Car exploitation films: Drivesploitation. Roadsploitation. Carsploitation?? Two road movies back to back. Exploitation 101. High concept. Steven Spielberg’s Duel and the origin of modern road horror. Where exploitation films come from. The 1960 Peterbilt 281 tanker truck. Briefly entertaining the idea of no driver. Getting your talking out of the way. Why driving makes for great suspense. Exploitation endings. The quest for modern road films. A prototypical exploitation example – how Vanishing Point came together. DJ Super Soul! Who is Kowalski? Production tales. THE ending. Coming up: Music Box Massacre.
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Duel
Released: 1971
IMDB | Wikipedia
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: Richard Matheson
Starring: Dennis Weaver, Eddie Firestone, Gene Dynarski, Carey Loftin
A business commuter is pursued and terrorized by a malevolent driver of a massive tractor-trailer.
Vanishing Point
Released: March 13, 1971
IMDB | Wikipedia
Director: Richard C. Sarafian
Writer: Malcolm Hart, Guillermo Cain, Barry Hall
Starring: Barry Newman, Cleavon Little, Charlotte Rampling, Tom Reese
Kowalski works for a car delivery service. He takes delivery of a 1970 Dodge Challenger to take from Colorado to San Francisco. That's seriously the plot.
