The Car: Road to Revenge is 2018 American science fiction horror feature film written and directed by G.J. Echternkamp. The movie stars Grant Bowler, Kathleen Munroe, Martin Hancock, Micah Balfour, Burt Grinstead, Nina Bergman, Jamie Bamber, and Ronny Cox. The film is a “stylized” sequel to The Car.
In a dilapidated Cyberpunk city plagued by crime and corruption, unscrupulous District Attorney James S. Caddock is savagely murdered and tossed out of a building onto his brand new car. Mysteriously, the District Attorney and his car come back to life as a single being with a thirst for vengeance. The eerie driverless car embarks on a vicious rampage exacting revenge on the criminals who murdered him.
Tropes used in The Car: Road to Revenge include:
- 20 Minutes into the Future: The film is set at some unspecified time in the future that has some futuristic technology, primarily in the field of cybernetics. However, things like fashion, firearms, vehicles, etc. seem largely unchanged.
- And I Must Scream: At the end, Caddock’s spirit is still alive in the car despite being pushed down a cliff into a lake. However, Daria had ripped out the car’s CPU, rendering it immobile so Caddock is stuck in a lake, fully conscious, with no way to move, unless the car’s wreck is dredged up.
- Action Girl: Daria grew up in the worst neighbourhood in the city and, although more refined now, has lost none of the skills she learnt there. She is an expert shot and can hold her own in a hand-to-hand fight against the worst street scum the city has to offer, even if they are cybernetically enhanced.
- Arm Cannon: Pyromaniac Ash has a flamethrower built into her arm.
- Automated Automobiles: the spirit of a murdered man possesses his Cool Car and the car goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
- Batter Up!: Rainer hands a baseball bat to the girl Tinkerman was abducting and lets her smash him in the head with it.
- Big Bad Ensemble: District Attorney James Caddock is the spirit possessing the titular Sinister Car and uses it to go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge, while Talen is the leader of The Night, the gang of Human Traffickers who killed Caddock and set off his revenge.
- Blinded by the Light: Rainer blinds the albino Talen by spinning round a corner and shining a flashlight directly in his eyes.
- Blood from the Mouth: Since most of the Car's victims are killed via either crushing or blunt-force trauma, this is a very common occurrence.
- Bloodier and Gorier: Hoo boy. Unlike it's predecessor which at most featured a streak of blood on a stone wall, this movie does NOT skimp on the gore; among other things a man's face is badly burned and heavily wounded, said man falls at least 30 stories and splatters on the title car, another man gets shot point-blank in the head and a piece of it goes flying off complete with blood spray, two heads are crushed resulting in blood splattering on the camera at least twice, one throat-slitting with plenty of blood, a man slowly crawling from a car wreck with a compound fracture and a trail of blood behind him crushed from the groin up during which his ribcage is crushed and blood sprays from his torso and his head also follows suit... all well before the one-hour mark!
- Booze Flamethrower: Daria douses the ADA in medical alcohol and acts as if she is about to set him on fire. She takes a swig from the bottle and takes Talen's lighter. She lights the lighter but then spits the booze out across the flame and into Talen's eye.
- Car Cushion: The gang throws Caddock out of his office window and he lands of top his brand new Lazarus luxury sedan. Somehow, this allows his soul to enter the car and control it.
- Carnival of Killers: Not as classy as many other examples of this trope, but Talen offers bounties on anyone who brings him the car, the girl, or the chip. As these bounties include free access to his arsenal of weapons, and free cybernetic enhancements, every gang in the city mobilizes in an attempt to claim them.
- Car Fu: The possessed car makes most of its kills by running its victims over.
- City Noir: Set 20 Minutes into the Future in a city so crime-ridden that death sentences are carried out in the courtroom immediately after they are pronounced. It is mentioned that this 'innovation' was introduced by D.A. Caddock, implying that the rest of the world is not as bad as this city.
- Cool Car: The Lazarus was a top of the line luxury car even before it became a sentient murder machine. It’s bulletproof, its chassis is durable to survive multiple impacts and Caddock’s body falling on it, and it has butterfly doors.
- Cowboy Cop: Detective Rainer. The first scene of the movie has his commanding officer ordering him not to engage with Tinkerman until backup arrives. Rainer immediately ignores the order.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Caddock is extremely possessive of Daria, even though she broke up with him some time ago. This carries over to the car that his spirit possesses after he is murdered. When Daria sleeps with Rainer, the car attempts to kill both of them.
- Dark Is Evil: Most of the bad guys wear black or dark clothing, including Caddock, who wore dark suits before he was killed and later came back possessing a black car, as well Talen’s followers and henchmen.
- Dark Is Not Evil: However, Rainer and Daria wear dark clothing as well but they’re the heroes of the movie.
- Dead Star Walking: Jamie Bamber as Caddock, even though he technically comes back to life when his vengeful spirit takes over the car. If you know his career, this shouldn't surprise you.
- Distracted by the Sexy: The cop assigned to watch Daria's house is distracted by the sight of her undressing in front of a window. The point where she notices him and draws the curtain is the point where he is grabbed by the gang and has a drill shoved through his skull.
- The End... Or Is It?: The film ends with Daria pushing the burnt-out remains of the car off the edge of the cliff and into the lake. The final shot of the movie shows the car sitting on the bottom of the lake. And then its headlights turn on...
- Evilutionary Biologist: Talen believes that he is perfecting humanity and giving it the tools he needs to survive. He secures test subjects through kidnapping and human trafficking, and pays his gang by installing cybernetic upgrades in them.
- Evil vs. Evil: The two antagonists, Caddock and Talen are both trying to kill each other.
- Eye Scream: One of Talen's gang has a drill built into his hand. While torturing Caddock, he sticks the drill through his eye.
- Near the end, Daria stabs Talen in the eye with a scalpel, but he survives because his eye’s robotic.
- Firing in the Air a Lot: When Talen announces the bounty on the car, the chip and the girl, the assembled street scum of the city show their pleasure by firing fully automatic weapons into the air. Given they are inside a warehouse at the time, it's a wonder no one was killed.
- Flamethrower Backfire: Rainer shoots the flamethrower Ash has built into her arm; causing her to go up in flames.
- Foil:
- Forklift Fu: Rainer uses a forklift to hoist the car's front wheels off the ground so it can't gain traction: leaving it a sitting duck for the bomb set up by Daria.
- Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: After barely surviving an encounter with the eponymous car, Rainer and Daria have a Slap-Slap-Kiss moment that immediately segues into sex.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: Happens to Talen when he is rammed by the eponymous car during the final confrontation. His upper half is lying inside the car, cut off at the windscreen, while his lower half sprawls on the road and is run over.
- Haunted Technology: A possessed car goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
- Hero Stole My Bike: Rainer attempts to commandeer a citizen's dirt bike to escape the murderous car. When the man resists, Rainer punches him in the face and takes the bike anyway.
- His Name Is...: Rainer and Daria visit an information broker to gain info on Talen. However, just as the broker starts to talk, he is shot by Talen's gang.
- This is actually a subversion. They are requesting information on The Night. The broker does give the name Talen but is killed before he can give any more info.
- It Kind of Looks Like a Face: There are multiple shots of the eponymous car where the headlights look like glowing eyes and the grille like a grinning mouth.
- Made of Iron: The Lazarus One is bulletproof and strong enough to survive getting torn apart, set on fire and then blown up with a bomb.
- Man on Fire: Ash goes up in flames as a result of a Flamethrower Backfire. Later, Talen uses a Reusable Lighter Toss to set the ADA on fire after Daria douses him in medical alcohol.
- Meaningful Name: The Lazarus luxury sedan has a rather fitting name, given that a man by the name of Lazarus of Bethany was raised from the dead by Jesus in The Bible.
- My Car Hates Me: One of the gang is driving away from the car when his own car stalls on a bridge: leaving him easy prey for the Lazarus.
- Mythology Gag: Caddock's car is repaired in the third act using parts from the custom Lincoln Continental of the first film, giving it a similar appearance for the remainder of the movie.
- Pillow Pistol: Talen's gang attempt to abduct Daria from her house, but are thwarted when she pulls a Hand Cannon out from under the pillow and shoots several of them.
- Punk in the Trunk: At the start of the movie, Rainer finds a kidnapped woman Bound and Gagged in the trunk of Tinkerman's car.
- Pyromaniac: Ash has a flamethrower built into her arm and loves to watch things burn.
- The Rat: Rainer and Daria visit an information broker to gain info on The Night. However, just as the broker starts to talk, he is shot by Talen's gang.
- Remake Cameo: Ronny Cox, who played Luke Johnson in the original film, plays a mechanic who repairs Caddock’s car after Talen’s gang wrecks it. Also, the custom Lincoln Continental Mark III makes an appearance as a donor car the mechanic used to repair Caddock.
- Reusable Lighter Toss: Almost as an afterthought, Talen tosses his lighter into the lap of the ADA who is soaked in alcohol, turning him into a Man on Fire.
- Revolvers Are Just Better: Daria uses a Ruger G100 for most of the movie.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After Caddock is murdered, his soul comes back inhabiting his car to take revenge on those who killed him.
- Sentient Vehicle: The 'monster' of the film is a luxury sedan possessed by the vengeful spirit of a murdered man.
- Sequel Hook: The film ends with Daria pushing the burnt-out remains of the car off the edge of the cliff and into the lake. The final shot of the movie shows the car sitting on the bottom of the lake. And then its headlights turn on...
- Slap-Slap-Kiss: Rainer and Daria have an emotionally charged conversation about their lost loved ones. At the end of it, Rainer invites Daria to him (as a way of testing her combat skills). He catches the punch, and then the two of them kiss and fall into bed. Doubles as Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex, as they have just survived an attack from the homicidal automobile.
- Slashed Throat: Mila tries to escape when the gang storms Daria's house, but is caught and has her throat slit.
- Take Over the City: The Big Bad Talen is an Evilutionary Biologist seeking to create an army from the gangs of the city: cybernetically enhancing them and arming them to seize control of the city.
- There Was a Door: The car deliberately smashes through a wall into a building to kill Henry.
- This Is a Drill: One of Talen's gang has a drill implanted in his hand. He uses it to inflict an Eye Scream on Caddock, and later to kill the cop on watch outside Daria's house.
- Undisclosed Funds: Rainer and Daria visit an information broker and are haggling over the price. Getting sick of this, Daria scribbles something down on a card, says this is their final offer, and hands it to the broker. The broker glances at the card and immediately agrees.
- Vehicle Title
- Vehicular Assault: The gangs of the city use cars and motorbikes to corral the eponymous car into an old quarry where Talen can kill it.
