Back to trending
The Car

The Car

Horror · Action · Thriller · 1977

The Utah community of Santa Ynez is being terrorized by a mysterious black coupe that appears out of nowhere and begins running people down. After the car kills off the town sheriff, Captain Wade Parent is determined to stop the murderous driver.

Movie details

The Car

“Is it a phantom, a demon, or the devil himself?”

1977 Horror · Action · Thriller 1h 36m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

The Utah community of Santa Ynez is being terrorized by a mysterious black coupe that appears out of nowhere and begins running people down. After the car kills off the town sheriff, Captain Wade Parent is determined to stop the murderous driver.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Car?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

The Unhealer

The Unhealer

Fantasy · 2021

A botched faith healing bestows supernatural Shaman powers on a bullied teenager. When his lifelong tormentors pull a prank that kills someone he loves, he uses his powers for revenge and goes on a bloody rampage to settle the score.

The Astronaut

The Astronaut

Horror · 2025

After returning from her first space mission, astronaut Sam Walker is placed under NASA’s care at a high security house for rehabilitation and medical testing. However, when disturbing occurrences begin happening around the property, she fears that something extraterrestrial has followed her back to Earth.

The Shed

The Shed

Horror · 2019

The story of Stan, an orphaned teenager stuck living with his abusive grandfather and tasked with routinely protecting his best friend from high school bullies. When Stan discovers a murderous creature has taken refuge inside the tool shed in his backyard, he tries to secretly battle the demon alone until his bullied friend discovers the creature and has a far more sinister plan in mind.

Basilisk: The Serpent King

Basilisk: The Serpent King

Action · 2006

Two millennia ago, a Lybian king has a basilisk (snake-shaped dragon), which petrifies people, subjected to the same fate with a golden scepter during a solar eclipse. Both these and several victims are dug up by modern archaeologist Harrison 'Harry' McColl's expedition. Despite a cryptic warning from tribal locals, everything goes to his Colorado university's museum. It's all exhibited during another eclipse, which leads to the monster reviving. Harry and some of his friends must try to petrify the monster again.

Signs

Signs

Thriller · 2002

A family living on a farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields which suggests something more frightening to come.

Monster Summer

Monster Summer

Adventure · 2024

When a mysterious force begins to disrupt their big summer fun, Noah and his friends team up with a retired police detective to embark on a monstrous adventure to save their island.

Red Riding Hood

Red Riding Hood

Mystery · 2011

Valerie is in love with a brooding outsider, Peter, but her parents have arranged for her to marry another man. Unwilling to lose each other, Valerie and Peter plan to run away together when Valerie's older sister is killed by a werewolf that prowls the dark forest surrounding their village. Panic grips the town as Valerie discovers that she has a unique connection to the beast--one that inexorably draws them together, making her both suspect ... and bait.

The Stepford Wives

The Stepford Wives

Sci-fi · 1975

Joanna Eberhart comes to the town of Stepford, Connecticut with her family, but soon discovers there lies a sinister truth in the all too perfect behavior of the female residents.

Race with the Devil

Race with the Devil

Action · 1975

Two couples vacationing together in an R.V. from Texas to Colorado are terrorized after they witness a murder during a Satanic ritual.

Angels Fallen: Warriors of Peace

Angels Fallen: Warriors of Peace

Action · 2024

When an Iraq War veteran receives a calling from a higher power, he embarks on a mission to stop a fallen angel from raising an army of the dead to take over the world.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Elliot Silverstein

Written by

Michael Butler · Dennis Shryack · Lane Slate

James Brolin

James Brolin

Wade Parent

Kathleen Lloyd

Kathleen Lloyd

Lauren Humphries

John Marley

John Marley

Everett

R.G. Armstrong

R.G. Armstrong

Amos Clements

John Rubinstein

John Rubinstein

John Norris

E

Elizabeth Thompson

Margie Johnson

Roy Jenson

Roy Jenson

Ray Mott

Court is in session

Put The Car on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Adrenaline Seeker

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Prestige Tourist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.