Race With The Devil (1975)

Necessity is the mother of invention, and here we are, a year deep into quarantine, and so we adapt. The goal for the coming months is to continue to bring people together and support amazing but struggling local venues and their staff, while not just complying with, but embracing safety restrictions. Welcome to… Cine Meccanica, the Covid Edition 2021!

CINE MECCANICA SUNDAY SCREENINGS

Twelve VIP tickets ($12 each) will go on sale Tuesday morning on Instagram @cinemeccanica for a screening that coming Sunday, 7pm at Abe’s Pagoda Bar in Brooklyn. Tickets will include a commemorate button, film bingo card (for prizes!), and a swag bag from our sponsors. The film will be followed by Prison Rodeo, spinning 70’s outlaw country vinyl at 9pm. Tickets are first come, first serve. Follow @cinemeccanica for updates and details on how to snag one.

_{*Tickets will only be sold online, in advance. Tickets will be required for entry to comply with strict covid precautions at the bar.}

BUY A TICKET

MISSED OUT ON TICKETS? NOT IN NYC? NO PROBLEM!

Cine Meccanica films and the Prison Rodeo DJ set will be live-streamed on Facebook (at facebook.com/CineMeccanica) worldwide for FREE. You can even buy a virtual bingo card and play along for prizes from home. All event proceeds go to support the bar staff, and so in addition to VIP tickets, there will be a tip jar link on the live-stream. Pour yourself a drink, pop some popcorn, and be sure to tip your virtual bartender!

And what film better to kick it off, then with a 70’s action/horror/car chase hybrid set deep in the heart of Texas, sure to appeal to everyone cooped up at home, wishing they were out adventuring. But be careful what you wish for… being homebound a little longer might not be the worst thing after all…

Peter Fonda and Warren Oates are burning their bridges and a lot of rubber… on the deadliest stretch of road in the country!

Race With The Devil (1975) – Peter Fonda and Warren Oates, star as a couple of dirt-track racers who pack up their bikes and their wives and set out on an RV vacation. Looking to get away from it all, they pass up cookie cutter camp sites in lieu of a secluded spot deep in the woods. Little do they know when they drop the landing gear however, that this grotto has already been booked by … a Satanic cult for a ritual of human sacrifice. They soon find out that “If you’re going to race with the devil, you’ve got to be as fast as Hell!”.

FILM PLOT

Flat-track racers Roger Marsh (Peter Fonda) and Frank Stewart (Warren Oates) own a successful motorcycle dealership in San Antonio. Together, with their wives Kelly and Alice (Lara Parker, Loretta Swit), along with Roger and Kelly’s small dog Ginger, they leave San Antonio in a recreational vehicle (RV) for a much anticipated ski vacation in Colorado.

Along the way, they set up camp in a desolate area of central Texas, where Roger and Frank race their motorcycles together. Later that night after their wives retire to the RV, the men witness what turns out to be a Satanic ritual human sacrifice a short distance from their camp.

They witnessed an unspeakable act! It may cost them their lives!

After being found out by the Satanists and barely escaping with their lives, they report the incident to the local sheriff (R.G. Armstrong), who investigates their report but attempts to convince them that they probably only saw hippies killing an animal. Unbeknownst to the sheriff, Roger steals a sample of dirt stained with the murder victim’s blood, intent on delivering it to the authorities in Amarillo. At the same time, the women steal books on Satanism from the local library, to further research the incident. As the foursome leaves town, the sheriff knowingly sees a truck begin to follow them, making it clear that he is either aware or part of the Satanic cult.

If you’re going to race with the devil, you’ve got to be fast as Hell!

When the couples stay at a trailer park, they return from dinner to discover that Roger and Kelly’s dog has been brutally killed, causing them to immediately leave the park in a panic. As the couples head towards Amarillo, they are pursued by a steadily increasing number of cultists who seem to be networked throughout numerous small Texas towns. When Roger tries to use a payphone to contact the state authorities, he is are told that the long distance lines are down throughout their town.

Eventually, Roger and Frank purchase a shotgun and stage a showdown with the cult members during a high speed chase that pits their RV against a convoy of trucks. Roger and Frank kill or wound all of the attackers and escape. The foursome stop in a field at nightfall, as they cannot continue until morning since the RV’s headlights were damaged during the chase.

They begin to celebrate when they pick up a radio signal coming from Amarillo. In the middle of their celebration, the foursome hears chanting outside the RV and find themselves surrounded by cult members, which include the sheriff and a couple they had dinner with at the trailer park.