Former stuntman Hal Needham scored two hits out
of the gate as a director, because Needham’s buddy Burt Reynolds starred in Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and Hooper (1978). Yet Needham’s first
picture without Reynolds, the Wild West comedy The Villain (1979), was a dud. Perhaps that’s why Needham downgraded
to TV movies before reteaming with Reynolds for the inevitable Smokey and the Bandit II (1980). The
first of Needham’s telefilms, Death Car
on the Freeway, is as laughably obvious as its title. Pitting an intrepid
TV reporter against a psychopath who uses his vehicle to kill people while
they’re driving, Death Car on the Freeway
is enjoyably vapid made-for-TV dreck, with a parade of familiar actors enacting
simplistic scenarios against a backdrop of automotive violence and explosive
stunts. Always stronger at choreographing mayhem than guiding performances,
Needham suffers for the casting of Charlie’s
Angels beauty Shelley Hack in the leading role, because she offers only her
usual robotic line readings. Similarly, the story is so formulaic and
predictable that there’s never much suspense, except perhaps when Needham steps
on the gas to simulate vehicular jeopardy. Still, with its lip service to
women’s liberation and its stubborn insistence on showing a car wiping out
every 15 minutes or so, Death Car on the
Freeway never pretends to be anything but disposable entertainment.
Hack
plays Jan Claussen, a Los Angeles newscaster looking for a hot story. She
connects two seemingly unrelated incidents and dubs a public menace “The
Freeway Fiddler” because survivors recall hearing bluegrass music emanating
from his van. (Yes, the film’s title is a misnomer, because the subject is
actually a death van on the freeway.)
Jan clashes with the usual opponents—an ex-husband (George Hamilton) who
doesn’t believe in her potential, a stubborn cop (Peter Graves) who resents
that she spotted a crime pattern before he did, and a kindly boss (Frank
Gorshin) who can’t protect her from advertisers wary of the anti-automobile
stance that Jan takes during editorials. And, yes, you read that right. Somewhere
along the line, Jan morphs from a reporter to a public crusader, and she
inexplicably determines that car ads linking speed with virility are the reason
the Fiddler started attacking people. Better to ignore the plot twists while
gawking at the cool chase scenes and the random guest stars. Others appearing
in Death Car on the Freeway include
Harriet Nelson, Barbara Rush, Dina Shore, Abe Vigoda, and Needham himself, who
acts the small role of a defensive-driving instructor.
Death
Car on the Freeway: FUNKY
