Race With the Devil (1975)

If you’re going to race with the devil, you’ve got to be as fast as Hell!  I like that tagline. 

I don’t watch usually watch movies all the way.  I get the gist of it and then I move on.  English Stew was horrified when I told him that.  He always watches the entire movie.  Brits am I right? 

Did I watch Race with the Devil all the way through because it’s a great movie?  No.  It was made in the 60s or 70s so some of the scenes are hokey and crummy.  In a different way that crappy movies are crappy now.  It’s easier to not care about shitty CGI than it is to forgive bad lighting or a tree that’s clearly cardboard and paint.  Some of the dialog is dated and weird too. 

It’s an okay movie, I watched the whole thing because I could relate to it.  These two couples go on an RV trip to wherever and while they’re stopped one night the two old dudes go out to have a motorcycle race.  Racing around they come across cult people performing a human sacrifice and the cultists see them see it happen.  Oh-uh spaghetti-Ohs.  From this point it’s on.

The two couples go to the local cops but it’s clear that the small down law people are in on the cult murder so they have to drive away in a thrilling chase scene.  Race With the Devil does have one thing I hate, the two women go to the library so their characters have something to do and there just happen to be all these books there that tell them everything about what’s going on.  That never fucking happens outside of movies.  This movie is so old though maybe this was the first time they did it. 

Aside from that library stuff everything else in this movie resonated with me.  These people just wanted to go on a trip and I assume do some soft swapping.  Then they find blood magic murder and the cops are not helping and it’s a whole thing.  You’re speaking my language brother. 

Other than the omniscient library of very easy to find books my main complaint is there was barely any nudity.  I don’t watch movies for nudity but an old horror movie with nudity it is like one of those stupid superhero movies without a giant CGI clusterfuck at the end.  It’s just part of the formula.  You couldn’t give me one RV sex scene and some skinny dipping Race With the Devil?  Get Real. 

I see that some people have given this movie 1 star because they didn’t like the ending.  They’re assuming that when the cultists surround the RV and start a big fire that means the old dudes and their wives died. 

That is not what I thought at all, I assumed one of them was going to grab the shotgun and bust out shooting.  They probably didn’t film a big action scene because they couldn’t afford stuntmen or special effects to make it look good.  I prefer a cliffhanging ending to a shitty action scene at the end.  That would really ruin it. 

Wrestling is the same way, a non-finish is better than a shit finish. 

Final rating: -1 star for library stuff, -1 star for lack of boobs and guy butt, +1 star for being relatable = 4 Stars.