THE CAR (1977)

One day, for no known reason, a mysterious all-black car starts murdering people around the small desert town of Santa Ynez. The local authorities are useless and never call for outside help even after six of their own police officers are killed. Oh yeah, did I mention that the car doesn’t have a driver and it can drive through houses and tumble all over the joint and rev its engine a lot? Well, it can.

I first saw THE CAR when it aired on NBC on Saturday, November 22, 1980. My itty-bitty stupid child brain thought THE CAR was wicked as fuck and come Monday we were all standing around the school playground saying stuff like “The Car is wicked as fuck!” and “When Knight Rider shows up in two years, The Car is gonna kick K.I.T.T. in his N.U.T.T.Z.!” and “I wish The Car would kill me and my entire family! Yeah!” You know, normal childhood banter.

But…is THE CAR still entertaining today? Ehhh, the first two acts are fairly entertaining, I really did enjoy watching the car taking people out and then honking like a maniac, but the last act is a goddamn snoozer!

Amusing idea (even if it’s just a rip-off of JAWS), cool-looking devil whip, okay acting, pretty desert town locations, incorrect subtitles on the blu-ray and the DVD (see below), weak direction, even weaker script, solid cast, a police car falling one foot and exploding. Overall, THE CAR is an interesting film that made a pretty big impact on (movie-loving) children of a certain age. And even if I find the film to be weak nowadays, I’m still a fan of it and don’t understand why there wasn’t more done with this idea. I wish somebody had made more Car films back in the 1980’s.

If you’ve never seen THE CAR, then it’s definitely worth checking out. Double-feature with the Futurama episode "The Honking".

[Bonus newspaper clip talking shit about THE CAR. I actually remember also watching THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE after THE CAR.]

She clearly say "Cat poo!, not "Tadpole!" Even worse, this subtitle is incorrect on the DVD also. So like nobody checks this shit? Or they just don't give a fuck?

PREDATOR (1987)

A group of seven ultimate military badasses are sent into an unspecified South American jungle to rescue a foreign cabinet minister from a terrorist camp. Things don’t go as planned.

The best way to watch PREDATOR for the very first time would be to erase your memory and time-travel back to the late 1980’s as a 12-year-old boy. I remember watching it back then around that age and it blew my lil’ simpleton mind! A bunch of large badass super soldiers getting their asses kicked out it the deep jungle, lots of cool guns and large knives, wicked Predator-vision that looked like nothing I’d ever seen before, explosions, the word “motherfucker”, getting to the chopper. It’s was awesome! Nowadays, the whole thing is probably pretty tame (to new viewers) and the entire legacy of the film shit on by not just one or two lame additions to the series, but (as of 8/2022) six! I’m not even sure how it’s humanly possible to take a great movie with a cool, original story and then turn in 6 weak ass sequels, prequel and spin-offs, but they did.  You'd think at some point they would accidentally make a good movie...but nope.

Anyway, I’m rambling. The original Predator film is dated, but still badass and totally worth checking out even today. At least for fans of 1980’s action / sci fi.

Minor spoiler...I love the happy character end credit shots, but I really wish they had added one for the Predator himself. And a happy group shot with the Predator and the soldiers all hugging would have been hilarious.

Part 2 – Predator 2 (1990)
Part 3 – Predators (2010)
Part 4 – The Predator (2018)
Prequel - Prey (2022)
Alien crossover 1 - Alien vs. Predator (2004)
Alien crossover 2 - Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)