It's Time for Scary Movies Again
Race with the Devil (1975)
directed by Jack Starrett
rating: 4 out of 5 cravats
on TCM at Syl's
My dad and I recently conversed about Muhammad Ali in the wake of the Mad Men episode "The Suitcase." Growing up, he said, Ali's decision to go to jail instead of Vietnam was seen as a cowardly act by my grandfather. Obviously, a statement like that implies all sorts of things, but in my household, where we didn't talk about celebrities much at all, no celebrity was more reviled than "Hanoi" Jane Fonda. I'm not sure who I'll have to hate on behalf of my children, but thanks to my father, I was always ambivalent towards Henry's kids. Even Peter, who seemed interested in making the kinds of movies I like to watch (westerns with Warren Oates), stayed off my radar forever.
Wouldn't you know it, everyone met over bottles of Pearl in San Antonio and decided to make a great, scary Texas witchcraft movie. On paper, Race with the Devil looks like something Warren Oates did for money - aren't they all? - but in practice, the credits set the right tone early. It's hard to say if it's the script or the direction (by Refugio native Jack Starrett), but a very specific mood builds slowly from the casual day-to-day routine of Oates and Fonda. They know one another, they like each other, and it's time to take their wives and the new RV up to Aspen for a short vacation.
Race with the Devil is a car chase movie where the dirt bikes Peter and Warren bring along are never brought into play. Its occultists are everyday Texans, like The 7th Victim by way of Johnson City. If re-watching Kill Bill is too tacky a way to say goodbye to Sally Menke, imagine the night Quentin Tarantino screened a print of Race with the Devil with snakes on RVs in mind. Every time I think I know all I need to about home, I don't.
directed by Jack Starrett
rating: 4 out of 5 cravats
on TCM at Syl's
My dad and I recently conversed about Muhammad Ali in the wake of the Mad Men episode "The Suitcase." Growing up, he said, Ali's decision to go to jail instead of Vietnam was seen as a cowardly act by my grandfather. Obviously, a statement like that implies all sorts of things, but in my household, where we didn't talk about celebrities much at all, no celebrity was more reviled than "Hanoi" Jane Fonda. I'm not sure who I'll have to hate on behalf of my children, but thanks to my father, I was always ambivalent towards Henry's kids. Even Peter, who seemed interested in making the kinds of movies I like to watch (westerns with Warren Oates), stayed off my radar forever.
Wouldn't you know it, everyone met over bottles of Pearl in San Antonio and decided to make a great, scary Texas witchcraft movie. On paper, Race with the Devil looks like something Warren Oates did for money - aren't they all? - but in practice, the credits set the right tone early. It's hard to say if it's the script or the direction (by Refugio native Jack Starrett), but a very specific mood builds slowly from the casual day-to-day routine of Oates and Fonda. They know one another, they like each other, and it's time to take their wives and the new RV up to Aspen for a short vacation.
Race with the Devil is a car chase movie where the dirt bikes Peter and Warren bring along are never brought into play. Its occultists are everyday Texans, like The 7th Victim by way of Johnson City. If re-watching Kill Bill is too tacky a way to say goodbye to Sally Menke, imagine the night Quentin Tarantino screened a print of Race with the Devil with snakes on RVs in mind. Every time I think I know all I need to about home, I don't.
posted by NPK at 12:01 AM
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