Race with the Devil (1975 film)
Summary
"If you want to Race With the Devil, you had better be faster than hell!" Two couples vacationing together in an R.V. from Texas to Colorado are terrorized by cultists after they witness a murder during a Satanic ritual.
Details
- Release Date: 1975
- Country/Language: US, English
- Genres/Technical: Horror (folk horror), Action, Thriller
- Setting: Texas USA, 1970s
- Runtime: 1 hr 28 min
- Starring: Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Loretta Swit, Laura Parker
- Director: Jack Starrett
- Writer: Lee Frost, Wes Bishop
- Producer/Production Co: Saber Productions
- View Trailer: (link)
- TVTropes: (link)
- IMDB Page: (link)
Ratings
MPAA Ratings
- Rated: MPAARATING (notes)
Tentacle Ratings
A rough measure of how "Lovecraftian" the work is:
- S____ (One Tentacle: Debateably Lovecraftian; has almost no direct connection to Lovecraft's work)
Not very Lovecraftian at all, it's essentially an American variation on the "folk horror" genre, in turn a variation on the "zombie" and alien invasion films, in which large rural populations are revealed to be murderous witches rather than flesh-eating ghouls, pod people, or Stepford androids. Still, the genre is loosely linked to Lovecraft, who in many ways helped to popularize and set the rules for the genre, and the film could be used as a model for just how terrifying a large conspiracy of cultists controlling a vast area can get, should investigators get cross them.
Note: This rating is not intended as a measure of quality, merely of how closely related to Lovecraftian "Weird" fiction the work is.
Reviews
Review Links:
- Author_andor_Location, (link) - "(2/4) The film is more akin to the climactic tanker chase in Mad Max 2 (1981) extended to a feature-length film and with hooded Devil worshipers instead of mohawked wasteland crazies. Overall, Race with the Devil remains disappointingly light.... The cast are not required to do more than act tough or scream, depending on their sex."
- Author_andor_Location, (link) - TO DO
- Author_andor_Location, (link) - TO DO
Synopsis (SPOILERS)
Spoiler Section (Highlight to Read)
Best buddies Roger and Frank, a pair of motorcycle mechanics and former dirt bike racers, set out on an RV trip from San Antonio to Aspen with their wives Kelly and Alice. It's barely a day into the trip, however, when they witness a Satanic cult sacrificing a young woman under the full moon. Now, the four are running for their lives as the cult chases them across Texas to silence them in a... Race with the Devil! They soon find that all the townsfolk they meet are in on the conspiracy, the police are cultists, and no matter how many cultists they manage to kill off, the cultists still have the advantage of numbers and win in the end, encircling the RV in a ring of fire....
Notes
Comments, Trivia, Dedication
Associated Mythos Elements
- TO DO
- Human Cultists
Keeper Notes
- The investigators have crossed paths with a cult in an scenario that has been completed far too quickly. What to do with the rest of the time available for gaming that night? Have the cultists pursue the investigators by car-chase (or besiege them in a building or whatever the investigators choose to do) in a... Race with the Devil!
