Anchor Bay releases Universal’s THE CAR on DVD, in a first-ever widescreen video release of the film. For fans of CHRISTINE, this one should be right up your alley. Now before you start screaming "rip-off", you should know that this film came out a decade earlier. THE CAR is a demon-possessed black sedan muscle car that premiered in 1976 to cash in on the post-EXORCIST craze. Because of some of the scripting and plot holes, the movie did not fare well at the box office. The film has interesting casting such as James Brolin (in real life, the whipped Mr. Barbara Striesand) as the macho police chief Wade Parent, the shapely Kathleen Lloyd as his girlfriend Lauren, Ronnie Cox as alcoholic deputy Luke, Kim Richards (the girl from the ESCAPE FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN series) as Wade’s daughter Lynn, and R.G. Armstrong as the crotchety nitro-handling Amos.

The film takes place in a scenic Southern California town and desert. As the car from hell appears out of nowhere and begins killing people, The local police are baffled and attribute it to a psycho driving a car. But after the Car boldly runs down the Sheriff Everett (Jon Marley) in front of the police station, Wade is promoted to police chief and the hunt begins. All the police efforts are for naught as the car out performs and out thinks it pursuers. Eventually the car targets Wade and his girlfriend (who confronted the car in a standoff scene). Eventually Wade, Amos, Luke, and the remaining officers lure the car into an explosives-filled valley for the film’s fiery showdown (don’t miss the brief appearance of the giant fire demon in the end).

There is plenty of violence in the film. The car knocks a bike-riding teenager off a cliff, knocks another off a bridge, runs over a hitchhiker (backs up and runs over him again), runs over the sheriff, attacks a parade and hits two cowboys on horseback, pushes a pursuing patrol car over a cliff, rolls over onto two oncoming police cruisers, and drives through a house to run down a female victim. The car appears to be invulnerable, can levitate, can roll itself over in any direction crushing anything in it’s path, and other supernatural mayhem. It takes the potential of the living car concepts seen in Christine to the next level, but the acting, pacing, and suspense is not quite the quality of that Carpenter film.

Editorial: Simply put, Anchor Bay has done a bang-up job here! The only suggestion that could give this DVD a higher ranking would be to pack more extras into it. But everything else is near perfect for a film of this vintage (almost 25 years). Every video company out there is now releasing films on DVD (since DVD is now "hot") with no intention of giving the best product. Companies like Full Moon, Troma, New Horizons, Image, even MGM and Pioneer are releasing full frame product without Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes or any attempts at internationalization (subs/dubs, etc.). Now here’s Anchor Bay blazing a trail for future cult film releases; hopefully the others will catch on through consumer pressure. DVD is a cutting edge technology to be used to its full potential, not as a repository for VHS films. End Rant.

Video

The film is presented in an 16x9 enhanced widescreen version that preserves Gerald Hirshfeld’s excellent visuals. Much of the movie takes place in the desert, where automobiles and motorcycles chase each other around. The detail in the desert plains, canyons, and Albert Whitlock’s visual effects is astounding. The entire look of the film is unbelievable thanks to Anchor Bay’s anamorphic transfer. If not for the haircuts, sideburns, and bellbottoms (oh wait, those are all back "in" again) you’d swear this was a new film. The image is very sharp with excellent detail. Colors are genuinely bright and appear accurate. Contrast and brightness are excellent with good shadow detail. This transfer is similar to what WB has done with their films of the same time period, such as the Clint Eastwood films. There is some grain visible during the desert climax where sand and dust are obstructing the camera view anyway. There is also a full frame version of the movie which I won’t even discuss but check out the full-frame trailer and you’ll see how horrible the movie looks full frame. When you put the DVD in your player, it defaults to a video selection screen (to select widescreen or ff) rather than the title menu.

Audio

The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is well done especially considering the age of the film. The mix is fairly active and particularly lively during the chase scenes. Frequency response is good, though the bass is a little low, at least in comparison to recent Hollywood blockbuster DVD soundtracks. The Leonard Rosenman score, sounding suspiciously like THE SHINING music (though it predates Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece), comes through loud and clear enhancing the overall menacing mood. There is also a Dolby Stereo 2.0 mix which is no where near as dynamic as the 5.1, but does the job nicely (you select these from the title menu).

Features/Extras

There is a theatrical trailer for the car. It is full frame, mono, and in pretty bad shape. There are talent bios for James Brolin and Elliot Silverstein.

Overall

I first saw the truncated network broadcast of this film back in the eighties. I did not care for what I had seen. But now I have a new appreciation for the film thanks to DVD. Highly recommended. The movie plays and sounds better at home than it must have in the theaters back then. All hail, Anchor Bay! For some reason this disc won’t play in my DVD-ROM drive.

THE CAR is available from DVDEmpire.com

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