User Reviews

My review of Wheels of Terror (1990): (SPOILER ALERT) This movie was a made for television film that originally debuted on the USA Network in 1990. It starred Joanna Cassidy as mother who was a "hot-shot courier driver in L.A." who moved her daughter to a small town in Arizona and took a job as a school bus driver. Ms. Cassidy had some celebrity appeal in 1990 as she was in Blade Runner and Who Framed Roger Rabbit in the previous decade. This movie is directed by Christopher Cain, who two years earlier had box office success directing Young Guns. The movie was re-aired under the alternate title Terror in Copper Valley. The first 50 some minutes of this movie is a rather bland true crime dramatization. There is no horror involved in the majority of this movie. Instead this movie plods along at a slow place as we watch this bus driver become increasingly alarmed about a dirty black car that is always turning up at the scene when little girls are abducted. The bus driver tries to scare off the driver of the dirty black car and tries to warn the police about looking for the dirty black car and even attends funerals for dead girls who were suspected to have been abducted by the driver of the dirty black car. But right around the 55 minute mark, this movie takes a bi-polar switch in tone. This movie stops being based in reality and gives up all pretenses of being a true-crime dramatization. Joanna Cassidy's character, while driving kids on her school bus, witnesses her daughter being abducted and driven away in the suspicious dirty black car. That is when the real movie start. The remainder of the film is an extended chase (about 33 minutes!) between the dirty black car and Joanna Cassidy's school bus, with the school bus being the pursuer. But that synopsis actually gives this movie too much credit. What actually takes place is that this movie becomes incrementally more bonkers and unbelievable every one of the successive 33 minutes until the credits abruptly roll. Both the dirty black car and the school bus defy physics, logic and most laws of reality as they duel each other in demolition derby style. The action is punctuated by multiple explosions, multiple crashes off cliffs and way too may females hanging precariously off of the school bus as the dirty black car rams into the bus. Joanna Cassidy's character needlessly risks the lives of her school bus passengers, her daughter and herself as she becomes simplemindedly obsessed with catching the dirty black car and "rescuing her daughter".

SPOILER ALERT. The mystery of the dirty black car's driver is never satisfactorily concluded. The driver is never seen in the film. No description of the driver or how many people were in the dirty black car is ever given. The victims never recount if there was even a driver involved with the dirty black car. Is the dirty black car possessed like the car in Stephen King's "Christine". Does the dirty black car contain a group of rapists. Many of the scenes in this movie seem to logically require ether the dirty black car to be magical or that there are multiple villains in the dirty black car. The motivation behind the dirty black car's driver's obsession to kill Joanna Cassidy's character is never explained. If his motivation was simply to kidnap and kill girls, he could have easily escaped Joanna Cassidy's bus when it was teetering off a cliff, pulled over by the police or stuck half in a barn. But the dirty black car keeps returning to smash into Joanna Cassidy's bus and attempt to kill her. There is no explanation as to why the driver of the dirty black car allows Joanna Cassidy's daughter to climb out of the sun roof of the car and then matches the speed of the bus and drives real close to it so that the girl can leap from the roof of the car to the side of the moving bus. At any time he could have slammed on the breaks or swerved away and surely killed the escaping daughter.

I love 'killer car' movies (as people who've read my other reviews will no doubt know by now) so as soon as I read about this film, I just had to see it. Living in the UK, though, it was near impossible to find, especially since the WHEELS OF TERROR Amazon.co.UK has is actually the 1987 film THE MISFIT BRIGADE, which they mistakenly claim is this film as MB had the alternate title WHEELS OF TERROR. But finally, after going to a second-hand video shop and asking them to use their internet search engine, they found a copy of this film, the genuine article, for me.

I must say at the outset that it was well worth the wait to finally see this excellent film. Yes, I can see how the plot could be considered a DUEL rip-off, but it manages to be original by throwing in a plot about a real horror we must face in real life: that of a perverted and mysterious child killer. Said killer is never actually seen in the movie (not even a glimpse, unlike the DUEL truck driver whose feet and hands on the steering wheel are seen at certain junctures) but is represented by his omnipresent '74 Dodge Charger, one of the most menacing vehicles ever seen in a movie. I said to a friend recently that I always think black Chargers make excellent 'villain' cars, which is why I'm glad Tarantino is using one in his DEATH PROOF segment of GRINDHOUSE.

Joanna Cassidy is brilliant in her role as divorced bus driver Laura, trying to raise her daughter in Arizona, and eventually having to save her from the unseen child molester after she is kidnapped. I admit I haven't seen many films Ms. Cassidy has made but in the few I have seen (WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, BLADE RUNNER and GHOSTS OF MARS), she has been absolutely wonderful. Her desperation and determination to save her daughter and ensure the pervert never harms anybody again are very believable. The rest of the cast are okay, though apart from Marcie Leeds as Stephanie, Laura's daughter, very few of them are on screen long enough to make much of an impact. I agree with some reviewers about the whiny kids on the bus during the big chase sequence being annoying, but at least Laura lets them out to call the police. And in case you're wondering how the school bus can keep up with the murderous muscle car, there's a gratuitous info-dump scene near the start where Latino mechanic Luis points out that he put a racing engine into the bus. Why he would do that I don't know but it explains how the bus is able to chase the Charger.

As you can see, I do believe the film has faults, other main ones being the over-use of slow motion shots in what's supposed to be a climactic car chase and Stephanie somehow not noticing that a creepy-looking car is following her down the street at one point. But apart from those minor gripes, I would rate WOT as one of my all-time favourite car chase films and I hope that it gets the DVD release it so richly deserves. Strongly recommended!

This TV movie, "Wheels of Terror", was released to the small screen in 1990 (TV movie). Starring Joanna Cassidy and Marcie Leeds, this freaky and sadistic thriller is about a young lady (played by Cassidy) who works as a school bus driver and her young daughter (played by Leeds). They had moved to the country to get away from being city folks. This story is about a very sadistic, evil, and scary looking black car (the driver's identity is anonymous) that abducts, molests, and kills young girls. What was really shocking was the bus driver's daughter being taken right in front of her mother's eyes, and she begins a desperate attempt to track down the hideous car and get her daughter back safe and sound and hopefully unharmed. I had seen this movie twice in '90, but have not seen it on TV since then and not anymore. This is not one of my favorites, and I would not recommend this to other people whether they have school age kids or not. Joanna Cassidy and Marcie Leeds are great actresses, but this is not a good story; this seems to be a modern day "reprise" of Spielberg's Duel. What were the creators of this '90 flick thinking, anyway??? There are other great TV movies out and about, but this one should not have been made. Sorry folks!! I don't think that the movie should have a sequel. My grade for this movie: D-

Wheels Of Terror is a solid thriller/horror movie about a mysterious black car that kidnaps and abuses young girls. The acting isn't too bad and the action scenes are better than most films in this genre.

It's your typical 90s fare but it is worth a watch.

Too much screaming and panic, too obvious plot twists, pointless places where a school bus with (haha) racing engine can chase Charger - the movie could deserve 6/10 without all that.

The reason they didn't show you who or what was in the car, Was because they wanted the car to represent ALL child molesters and killers. I thought that for a low budget film, They did a good job pointing out the true terror of Child Molesters.

I really do believe that the director was trying to make a film while also bringing out a point. The opening scene with the little girl walking slowly down the middle of the highway when a trooper approaches in his car and is stunned by the site of her out there in the middle of nowhere was exceptional. It brings out the reality of "REAL" child rapists. Unfortunately, Most of the "REAL" Children aren't as lucky as the girls in the film and they DON'T get to walk away.

Next up is your TV movie-of-the-week "WHEELS OF TERROR"... that's how this lifetime/hallmark-like, made-for-TV thriller comes across. From appearance, but actually you're in for a twisted surprise. The film's context (involving an ambiguous black sedan with a driver we never see terrorizes a small dustbowl valley community by kidnapping young girls resulting in sexual assault and even death) is eerily unsettling, but director Christopher Cain's execution of it falls on the ludicrous side.

It's an odd film, but just wait to you get a hold of the gutsy last half-hour. If you're a fan of slow-motion, dramatic slow-motion filled hair flowing in the wind and plenty of "Nooooooooooo"! Well, you're in for a treat. After starting off like the "THE CAR" it puts the pedal down turning its sights to "DUEL". You get a very long-winded rally-like chase sequence filled with cat-and-mouse dangers and careless vehicle ramming (where the mother seems to forget her own daughter is in the car) done in pockets of slow-motion involving the black sedan and a school bus with children on aboard. Hang on kids! Yeah, it's a bus trip that they'll surely not forget. It can grate with the whining, but it also can be a striking sight. There's one sequence that's crazy and beautiful rolled into one. And it's done in slow-motion.

Before it comes to that though, the first half is spent moodily building it up with the sedan stalking and tormenting a mother (impeccably performed by Joanna Cassidy), who also happens to drive the school bus. There's something ominous about that black, dusty car and she knows it, but things take a drastic turn when it kidnaps her daughter in front of her very own eyes. That's when the eeriness finally succumbs to suspense... actually more like daftness. And taking the cake is you think it's all over, but oh no, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. My jaw dropped. How? I think the director just wanted more slow-motion.

The evil car was cool.

The camera work and scenery was also fine except for the excess amount of slow-motion during the big scenes and a bunch of "how in the world!" things happening.

But overall the movie was tackling a very sick, serious subject in a trifling and unbelievable manner. It made the film a hard one to stomach.

I kept expecting a plot twist ending which would have made the film better in which the mother driving the school bus was actually just imagining the car the whole time. She was really crazy and murdering the kids. No other person in the movie could actually see the car except her anyway. We also never see or have any idea who the driver of the car was. This could have been done to great effect. Finding out it was actually her bus which ran over the policeman etc.

Sadly this unique twist never takes place and the movie is pretty much a waste of time about a very serious situation but done terribly.

There were a few laughs to be found in the explosion ending, so do at least stick with it till the end.

This dull television movie only serves as a reminder to us how good the original car chase thriller, DUEL, was. In fact, this film is derivative of that in every way, even incorporating parts of John Carpenter's CHRISTINE en route (no pun intended) but still managing to come out inferior in every respect. The first half of the film is a boring, clichéd view of small town life where absolutely nothing happens, apart from the sun shining into the lens of the camera and boring people going about their humdrum lives. I was very disappointed by this lacklustre opening but finally things did pick up in the second half, which is basically a long chase scene in the mountains and desert, a la DUEL. Although this part of the film looks cheap and rubbish compared to Spielberg's classic, it is at least mildly entertaining and better than the atrocious first half.

The trouble is that the film is poorly made and rips off other films too much. In some instances the director goes for a John Woo-style slow motion but it just makes the film look stupid instead of stylish. Joanna Cassidy is truly an atrocious actress and her attempts at screaming are embarrassing to watch, incredibly asinine, and all round annoying. I had to look away sometimes. There are no other actors in the film to speak of, apart from the grey sedan which does assume a life of its own in a way seeing as we never meet the driver (which is quite disappointing too). The car is admittedly suspicious looking.

There are a couple of good scenes in the film, for instance one where the car hits a policeman who goes flying up in the air (the actor playing him was a stuntman so I guess he did that all himself). Also, there is an incredibly stupid and cheesy ending where the paedophile's car flies off a cliff (hmm, maybe the director of this film saw the ending of DUEL here?) and then happens to land on a big building full of explosives which was just sitting there underneath it. However the rest of the chase is dull, the cars aren't going fast enough, and there's just not enough to hold the attention. This is the kind of humdrum, mundane, thinks-its-good American film which I absolutely hate. It only serves as a reminder of how good the other films it rips off are. Don't waste your time with this stinker.

Not at all scary but it has good lessons. My main complaints are definitely all the opportunities the guy had to get away and ditch the bus driver, the cops acting like they knew everything and not even considering the woman's report and all, but it is understandable that the budget was not the best so it's not gonna be as good as The Car or Christine.

O. My. God. Is. This. Movie. Horrible.

That about illustrates what about 90% of this bit of telecinematic roadkill plays like. Slow-motion camera, used normally, acts as a kind of exclamation point to an action scene. Here it's used so much that it becomes and ectoplasmic sludge of periods and ellipses. Here are some of the things this technique manages not to render in stark dramatic relief:

1) Lots of things exploding.

2) Joanna Cassidy screaming.

3) Joanna Cassidy's daughter screaming. ("Mommyyyy!!")

4) Joanna Cassidy's school bus careening around the desert.

5) An "evil-looking" *snicker* black Dodge Charger careening around the desert after Joanna Cassidy's school bus.

6) More things exploding.

7) Everything in between the above items.

Needless to say, not a whole lot going on here. Probably a good 20 minutes of action footage in real time, along with a requisite but lame set-up story. What our brilliant director has done is take an action sequence and stretch it out enough to fill two hours of precious USA Network airtime. Not pad it out...STRETCH it out--literally, like a piece of Silly Putty, till you can see right through it. I guess the framing storyline qualifies as padding, on second thought, since it does fill out the allotted time, adds some exposition, and is absolutely inconsequential enough that it doesn't stick in my memory.

The only thing about the acting that I do distinctly remember is Joanna Cassidy screaming in realtime on the soundtrack while screaming in slow motion on the screen; I remember the scream sounding ridiculous, as if the dubbing director was giving her a wedgie. Or maybe it was a tooth being pulled. I doubt she was nominated for any Emmys for her heroic effort to get through this movie with a straight face.

The only things (besides the slo-mo and the endless explosions) I remember about the production are the awesomely retarded customization job on the Charger (huh huh, the grille looks like mad eyes, huh huh, diabolical, dewd) and the shot of the cop getting creamed by same at the beginning of the movie (actually kind of a neat effect--his boot goes flying off his foot).

I don't want to give away the nail-biting denouement, but I will give you a hint: something explodes. And something doesn't start. Until. The. Last. Possible. Second. The. End. Burp.

Just discovered this "evil vehicle" TV movie. And it's a very good surprise to me. Well, some scenes are non-understandable because of logicals lacks (why Laura didn't call the police the second time she seen "Charger" closed to the school, for example) and during final pursuit, the damaged "Charger" became less damaged in few shots. In same time, the slow parts of this pursuit with melancholic music is kind of ballet without any continuity with the rest. Also, editing would be re-arranged a bit to be more clear but hey, for a TV movie, it's pretty nice and dark story. Look-like "The Car" but it's not the same plot. "Duel" seems more closer than the Elliot Silverstein movie.