The 1975 film Race With the Devil begins innocently enough. Two couples on vacation in an RV decide to take a turn on a dirt road to spend the night away from the bustle. They park their rocking vehicle out in the wilds of south central Texas. They inspect the beauty of the desolate land, have a candle-lit dinner and a glass of wine, and toast the first night of a needed vacation. The sun sets and a full moon rises. The two men sit in folding chairs outside the RV sipping whiskey, getting drunk, professing a life well-lived. But a funny thing happens.
Across the river they hear an eerie howl and suddenly, a mysterious bonfire roars to life. They grab a pair of binoculars and notice a group of people in black robes dancing around this huge fire. There's weird chanting, a man in a mask with a sword, and nude women at his feet (and waist). The dancing becomes more intense, people writhing and screaming, and a woman is stabbed to death in an apparent sacrifice. At that moment, the wife of one of the stunned men turns on the RV light and screams at her husband to come inside. The Satanic cult realizes they are not alone, and furiously charge across the river to capture these vacationing (and extremely unlucky) out-of-towners. Thus begins one long and very creepy chase across the back roads of a Texas landscape.
We've been here before, whether it be with a cannibalistic family in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Georgia hillbillies in Deliverance. The setup is usually the same - a group of innocents, semi-lost, encountering horrid miscreants without a shred of help anywhere in sight. And these miscreants want to do ugly things to them. I don't think Race With the Devil is as good as either of the two previous films mentioned, but I will say in all honesty this flick scared the piss out of me as a child.
Race With the Devil taps a primal fear we have of being stranded in unknown lands pursued by people with murderous intentions. The inspirations for this little 1975 horror opus are many, as Satan was quite the villain back in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Where to begin? Perhaps Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby, one of the most chilling films ever made. The British flick Eye of the Devil, starred a doomed Sharon Tate as a member of a cult. And then you have The Exorcist, The Devil's Rain and such TV flicks as Crowhaven Farm. There's also references to the murders committed by Charles Manson and his freaky hippie cult. Which brings us to Race With the Devil, where you have robed Lucifer hippies clawing at an agonizingly slow RV rolling for the nearest stretch of cement. Peter Fonda and Warren Oates do their best to fight off this beer-bellied horde (I suppose with the exception of the occasional dancing, they get little exercise), using everything from vacuum cleaners to ski poles to hold off the possessed crew.
Article comments
1 - Wayne
Your descriptions of backwoods Texas made me think of a time, back in the 70's, when me and a couple of buddies were driving from Kansas to South Padre Island. I was sitting in the middle of the bench seat of my pickup truck. The night was dark and we were a long way from the next town. Bob, who was driving said, "If I see a sign that says Macon County, I'm gonna turn around and go the other way..."
2 - Chris Kent
Wayne,
Sounds like an old Charlie Daniels song to me.....:)
3 - sheri
chickensinthebreadpan pickin'outdough, grandmadoesyourdogbite NO child NO ! ..
4 - Chris Kent
Thank you sheri,
Your unusually whimsical comments are always welcome.....;)
5 - HW Saxton Jr.
Sheri,after reading this comment thread
and Chris Kent's interesting article, I
think that the Charlie Daniels tune he is referring to may be "Un-Easy Rider".
However,as is often the case I may be
wrong.
6 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
Chris, i recorded this here flick what goes by the name of The Racing Satans off the telly a few years ago, but sadly never got round to watching it. Your excellent review has me mourning my laziness. I must keep an eye on the schedules to see if it pops up again.
I bought myself the special edition of Leatherface - Texas Chain Saw Massacre 3 today. Whilst the film is far from anything approaching wonderful, the commentary on this is possibly even better than the one on the 1st TCM, and i heartily recommend it. Might well do a full review when i get the whole disc devoured like some cannibalistic malcontent.
Carol Clover, in her book Men Women And Chainsaws has some interesting stuff to say about the rural horror. She pretty much concludes that they are guilt trips for the destruction hinted at in your piece, where rural communities are being all but wiped asunder by imposing city types. She suggests that by giving the backwoods hicks these awful characteristics, we are in some way justifying our actions.
Bit like the indians in the John Ford westerns from before he got a conscience.
Or those cannibal flicks you love so dearly.
Intellectuals, man. Gotta love those motherfuckers.
7 - sheri
HW , you are probably right. But 'The Devil Went Down To Georgia' is the only Charlie Daniels Band song that comes to mind. I thought it rather fittin'.
8 - Bill Sherman
I saw this baby at the drive-in when it was released - and remember having a great time at it, though the main things I recall of the actual film today are the image of Swit in her summerwear and a marvelous downbeat ending. . .
9 - HW Saxton Jr.
Sheri,it is rather fittin'.LOL. Ol' Nick
may have went down to Georgia but I am
pretty sure he lives across the river in
Phenix City,Alabama.
10 - sheri
HW,
Yeah. But the Devil, see, he be real sneaky, slithery like, and you be thinkin' you know where he is, only POOF!! there he is. a lookin' right at ya. :0)
11 - Chris Kent
HW & Sheri,
In reference to Charlie Daniels, you are both right......:)
12 - Chris Kent
El Senor Duke,
Is TCM 3 the one that stars Matthew McConaughey? I remember watching that one on late-night TV and being a bit disappointed. However, I enjoyed TCM 2. Actually stumbled across the filming of that one in Central Texas and got to see Tobe Hooper at work at an old abandoned amusement park off I-35 outside of Austin, Texas. Dennis Hopper was in his trailer the whole time and today the amusement park is an RV park - coincidence? I think not!
I also enjoyed the recent remake of TCM, though it paled in comparison to the original. My only question is, when are they going to remake Race with the Devil!
Thanks for the Clover book recommendation, I am definitely going to look that up.
13 - Eric Olsen
Charlie Daniels used to be a hippie and "Uneasy Rider" is his great hippie story song.
14 - Chris Kent
Thanks Bill!
It's great to hear from a fellow admirer of drive-in classics. I too loved the downbeat ending, which to this day freaks me out. Most films, horror or not, these days give us room to breathe at the conclusion. Race with the Devil comes out of nowhere, and sort of punches us in the stomach. I saw quite a few films at the drive-in growing up, usually falling asleep on the hood of my parent's car (they would put a blanket and pillow up there).....I stayed awake for this one....and I am now scarred for life....;)
15 - Chris Kent
Eric,
If they decide to remake Race with the Devil....(I know, only in a perfect world)....perhaps The Charlie Daniels Band could provide the music....box office gold baby!
16 - Eric Olsen
I don't recall seeing the movie, but it sounds a lot more menacing than the song.
17 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
Chris, TCM 3 isn't the one with Matthew McConaughy, that dubious pleasure fell to the sequel/remake TCM - A New Generation, which i believe also had a pre-Jerry MacGuire (certified Mondo Irlando best film about the sporting types) Rene Zellwegger. TCM 3, though, had none other than Aragon himself, Vigo The Carpathian, or whatever you call him. The DVD i mentioned is the first time it has been released uncut. I wish they would give a similar dose of TLC to Hooper's sequel, which i love ever so much. Definately pick up that book, by the way. Very very good indeed.
18 - doug
The part that still sticks in my mind when I think about this movie is the rattlesnakes in the cabinets! Holy crap! That scared me, and to this day I still take great care when opening cabinets.
19 - Chris Kent
doug,
Those snakes were real too!......Peter Fonda sort of lays on the shag carpet of the RV at one point and tries to stare one of the snakes down. I'm thinking to myself, "Who does he think he is? Billy Jack?!"
20 - sheri
Chris, I enjoyed reading your post again! Not only do you give us a clear idea of how the movie affected you, but it
made me remember back to the few times I was able to go to a drive-in before they all closed down :0)
21 - Chris Kent
Thanks sheri,
I could write a book on drive-in memories here in Texas, though I am sure many have beaten me to it.....:)
22 - sheri
Please do! Really, I saw First Blood at a drive -in. It got to be a weekly family thing, we would all pile in car and go see it every week for I know a month. lmao!
23 - gonzo marx
great classic flick..awful blacvkjack spam
nuff said?
Excelsior!