The Car is a 1977 American supernatural horror film[2][3] directed by Elliot Silverstein and written by Michael Butler, Dennis Shryack and Lane Slate.
It tells the story of a black unmanned self-driving mysterious car that goes on a murderous rampage, terrorizing the residents of a small town.
That night, after intentionally swerving around Amos, the car instead runs over Sheriff Everett Peck, leaving Chief Deputy Wade Parent in charge.
Wade asks his girlfriend, Lauren, a teacher at the local school, to cancel the upcoming marching band rehearsals for their safety.
That evening, Lauren is at her home, talking to Wade over the phone, when the enraged car drives straight through her house, killing her.
Luke explains for a grief-stricken Wade killing his girlfriend was an act of revenge for Lauren's insults and notes it apparently did not enter the cemetery because "the ground is hallowed," a biblical reference.
According to Silverstein, the distinctive sound the horn of The Car makes spells out the letter X in Morse code, as a meaning of elimination of his victims.
The opening credits of the film begins with the quote "Oh great brothers of the night, who rideth upon the hot winds of Hell, who dwelleth in the devil's lair; Move and appear!
The quote is a slight alteration of a passage from the "Invocation Employed Towards the Conjuration of Destruction" section in 'The Book of Leviathan: The Raging Sea' within The Satanic Bible.
The original quote from The Satanic Bible is “Oh great brothers of the night, thou who makest my place of comfort, who rideth out upon the hot winds of Hell, who dwelleth in the devil's fane; Move and appear!” The film's main theme, heard predominantly throughout, is a reworked, orchestral version of the Dies Irae.
"[11] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post called it "a blatant, pitiful attempt to recycle elements from superior scare vehicles," namely Duel and Jaws.
[12] John Gillett of The Monthly Film Bulletin stated that the film "manages to be a fairly brisk thriller" when the action was focused on the car, but lamented that director Silverstein "has been saddled with one of those small-town family scripts complete with Deputy Sheriff romping with his schoolteacher friend, a drink-and-neurosis-ridden police force, and some generally strained acting by a less than starry cast.
[14] The Car was released in standard definition and without additional features on VHS and DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment on July 20, 1999.
[15] In 2019, 42 years after the original film, a spinoff sequel (also starring Ronny Cox, but as a different character) was released called The Car: Road to Revenge to negative reviews by audiences and critics alike.