Race with the Devil

• Main
• Fridge
• Wikipedia
• All Subpages
• Create New

They witnessed an unspeakable act... it may cost them their lives!

Race With the Devil is a 1975 Horror/road movie starring Peter Fonda and Warren Oates. Best buddies Roger and Frank, a pair of motorcycle mechanics and former dirt bike racers, set out on an RV trip from San Antonio to Aspen with their wives Kelly and Alice. It's barely a day into the trip, however, when they witness a Satanic cult sacrificing a young woman under the full moon. Now, the four are running for their lives as the cult chases them across Texas to silence them in a... race with the Devil!

---

Tropes:

• B Movie
• The Bad Guy Wins
• Bar Brawl: "There goes! First one of the night!"
• Bolivian Army Ending: The heroes are in their RV, surrounded by the cultists and a ring of fire.
• Chairman of the Brawl: Used during the Bar Brawl.
• Every Car Is a Pinto: One car blows up in midair when it goes over a bridge railing.
• Evil Detecting Dog: Kelly's dog Ginger. It gets hanged from the RV's door by the cultists.
• Getting Crap Past the Radar: The abundant nudity in the ritual scene. It's quite frankly amazing what qualified for a "PG" rating in The Seventies before the invention of "PG-13".
• Hey You Haymaker: A variation. Roger calls out to one of the cultists on the roof of the RV, causing him to stand up and get creamed by the overpass.
• Hollywood Satanism
• Honor Before Reason: The reason why Frank doesn't turn around. He just wants to go to Aspen with his wife.
• Human Sacrifice: And possibly a Virgin Sacrifice, too. Also implied to happen to the heroes at the end.
• Mayincatec: According to the books Kelly and Alice steal from the library, the cultists are rooted in an ancient Aztec religion.
• Molotov Cocktail: One of the cultists try use these against the protagonists during a chase scene, but after he falls off Roger takes the bottles and use them against the other cultists.
• Police Are Useless: Sheriff Taylor and his deputies are in league with the cultists, and are covering up the crime.
• Religion of Evil: The Satanic cult.
• Reptiles Are Abhorrent: The cultists hide a pair of rattlesnakes inside the RV.
• Screaming Woman: Kelly and Alice, unmitigatably so.
• Secret Circle of Secrets
• Stepford Smiler: The Hendersons, the couple that the heroes meet at the RV park.
• Tempting Fate: "We don't need anything. We are self-contained, baby!" Turns out the RV isn't so invincible...
• Town With a Dark Secret: The small town that the heroes arrive in after witnessing the sacrifice, and the RV park that they go to later.
• Unintentional Period Piece: In an early scene, Frank is showing Roger all the features in his $36,000 RV (money that, today, would buy a bare-bones BMW 3-Series). Said features include a color television with stereo sound, a microwave oven, and tons of faux-wood and chrome paneling inside and out.