Halloween is just around the corner; since we love all things automotive here at I Drive Safely, and we love Halloween, we thought we’d combine the two. Although there aren’t a whole lot of scary movies about cars – in fact, we had to fudge a bit and mine old TV shows for one of our selections – there are a few cars that have provided some memorable chills and laughs (sometimes unintentional) over the years. Here are 5 of our favorite Halloween-ready cars.
5. The Car
Let’s get right to the unintentional laughs.
There’s a fairly impressive bit at about the 1:24-minute mark, in which The Car somehow manages to flip itself on its side and log-roll over a couple of hapless deputies. The Car is one of the all-time great, so-bad-its-good movies; yep, that’s Josh Brolin’s dad James in the lead role, one that we’re sure he’d rather forget.
4. Stuntman Mike’s 1970 Chevy Nova, Death Proof
One half of Grindhouse, the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez homage to sleazy 70’s horror movies, Death Proof tells the tale of Stuntman Mike and his beloved 1970 Chevy Nova. It’s become something of a cult classic, and if you haven’t seen it, the less you know going in, the better. (SPOILER ALERT: Kurt Russell is not the good guy.)
3. The Munsters’ Koach
The TV show The Munsters was, of course, a classic sitcom about a family of classic horror movie characters living in the suburbs. The family car, known as the Koach, wasn’t scary, just cool – or rather, Kool.
2. Christine
More than 50 movies based on Stephen King’s novels and short stories have been produced – and most of them haven’t been very good. One exception: the film version of King’s novel Christine, directed by horror maestro John Carpenter. The movie leaves a big chunk of the book by academic writing style the roadside (in the novel, the car is actually possessed by the evil spirit of a former owner), but Christine herself – a 1958 Plymouth Fury – is as scary as she is in the novel.
1. Peterbilt 281 Tanker Truck, Duel
Steven Spielberg’s second movie was made for ABC TV way back in 1971, but it remains one of his best – and perhaps the scariest driving movie ever. The plot is simple: a lone driver is chased across the desert by a massive, rusting semi truck. It’ll definitely make you think twice about getting mad at your fellow motorists.
