Automotive shop owner Brian Donleavy (in his last screen role) likes the way Richard Davalos drag races, so he offers to back him as a 'figure 8' racer. Davalos accepts, but will his need to win wind up killing him, or destroying him as a human being?
I'm not particularly fond of movies about racing; they usually concern guys sitting in a small set, twisting a steering wheel slightly while images of a track are back-projected behind them. There's that here, but there are also signs of an actual script. real conflict, decent actors -- including Ellen Burstyn in her third movie, and the always amusing Sid Haig -- and the footage of cars in action is pretty good. So is the score. In no way is this a great movie, but for a 1960s grindhouse second feature, it gets the job done.
I'm not particularly fond of movies about racing; they usually concern guys sitting in a small set, twisting a steering wheel slightly while images of a track are back-projected behind them. There's that here, but there are also signs of an actual script. real conflict, decent actors -- including Ellen Burstyn in her third movie, and the always amusing Sid Haig -- and the footage of cars in action is pretty good. So is the score. In no way is this a great movie, but for a 1960s grindhouse second feature, it gets the job done.