I believe it may include his first use of the 'dolly shot'.his penchant for casting real people in smaller roles rather than actors.his mastery of large scale set pieces (in this case hundreds of police cars).and his eye for great photography.there is a scene of two police cars driving side by side against a sunset that is just beautiful. There are may recognisable Spielberg traits here, although in embryonic form.
Goldie Hawn gives an incredible performance as a wayward mother whose child has been taken into care, and her and her husband Clovis ( William Atherton) break out of jail, take a cop hostage and drive across the state to get their child back. No dialogue is needed.Īnother film from around that time that often got put into the similar 'car crash/action movie' genre was Spielberg's Sugarland Express, which I consider to be one of his best. The scene at the swimming pool is particularly powerful, and its bases on nothing but people looking at each other. I think its greatest strength is the suspense it creates when you realise that the whole town is probably in on the conspiracy, and they cannot trust anyone. I think they even released the two together on a blu ray release recently. It was often on a double bill with Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, for obvious reasons. A kind of hybrid action adventure/suspense/horror movie. Race With The Devil is a stone cold classic. Not to mention the Hammer films.Pretty much like all of those. and who doesn't love Dawn of the Dead, Phantasm and Texas Chainsaw Massacre? Race with the Devil (a CLASSIC, starring Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, and M*A*S*H's Loretta Swit)
I forget the name, but there's even one about a "killer mattress".lol! All kinds of weird shit back then that they're only recently catching up to.