Road thriller. Directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Dennis Weaver.
The driver of a red Plymouth Valiant is rushing to make it to a business appointment while being terrorized by the driver of a tanker-style truck on a lonely, rural road in California. With license plates from previous victims nailed to its front and its faceless driver determined and focused on his murderous goal, the truck picks up speed and attempts to run over the protagonist’s car for no reason. The protagonist is on the verge of losing his mind, and, unable to keep his composure, he tries various maneuvers to avoid the collision. However, he realizes that the reckless driver isn’t going to give up, so he decides to take drastic measures.
The gradual shift in the protagonist’s mood, along with the fast-paced action, one of the film’s most compelling features, because it unfolds at a natural pace and allows the viewer to identify with him throughout. This psychological thriller, which depicts a chase from start to finish with only a few, necessary moments of respite, is well-made, and the suspense it creates has not faded after all these years—a fact attributable to the clever direction and masterful editing of the then-young Steven Spielberg.
Based on a true experience of the film’s screenwriter that was published in Playboy magazine and shot in 12 days on a low budget, the TV movie put Spielberg on the map as an up-and-coming filmmaker and opened many doors for him. The Hitchcockian suspense-filled chase between the ordinary car and the possessed truck served as the inspiration for many technical innovations (difficult and extensive tracking shots, dynamic shots) that the director repeated in subsequent films. His signature style in the film was so distinctive that, according to his own statements, he himself watches it often to remind himself of what he did.
