Graves of "Mission: Impossible" fame, Dinah Shore, Abe Vigoda of "Barney Miller" and his short-lived spinoff "Fish", George Hamilton who did "Love at First Bite" at the same time. And countless others as well. I enjoyed it very well. It almost look like an episode of "CHiPs". I think it's a very good TV movie. 3 out of 5 stars

feminist sideplor ruins the movie

[petersjoelen · 6/10 · 3 February 2024]

Nice thriller in the beginning, which as a subplot seems to find it necessary to move in a feminist direction as the story progresses.

This not only applies to the subplot with her ex who constantly hangs around her and seems to have to constantly remind her that he made her career, but also the maniac who, according to her, at one point seems to be a model for men in general and their male problem behavior because they feel threatened by independent women.

Here you can actually see how the feminist influence on films slowly started to become commonplace.

Furthermore, the whole plot is of course quite unbelievable, many witnesses who could have remembered the license plate after the first time, but otherwise the film is entertaining to see and you should not take it seriously.

The TV equivalent of a drive-in version of "Duel," and okay for what it is.

[Victor Field · 6 January 2003]

With Hal Needham behind the camera and Shelley Hack - one of the last of "Charlie's Angels" - in the main role, you've probably guessed that "Death Car on the Freeway" won't be of Spielberg standards. It isn't, but I remember getting some low-brow entertainment out of this TV movie way back when.

Women drivers are being run off the road and killed by a strange man who a TV reporter (S. Hack) dubs the "Freeway Fiddler" because he always plays fiddle music before going into action; she can't finger the misogynist van driver (and indeed we never see the driver, but the resemblance between this and "Duel" pretty much ends there) but she plots to catch him before he can continue his reign of terror. The result: It's (wo)man vs. machine in a race to the death.

Writer William Wood and director Needham don't deliver a great feminist tract, nor is this an actors' showcase; but they do keep the automotive action coming, and it's not a message TV movie by any means. It's basically a pulp novel on the screen, and it's not bad - something that certainly can't be said for some of the director's bigscreen movies ("Megaforce," anyone)?

Take The Backroads Instead

[saint_brett · 8/10 · 9 June 2023]

Less than five road movies managed to get it right by not showing the killer behind the wheel in their films, and this is one of them.

Ken Wahl's "The Gladiator" is fine, but why reveal the punk at the end?

So, cutting off the killer in this is justification for reason?

That's all it took to result in road rage, huh? According to proper etiquette, this movie calls it highway rudeness.

No, don't show the killer's hands; he reminds me too much of Red Barr or Michael Myers in "Halloween 5-ply." The first chick to cut off our delicate and sensitive killer is an Ellie Grimbridge lookalike.

Detecting that she's connected to the Silver Shamrock factory, the killer pulls a little killer robot action of his own and dons some leather gloves to cover his tracks.

What's the point of this? It's the same as the killer robot from "Season of the Witch," who put gloves on then blew himself up afterward. Were they worried they'd leave fingerprints? It's his own steering wheel, so I'm at a loss as to why the leather gloves are used.

The killer's go-to murder soundtrack comes in the form of an Atari cartridge, and it plays what sounds like a scrambled version of KC and the Sunshine Band meets Hawaii Five-O.

Is this the same actress from that movie I watched two nights ago? Jane resembles Lauren Hutton, and she's playing a TV editor again.

Busted! I just got his license plate, if that helps. It's 247 PCE, navy blue Dodge, like an A-Team vehicle. And I know who the killer is already; it's Jane's co-newsreader, the one who resembles Ted Bundy.

Sarah Connor lines herself up to be Bundy's next victim, as she just honked him for no reason, which sets him off in another act of highway rudeness.

Don't you just love these old 70s and 80s TV theme-style music scores? Remington Steele, Dallas, and Falcon Crest.

Whoever was behind those scores even pitched in for some music in "The Karate Kid." I love that music.

However, I don't like Bundy's go-to music as a choice for murder motivation.

The death car killer is wild in claiming his first victim, who survives somehow in the hospital for a brief period; he's out of control and leaping mounds like a hurdle horse.

Sarah Connor survives the initial assumption but looks like an angel of death in the hospital. The angel of death comes and claims her after she spills the beans on her attacker.

How did she survive that explosion?

Connor describes his Atari cartridge music as country and western meets a fiddler's maniacal string from hell. And I here I was thinking it was disco pop.

I must say that the Atari cartridge music is silly in the movie. It's not menacing. It's some light treble crap that sounds like a percussion band inebriated.

The Night Stalker's AC-DC songs he used when driving were evil and had malicious undertones.

Connor succumbs to her injuries but has provided a valuable tidbit about the wacky music link, which may trigger the TV viewers memories.

They've got to pin something more solid on Bundy, though.

This is the fifth time I've seen this movie, so I already know how he plummets to his death in flames at the end, and his identity is never revealed.

The navy-blue A-Team Dodge, driven by Bundy, is like Jaws on the road. He's a bull shark with a tiger shark's persistence.

The media label him "The Highway Fiddler," which makes it sound like he's Peter Pan wearing nylon tights.

Striking fear into the public after nine murders, single women start taking self-defense car classes, and I can't wait to see the All Valley Tournament contest at the end.

Self-defense car classes? Really? Okay, if you say so, movie.

Taking Jane's news reports personal, Peter Pan switches it up and swaps plates and car colors, then singles Jane out and dedicates his time to stalking her.

In between all the highway rudeness activity, the movie tells of Jane's battle with her job as a news anchor and the chauvinistic male environment that comes with it. It really hurts when that other TV station steals her exclusive scoop and blabs it out first. And her ex is the biggest annoyance in this movie. He was so sure of himself with that snug demeanor.

Jane's ex, the love interest, looks like Maxwell Smart at times and could pass as her father anyway.

The tenth victim here looks like Marion Chambers from "Halloween." Is it her?

Chambers gets hitched to the death car and is towed along with six cop cars trailing behind. She hits the brakes hard, which has no effect. Pull the hand brake, lady. Jane does it at the end, and it's effective. Chambers is blown sky high and reaches the limits of the stratosphere.

Aren't there any other routes other than the freeway?

In the end, Jane is tipped off about Peter Pan's identity, including his fetish for wearing brown nylon tights, and the scene where she's surrounded by all those bikers intimidating her is intense. I wouldn't have gone there.

She's pointed in the right direction by a guy who aspires to be Doctor Loomis, wearing a fried egg on his face, and she exposes Peter Pan's lair.

I love the mellow music at the end; it's almost like something out of "Dirty Harry" as well.

It's good to watch these old movies that entertain and aren't agenda-driven with politically correct inclusion.

We'll never get these feel-good movies back again. It's a shame.

So, to all you WGAs currently protesting your demands about unfairness and being underpaid for substandard work, I've got an idea. Take heed to my suggestion, as I'm only going to say it once. (I preached it all the time when I used to make videos on YouTube once, but nobody listened back then.) Why don't you all step down and reinstate the people who were behind these old 70's and 80's classics and let them bring sensible entertainment back?

Because most entertainment in the past ten years has been revolting and not worth half a penny.

And you guys are partially responsible for that failure.

Fiddle Me This...

[azathothpwiggins · 6 September 2022]

The premise of DEATH CAR ON THE FREEWAY is relatively simple: A maniac in a van -not a car- known as "The Fiddler" goes berserk on the titular roadway, victimizing female motorists. Reporter Jan Clausen (Shelley Hack) starts to make connections between the incidents, while the feckless police (represented by Peter Graves) dismiss her concerns and ignore obvious clues.

All is fun and games until someone gets killed.

This is an absurd, though quite entertaining made-for-TV horror-thriller that gets right down to business! Ms. Hack makes her telefilm debut as the sleuthing journalist. Her blaming of the auto industry, advertisers, Hollywood, and fragile masculinity for the carnage is laughable, but fits the narrative well.

George Hamilton plays Jan's smarmy, overbearing soon-to-be ex-husband. Watch for Frank Gorshin and Barbara Rush as her direct supervisors at the newsroom. Dinah Shore is one of the luckier victims. Even Abe Vigoda gets in on the act as a hospital patient. Cult movie mega-icon, Sid Haig plays the rather scary Maurie.

Plus, Harriet Nelson makes a quick cameo appearance.

EXTRA CREDIT FOR: Anyone who can discern exactly what sort of music "The Fidler" plays in his van! It sounds like someone playing a violin with a harmonica for a bow, while being sucked into a wind tunnel!...