Saturday, October 22, 2011

October Edition #22: RACE WITH THE DEVIL




Director: Jack Starrett
Screenplay: Lee Frost, Wes Bishop
Starring: Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Loretta Swit, Lara Parker
Release Date: 1975

When dirt bike racer Roger (Fonda) and his sponsor Frank (Oates), decide to take their wives on a cross-country trip in their RV from San Antonio to Colorado, they inadvertently stumble into a nightmare. Looking to avoid the annoyance of their fellow man, the two decide to dodge any and all campgrounds, opting instead to follow a dirt road off the beaten path into a secluded valley for their first night on the road. That night, the drunken buddies spy a large bonfire silhouetting a gnarled dead tree. Curious as to what’s going on, the two pull out their binoculars and witness a group of twenty or so robed men and women engaged in a genuine Satanic ritual, complete with the sacrifice of a young girl. Horrified, the men flee back to the camper, but are spotted by the cult, who immediately pursue them. Unable to convince the local authorities of what they’ve seen, the two couples decide to try their luck with the authorities in Amarillo. But first they’ll have to brave several hundred miles of desolate highway with the murderous cult members in hot pursuit.




RACE WITH THE DEVIL is an adrenaline-fueled blast of highway horror, a fiendishly effective combination of ROSEMARY’S BABY and EASY RIDER, with a dash of THE ROAD WARRIOR thrown in for good measure, bolstered by strong, workmanlike direction and the solid performances of its two leading men. Right from the opening credits, superimposed over a silhouette of a dead tree in a storm of locusts, the film establishes an uneasy atmosphere of doom and paranoia. As soon as Roger and Frank steer the RV off of the main road, I began to feel queasy. Even in these early scenes, set in stark, brightly-lit daylight, the tone is ominous. I especially appreciated a lingering wide shot of the valley as the men frittered about on their dirt bikes that gives the viewer an immediate sense of just how isolated our heroes are, setting a tone of total despair that never lets up until the final frame. Once the story gets rolling, this flick doesn’t slow down for an instant, setting up our protagonists plight and then quickly and efficiently barreling towards the finish.







Of course none of this would be at all effective without a strong central cast, and fortunately everybody brings their A-game. Oates and Fonda share very believable chemistry, easily selling the obviously years-long friendship of Frank and Roger. They respond to this completely fucked situation just like any normal person would, and never fall into the typical horror tropes of making stupid decisions, one after the other. They are probably the most competent lead characters I’ve ever seen in a horror movie, which probably owes a lot to the fact that most horror movie characters are teenagers, whereas these are two surly, sweaty, manly men defending their lives and home to the best of their abilities. We also spend time witnessing the bond that has grown between their wives, Alice (Swit) and Kelly (Parker) as a result of the years the two men have spent building their business, which makes the absolute hell they are put through all the more heartbreaking. One thing I noticed is that our four leads are the most normal-looking people in the whole flick. The rest of the cast is rounded out by various police officers, backwoods locals, and other tourists they encounter along the way, nearly all of whom have certain pronounced facial features, be it a severe brow or beady, rat-like eyes. You never know who to trust because everybody looks like they could  potentially be Satanists, perfectly playing into the xenophobia of anybody who has ever stumbled a bit too far out into the boondocks and realized, too late, that they definitely don’t belong, and are not welcome. The paranoia is immensely palpable and made me extremely uncomfortable.








Much of the film’s middle section deals with our heroes trying to make sense of their situation and form a plan of action, interrupted by increasingly  hostile attacks by the cult members, who at one point strangle Roger and Kelly’s tiny dog and leave it hanging by its neck outside the RV. By far the most insane scene in the movie comes when one of the women opens the microwave and is confronted by the biggest goddamn rattlesnake she’s ever seen. Fonda runs back there to kill it only to trip over ANOTHER, even bigger rattlesnake, at which point everybody freaks the fuck out. All of this happens, by the way, while the RV is in motion, and when Frank gets distracted from the road he slams into a tree, sending people and snakes flying to the front of the camper. I really enjoyed being creeped the hell out by this scene, as it was refreshing to see real men share screen time with real animals that want to bite their faces off. Unlike in yesterday’s stock footage-fest FROGS, Oates and Fonda are forced to just straight up wrestle two very pissed off rattlesnakes, and the reality of what is shown amps up the intensity to eleventy. Nowadays we’d  have to watch them wrangle some pussy CGI snakes, and it just wouldn’t be the same.





Unable to find a working phone in any town they pass through and sensing that every person they encounter is in some way tied to the cult, the situation progressively grows more dire, culminating in an amazing multi-vehicle chase with Fonda on top of the RV firing off a shotgun at the attacking Satanists, who are coming at them from all sides. It lasts a good ten minutes and features enough death-defying stunts, crashes, and endless flips to make Stuntman Mike proud. The chase really gets the blood flowing, building to a furious climax that left me breathless and elated for the triumphant protagonists, only for the movie to throw dirt in my eyes and punch me in the dick with an abrupt, blacker than bleak ending. What goes down in the last thirty seconds isn’t exactly a twist as much as it is the sadly inevitable and logical punctuation mark to this story. There’s no other way it could have ended, and though the ultimate fates of our heroes is left up in the air, I’d say it’s fairly safe to chalk this one up as a victory for Satan.



RACE WITH THE DEVIL is a simple tale of isolation and paranoia brought to vicious life by a smart screenplay, efficient directing, amazing action scenes and two very capable leading men. Out of all of the movies I’ve watched this month, this is one I can definitely see myself returning to more than any of the others. Very highly recommended!

My Rating:
8.5/10


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