WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
I’m sure none of you will be surprised when I say that this article was inspired by my watching of John Carpenter’s adaptation of Christine. I wanted to focus mainly on haunted vehicles as ochophobia is the fear of vehicles in general – but unfortunately it’s rare to find anything that doesn’t go on the road….
Hybrid
OK, this is probably going to sound like a really odd statement – but who chose to cross a Chevrolet (not going to mention which model because it does change) with Predator? The vision at the beginning is so similar! But then I guess it’s no surprise as it seems to have some sort of alien inside instead of an engine. Hence why it has been able to shapeshift. See, if it was actually a car killing people, and not what I assume is an alien posing as a car, I understand the motive for the first two murders because they’re car thieves – but knowing what I know now watching the film – I don’t understand what the motivation is.
Killdozer
I’ll be honest, having watched films such as Killer Piñata and Killer Sofa, I was expecting something rather cheesy! However this doesn’t seem to be the case. OK, it’s not exactly a haunted Dozer, instead it seems to become infected by an alien lifeform and because of this the mechanical beast takes on a life of its own. What’s weird is its headlights almost look like antennae on an insect. I actually started to get the feeling that the Dozer wasn’t intent on killing anyone, and that Beltran was an accident. But then it does seem to start hunting them so I may be wrong on that front. Now, unlike Hybrid we never actually see the alien – just that a meteor crashes to Earth and the dozer hits a rock that glows blue. Again, I’m not sure what the motivation is in this film, but maybe the alien has got scared or becomes a little territorial of where it has landed.
Black Cadillac
I found it unbelievable that this was based on a true story – the director’s own experience in fact! You wonder how terrifying it must have been for him and his friends for him to make a horror film about what seems to be a driverless black Cadillac following a group of teenagers. Then again, I guess if he never saw the face of the driver that was following him back in the ‘80s, the slightly tinted window adds to that in the film. I think this is actually scarier than a car that has been haunted by a past owner’s spirit or an alien – being followed by an unknown assailant. The rumble of the engine every now and then reminded me of a lion, the guttural noise they make before letting out a roar. The one thing I will say, is that it slightly breaks the illusion of the film when you realise there turns out to be someone driving.
Trucks
So, I referenced Christine at the beginning of this article and low and behold this film is also taken from the wonderful mind of Stephen King. I’ll be honest, the moment the first guy looked under his truck to check why it was driving funny, I thought it was going to run him over instead of trapping him in the cooler. Truthfully, I prefer that because being run over would have been too predictable. Unlike the other films in this list, it’s more than one truck that’s been affected and it’s pretty creepy when the wing mirrors move like they’re watching people go by. However, I would say that the WestWay truck is clearly the one calling the shots – especially with the way it seems to circle its victims like a wild animal waiting for the right moment to attack. What’s quite dark is that the first on-screen kill is actually made by a toy truck and the second uses an air supply to create a physical being!
The Wraith
I’ve mentioned a lot in the paragraphs above about it not being clear of the overall motive in the films. Well, this one is quite clearly revenge. However, knowing this about the film, made the opening a little confusing. Again, I wouldn’t exactly say the car is the killer as it does have an actual driver – so unlike Trucks there is someone genuinely behind the wheel. The confusing part for me is why, what seems to be someone from the future, is taking revenge on the people who killed Jamie. I got the feeling, especially when he tells Keri that he loves her, that Charlie Sheen’s character of Jake Kesey may be Jamie reincarnated. It’s more that the car is used as a murder weapon, like pushing Oggie off the road, than it being self-sufficient. It is an interesting idea though, to have a dead-man avenge his own death – not as a ghost but in reincarnation.
The Hearse
So, this is a really interesting film to talk about. The first time we see the hearse is around 20 minutes in and it has a driver so from this aspect, it doesn’t really fit into the article. Even more interestingly, the town believe the house is haunted so that really has nothing to do with the hearse at all. The one thing I will say, is that maybe the house is being haunted by the hearse and its driver? As he seems rather ghostly. I think what I’m trying to say is, for a film that is supposed to be about a hearse stalking a woman – we actually don’t see much of the hearse. It isn’t even referenced by anyone until an hour in to the film. The real question is, who is haunting her – the hearse of the driver?
