RACE WITH THE DEVIL (1975) - Review

Race with the Devil

Action/Horror/Thriller
1 hour and 28 minutes
Rated PG

Written by: Lee Frost and Wes Bishop
Directed by: Jack Starrett
Produced by: Paul Maslansky and Wes Bishop

Cast:
Peter Fonda
Warren Oates
Loretta Swit
Lara Parker
R. G. Armstrong

They witnessed an unspeakable act! It may cost them their lives!

Drive-in movie fanatics all over America have most likely forgotten about this horror/carsploitation match-up, starring genre actors Peter Fonda and Warren Oates. The film has all but faded into obscurity. That being said, Race with the Devil is not a forgettable motion-picture.

The cinematography, by Robert Jessop, is actually quite professional for a low-budget flick. Jessop does a wonderful job in making the RV, where most of the film is set, appear big and comfortable during exposition sequences, and small, chaotic, and cramped during action sequences. Jessop's use of wide/long shots during the satanic ritual scene add questioning to our protagonists' story, and when R. G. Armstrong's sheriff character expresses his doubts, we too as an audience are uncertain as to what we saw.

The stunts in this film are its tour de force. Indeed, it wouldn't be an impressive entry in the carsploitation genre without a few shattered vehicles. Most impressive are two car chase sequences back-to-back. One even goes far enough to roll a tractor trailer several times, explode a vehicle off of a bridge, and flip another off the side of the road. The stuntmen must have had a field day with this picture. Most of the fight sequences take place on the road, but the few moments of hand-to-hand battle are equally as impressive.

The performances in the film are slightly above what one would expect given the material at hand. Fonda and Oates are a convincing pair, and indeed their friendship in real life helped persuade us viewers into believing their relationship on the screen. Swit and Parker are decent enough, but as our heroes' wives, they have little more to do than scream frantically while under attack. They do, however, prove themselves worthy to the plot by investigating a satanic curse that was left for them. The real standout performance is R. G. Armstrong as a small town sheriff. Armstrong's performance, as stated before, expresses a grain of doubt on what it is our heroes saw. However, it is soon learned that Armstrong was in on the evil at hand, as our heroes are brutally attacked and their RV is vandalized further in the story.

The film itself isn't flawless. Like any exploitation film, it has its problems. While the genre blending works well enough, the film somewhat suffers from an identity crisis. There are moments of pure 1970s horror, that could stand alone as being rather frightening. Then, added to that, are the car chase sequences. One would've been fine, but the addition of another immediately after the first makes me wonder if halfway through filming Jack Starrett changed his mind about the film's genre entirely. All this being said, it could've been much, much worse. (Can you imagine if they added comedic elements to the film? Hello plot of Drive Angry).

Race with the Devil is an entertaining horror/exploitation film, that deserves neither to have faded into obscurity, nor the praise of every filmgoer in America. With impressive stunt work, and cinematography, it is an excellent film to cure anyone's feelings of drive-in nostalgia, and it is a non-embarassing entry into the filmographies of underrated actors like Peter Fonda and Warren Oates.

7/10