User:Thecar1977

‪The CarFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search The Car  Promotional poster for American release of The Car  Directed by Elliot Silverstein  Produced by Marvin BirdtElliot Silverstein  Written by Michael Butler &Dennis Shryack (story)Michael Butler &Dennis Shryack andLane Slate (screenplay)  Starring James BrolinKathleen LloydJohn MarleyRonny CoxR.G. ArmstrongJohn RubensteinElizabeth Thompson  Music by Leonard Rosenman  Cinematography Gerald Hirschfeld  Editing by Michael McCroskey  Distributed by Universal Studios  Release date(s) May 13, 1977 (USA)  Running time 96 min. Country United States Language English  Budget Unknown  Gross revenue Unknown  All Movie Guide profile  IMDb profile  The Car is a 1977 thriller/horror film directed by Elliot Silverstein and written by Michael Butler and Dennis Shryack. It starred James Brolin, Kathleen Lloyd, John Marley, and Ronny Cox. The story is about a mysterious car driven by a murderous, unseen driver.The movie was produced and distributed by Universal Studios, and was influenced by numerous "road movies" of the 1970's including Steven Spielberg's 1971 thriller Duel and Roger Corman's Death Race 2000 (from 1975). It has also been compared to Spielberg's Jaws, with a car replacing the shark. The film is memorable for its sound effects including the terrifying horn blast the car makes before claiming a victim.Taglines:• "Is it a phantom, a demon, or the Devil himself?"• "What evil drives... The Car" [edit] Plot summaryA small mountainous Utah community is terrorized by a phantom black sedan that appears out of nowhere and begins running people down. The main character, Sheriff Wade Parent (James Brolin), is on a mission to stop the car which seems to have a demonic driver. The police officers chase the automobile down highways throughout the desert, but it destroys several squad cars before injuring Wade and then mysteriously disappears.The hunt for the car becomes a personal vendetta when the automobile eliminates Wade's girlfriend Lauren (Kathleen Lloyd) in a shocking sequence. Gathering his remaining officers, Wade concocts a plan to stop the horsepower-laden menace, but after discovering it hiding in his own garage, Wade is forced to lure the car into a mountainous canyon area. A final confrontation settles the score and reveals the driver's frightening identity.[edit] Detailed synopsisThe film opens as dawn breaks near Zion National Park. Pete Keil (Bob Woodlock) and Suzie Pullbrook (Melody Thomas Scott) bicycle their way through the Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel, racing each other. Some distance behind them a black car makes its way through the tunnel, horn blaring. Hearing the noise the two make their way to the side of the road to let the car pass, but as it nears the two it instead starts to edge Suzie off the road, eventually ramming her off the road forcefully as Peter looks back in horror. Terrified, Peter pedals as fast as he can, but is unable to stop the vehicle from ramming him off his bicycle as he crosses a bridge, sending him falling.At his home in Santa Ynez, Deputy Sheriff Wade Parent (James Brolin) is woken up by his girlfriend Lauren (Kathleen Lloyd). After some playful fighting Lauren leaves for her job as a music teacher at the local school, while Wade goes to wake up his two daughters. Elsewhere at the edge of town, hitchhiker John Morris (John Rubinstein) plays his French Horn, only to be interrupted when a loud argument between abusive Amos Clements (R. G. Armstrong) and his wife Bertha (Doris Dowling) makes its way out into the street. John temporarily halts things only to be threatened himself and told to clear out. Almost on cue a car appears in the distance, horn blaring. As the car approaches he narrowly avoids being run down by it, and as he flips it the bird it backs up. Thinking the vehicle is stopping to pick him up, John is unprepared when it runs into him at high speed, knocking him down. Amos hears the noise and looks out his window just in time to see the vehicle run John over a second, third, and fourth time, then speed off, horn blaring again.As Wade and his daughters pile on to his motorcycle for the morning ride into school he gets a call on the radio about an incident at the edge of town. Wade drops his children off at school, then makes his way to the crime scene. The only things Amos is able to tell the deputies "for sure" is that the car ran over John four times, was low, dark, and had no license plates. Everett (John Marley), the Sheriff, issues an APB on the vehicle as best he can and tells his deputies to keep their eyes open. Sometime later, Wade and his partner Luke Johnson (Ronny Cox) are called to the scene where deputies have discovered the body of Suzie Pullbrook. Knowing that Pete was "fond" of Suzie and not knowing where he is, the Sheriff suspects he may be involved and orders road blocks to be put up.That night at the Sheriff's department Everett tries to get the now-battered Bertha to press charges against Amos, but to no avail. Bertha and her son Tim get into Amos' pickup and drive off, leaving Amos behind to drink at the local bar. As the Sheriff watches from the street in frustration, the black car comes out of the darkness, nearly running over Amos as he crosses the street and instead running down Everett, killing him. Wade pulls in Amos and an old Native American woman to get witness statements; Amos is only able to confirm it was the same vehicle that ran down John, but the old woman says that the vehicle was big, black, and had no driver.The next day, a tourist discovers the body of Pete Keil in the river underneath the bridge, eliminating him as a suspect. Meanwhile, the black car appears at a racetrack where the high school band is practicing. A few ranchers on horseback manage to keep the car occupied long enough for the children and teachers, including Lauren, to seek shelter in a nearby cemetery, which the car refuses to enter. Lauren's friend Margie Johnson (Elizabeth Thompson) manages to evade the car and make it to one of the deputies' vehicles, using the radio to call for help. Meanwhile Lauren taunts the driver of the car, daring him to come out, but the vehicle speeds off once more deputies begin to arrive. At a roadblock at the edge of the county, deputy Ray Mott (Roy Jenson) spots the vehicle, which stops some distance from him. Ray shoots at the vehicle twice with a shotgun but (apparently) misses both times, and the vehicle turns around and speeds off. Ray gives chase, eventually following him up the steep road to the Angels Landing trailhead, but is stopped by the vehicle coming the other way on the road, then pushed off the edge, killing him. Four other deputies attempt to stop the car by driving side by side, head-on at it; the car intentionally rolls itself at the two oncoming cars, killing all four deputies, and emerges both undamaged and righted on the road again. Wade stops and lays his motorcycle down to form an impromptu roadblock, and the car stops some distance from it. Wade attempts to shoot out the tires and the windshield with no success, causing no damage to the vehicle. He cautiously approaches the driver's side door, noticing that it has no handle on the outside shortly before the door opens hard enough to send him flying, knocking him out.[edit] Main cast• James Brolin - Wade Parent• Kathleen Lloyd - Lauren• John Marley - Everett• R.G. Armstrong - Amos Clemens• John Rubinstein - John Morris• Kim Richards - Lynn Marie Parent• Kyle Richards - Debbie Parent• Doris Dowling - Bertha Clemens• Ronny Cox - Luke [edit] Trivia• The evil car in the film was a customized 1971 Lincoln Continental Mark III designed by famed customizer George Barris who designed the The Munsters' Munster Koach and the Batmobile used in the 1966 television series Batman.• There were six cars built in six weeks for the filming and all were destroyed during production. Supposedly, a seventh car was built later and displayed for a time at Universal Studios but was eventually given back to Barris who later sold it to a private collector in the 1980s.• The Ertl Company made a limited edition 1:18 scale die cast model of "The Car".• In an episode of the animated series Futurama, Bender is run over by a strange car that infects him with a virus. This causes him to turn into a "werecar" that looks almost exactly like "The Car." [edit] External links• The Car at the Internet Movie Database• The Car at All Movie Guide• The Car at Rotten Tomatoes  Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Car"Categories: ‪1977 films‬ | ‪1970s horror films‬ | ‪American films‬ | ‪English-language films‬ | ‪Fictional automobiles‬ | ‪Films based on urban legends‬ | ‪Thriller films‬ | ‪Universal Pictures films‬