Illustration : “MF”

Wheels of Death
 

Hal Needham | US | 1979

Who could resist a film sporting the juicy tagline of: “He kills with a van. Beautiful women are his victims. Until one meets him head on!”? Death Car on the Freeway (the film’s correct title) first aired as a CBS Tuesday night movie on September 25th 1979. Ex-stunt man Hal Needham (Hooper; Smokey and the Bandit) directs this psycho road killer slasher hybrid, which features some genuinely impressive car stunts, but is ultimately sidelined by a somewhat heavy-handed script.

Recently separated from her husband, L.A. TV-station field reporter Jan Claussen (Shelley Hack) becomes obsessed with several freeway traffic accidents, all involving a Dodge van and lone female drivers. Survivors relate that they were deliberately rammed off the road by a lunatic motorist in a blacked-out windowed van — stereo blaring frenetic bluegrass fiddle music. The carnage continues as Jan makes it her personal crusade to catch the killer – much to the consternation of her estranged husband Ray (George Hamilton) and the scepticism levelled at her by local police Lieutenant Haller (Peter Graves).

After an on-air tirade against car manufacturers’ dubious marketing methods, Jan gets the sack. But, as she’s leaving the TV station, she receives a mysterious telephone call from a shady caller claiming to have information about the ‘Freeway Fiddler’. The fool-hardy reporter sets off alone to meet the caller at a local car club, where in an amazingly sleazy and tense sequence (heightened by a great cameo from Sid Haig), she gets the address of one John Evans, a bluegrass loving car freak…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Originally distributed by Video Form around 1984, this former Pyramid release — re-titled Death Car — was the first exposure the UK market had of this compact and ambitious TV movie. Pyramid Distribution later re-released this title towards the end of 1987 with identical packaging as the pre-certificate version. Strangely non-standard ‘15’ certificates were printed on the sleeve, even though the BBFC passed the film uncut with a ‘PG’ certificate.

This intermediate release from Krypton Force, here choosing their Ambassador Video livery, was passed uncut by the BBFC for release during the summer of 1987. Sleeve illustrator ‘MF’, who was commissioned to interpret many of Krypton Force’s releases, cleverly incorporated his initials into the registration plate of the film’s sinister-looking van!

 

aka :  Death Car; Death Car on the Freeway

cast : Shelley Hack, George Hamilton, Frank Gorshin, Peter Graves, Harriet Nelson, Barbara Rush, Dina Shore, Abe Vigoda, Alfie Wise, Tara Buckman, Morgan Brittany, Robert F. Lyons, Nancy Stephens, Gloria Stroock, Hal Needham