 Hello and welcome to another edition of Frankfully Forgotten Horror Movies, but before we get started, what are we drinking today? We're drinking Season of the Witch by Boc. Today we're going to be covering 1975's Race with the Devil. So the movie starts out, we get introduced to Frank and Roger. They're briskly leaving their dirt bike slash motorcycle dealership that they're running. They've got a brand new $36,000 RV, dolled up to the nines. Packed to the tits. Color TV. Oh yeah, they've got Color TV. They've got a microwave oven. They've got the whole nine yards. And wood paneling. Damn straight. So they leave town and they head off towards their first night that they're going to be camping out and they go into this remote area where they've got to cross over like a river and everything. They've got a couple of dirt bikes fastened to the back of the RV and they pull them off and they start kind of racing each other and war notes. They're all old and everything. They're trying to beat Peter Fonda. Wiping out into that lake. Yeah, that's what. So at night, they're all drinking. They're drinking all that bourbon and everything outside. And they're getting a little chummy too. And you get a real sense that they're like best friends. This big bonfire and then the distance, there's these people walking around the campfire chanting things, watching what's going on. They're kind of getting enamored with these naked women. They're taking their clothes off right away. He's like, give me that. Let me see. There's this woman that they lay down, lifts her up and then he takes a knife and stabs it right into her chest. They get freaked out at what they just saw. Right away, the girls come out calling them. Shut up. Quiet. The cult sees them. Right away starts chasing after them. They get into the RV and they get going. But the cult is like pretty close on their heels. Catches right up. Yeah, catches right up. They go to cross that damn river and they get stuck in all these rocks and shit. So they get out and start getting all these branches and start jamming them under the wheels. Meanwhile, the cult is getting pretty close. They're throwing rocks and smashing windows and they just in the nick of time they get the wheels out of that rut and they get out of there. And they go right to the sheriff who's played by RG Armstrong, Sarge. From evil speak. In evil speak, the sheriff's kind of a little dismissive of it. Kind of doesn't believe it, but he's also passing it off as a hippie cult. They're doing drugs up there now. They all got that white powder and they go up to that site to go look around and see what they can find, see if there's any evidence of somebody having been killed. And they end up finding actually a dead animal, which sort of doesn't look so good for them because the sheriff and his deputy kind of brush it off. They're like, well, this must be what you saw these guys do. The sheriff tells the guys to go back to town, gather your wives and be on your way basically. If we find out anything, we'll let you know. Yeah, the two wives have found this note in the RV that was stuck on a shard of glass on the back window. And it's like a warning written in all these ruins in like weird language. So they go to the nearest library. The small town library all has this big section on witchcraft. Reoccult and everything, yeah. So they take out a couple of books and try to decipher this note. They're getting the back window fixed and this weird gas attendant guy is kind of, you can tell that he's dropping, close that back curtain. Yeah, like that's going to do anything. It's all paper thin. They decide what would better be on our way. So they mosey on and they stop at this RV park. The girls are in the pool and they're getting the sense that all these people are staring at them and they kind of are. They're like, yeah, blankly staring at them and they get this weird vibe and they go back to the RV and meet up with this other couple. They're like, oh, nice RV. Time to warm up the martinis. They go with this other couple to this country bar and it's hopping man. It's hopping and people having a great time, fights breaking out and everything. Happy again and kind of put the past behind them. They're walking back to the RV and you get the sense that they've seen something. They get up to the RV and their dog is hanging by the door dead. Freaking out and everyone's coming out of the RVs is like, well, no one heard? Yeah. No one heard this happen. Someone must have seen something and you kind of get the sense they kind of trust nobody at this point. You open up this compartment and all these snakes come out. These two big fucking rattlesnakes fighting them off one with this kind of ski pole. Yeah. Peter Fonda is all on the ground grappling with one tune. He grabs it. He's all throwing it around. They end up killing the snakes and they realize, okay, this cult is still after us. And they're really paranoid and they get to this general store. It happens to sell all these guns. Now they're armed and they're like, if they're going to get us, we're going to get them first. And that's where we're going to end the plot. So if you want to see how Race with the Devil ends, keep watching the movie because it really ramps up from there. Yeah, it does. So Race with the Devil was directed by Jack Sterrett. And he was also in the A-Team Night Rider and he was in a lot of like cycling movies. Motorcycle movies. Peter Fonda is in this too. Of course he was in the iconic Easy Rider and he was in Escape from LA too. And tons of racing movies of course in the 70s is what he's mostly known for. Lauren Oates is in this. He's in tons and tons of stuff. I'm going to mention Stripes for us 80s kids. If anybody touches my stuff, I'll kill you. Lighten up, Francis. Loretta Swift is in this. She was in our good friend Chad's favorite show, MASH. She was Hot Lips Hula Hand. Lara Parker is in this and she was in the iconic TV show, Dark Shadow. The first thing you'll notice about this movie is the opening credits. Really grippy when it's got this really cool animated opening credits. Really cool creepy music. Before you even see one shot of the movie you're kind of already kind of invested in it. Just through the opening credits alone. And the pacing of this movie is actually fantastic really. And it sort of lets your guard down and it's slow to start. Meanders through the characters and you get to learn a lot about the relationship between everybody. When is everything going to start to pick up? But once it does, once they see that devil cult, it's just balls to the wall. It's just skyrockets from there. I like how they do that because you really do get your guard down and you're just like ah these guys are just hanging out and suddenly holy shit. Okay now shit has hit the fan. That's right. The characters in this movie are really good because you really do believe that they are all best friends. That time they spend in the beginning which you think maybe a little kind of like ah let's pick it up a bit. It's worthwhile because once the shit does hit the fan and they have to work as a team you kind of understand their dynamic already. Best friends fighting together with their wives against this cult. You care if one of them is in peril especially like in that scene with the snakes. You don't want anything to happen to anybody. Peter Fonda he's trying to grab that snake and you're like oh man like no you don't want anything bad to happen to these people. Because they spend the time to make you like them. Exactly. The dialogue in this movie I thought was really good because it is believable. There was not one piece of dialogue in this I thought like ah fuck people don't talk like that. People don't say that. I bought into everything. Another thing I noticed is that the swearing is kept strategic. The cursing is when they're not in peril and they're just like ah shit. Yeah which is kind of the way you would be doing that right. The acting for this movie is top notch. Peter Fonda war notes. Loretta Swit is great. Lara Parker is really good too right. But the girls are kind of kept a little more to the to the side. Which is too bad you know it's I don't know why they did that. But it's sort of harks to the time right. They really focus on the friendship between Frank and Roger. That's the central point of this movie. Yeah. Those two guys friendship was the reason why they kind of put the women on the sidelines a little bit. The women sort of acted as something that the men had to protect right. Yeah. So they had an extra stake in all of this. So it's a sign of the time. Yeah that's true. This movie does a really good job of making you not trust anybody except for the main four characters. After they encounter the cult and go to the town talking to the sheriff like you already start like okay who do I trust. Anyone and everyone could be part of this cult. But they all can't be. But some of them might be. Yeah. So you're always questioning everyone's motives which is really cool. But it also could just be the fact that these towns are simply unaccepting of outsiders too right. So it could just be that the people are sort of normal. They're not in a cult. But they're just assholes anyway. Yeah they don't want you there. The final act to this movie is fantastic. It's balls to the walls. Highway chase. Yeah. People jumping onto the RV. And guns shooting. People flying off all these great stunts. Driving off cliffs and bridges blowing up for no reason. It's just like do you need a reason? No you don't need a reason. Such a good job of building the suspense. It takes its time. It makes you paranoid of everything. And that's what helps build the suspense about everything. There's that moment where before they find the dog and they're walking up to the RV. You sense like something bad's gonna happen here. You just know it. Just the way they play it out. You know they can't be having this much of a good time. Exactly. Something has to wreck it. It has to be now. You don't know what it is till you see it. And of course this movie's made in the 70s. So it's like a bit of a commentary on hippies and cults. And all cults and hippies are bad. Yeah into drugs. Satan worshipers and everything. Like we joined the satanic cult. There's nothing like in the movies. Not at all. Where's all the naked women and blood sacrifice. Oranges and what not. I'm not seeing it. It's just a bunch of old men sitting around getting drunk. Yeah. Not that there's anything wrong with that. No. No. No. I was expecting more. You know more than this. Hardly worth the 66 dollars and 60 cent monthly fee. Let's drink it home for free. Agreed. And this movie looks good too. It's got a lot of nice panoramic landscape shots. Like when they're dirt biking through the desert and stuff like that. It looks fantastic. The production value is great. Yeah. And the locations they chose are really good. The remote locations where you just feel isolated by the vastness of it almost. Exactly. So if you want a 70s movie that's going to keep you on the edge of your seat. Let your guard down a bit. You don't really know if something's going to happen. And it's also not your typical Peter Fonda racing movie where yeah he's like on a motorcycle or racing cars and shit like that. Then check out 1975's Race with the Devil. It's a great combo of like horror and action and like highway drama. Yeah. Yeah. It's really got a lot of what you want. And until next time, keep drinking. Bye.