Race with the Devil


Warren Oates, Loretta Swit, Lara Parker, Peter Fonda and the real star of Race with the Devil: their indomitable recreational vehicle
Jack Starrett's Race with the Devil,  from 1975, is moronic drivel. Warren Oates and Peter Fonda drive a Winnebago into The Texas hills north of San Antonio and encounter virgin sacrificing Satanists who sport capes. A barely ept thriller that has few elements of horror. Cruddy dialogue. Bad continuity. It is padded with motorcycle and travelogue footage. I did enjoy Starrett's use of the Texas locations, especially the honkytonk sequence. The two female leads scream, a lot, snakes are battled with ski poles, and the late R.G. Anderson is the sheriff. 

There is a peculiar subgenre of pictures involving RVs. One of the first ones was Vincente Minelli's The Long, Long Trailer, a Lucy and Desi vehicle from 1953. A thematic thread through a number of the following is the concept of rugged individualism contrasted with the delusions of omnipotence that it generates. A very American theme since, at least, Moby Dick. The best exemplars of this are Albert Brooks' Lost in America and Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes. To its credit, Race with the Devil toys with this theme furtively, but it is soon lost in the carnage. 

See also: RV, We're the Millers, Spaceballs, The Incredibles, Stripes, Rat Race, The Blues Brothers, Escape to Witch Mountain (it flies), Kill Bill 2, Leisure Seeker, Sightseers, About Schmidt, Meet the Fockers, Hollywood to Dollywood, Nomadland, Supernova, Breaking Bad, The Wild Thornberrys, Independence Day, 2012, Into the Wild, Captain Fantastic, The Lady in the Van, Slither, The Osterman Weekend, Winnebago Man, National Lampoon's Vacation, and many more.

See also stoner vans: Cheech and Chong, Scooby Doo, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Dazed and Confused, etc.

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