6 Underrated Horror Movie Cars That Deserve The Spotlight

When thinking of horror movie cars, you likely picture Christine, the 1958 Plymouth Fury from the John Carpenter movie adapted from the Stephen King novel. Or, if you like cornier movies, the titular car from the 1977 movie "The Car" (which was based on a Lincoln Continental) may come to mind. However, much like the malaise-era land yachts lurking in the background of horror staples like the first installment of the Halloween franchise, there are other automotive characters that deserve at least a little bit of attention.

Not every horror movie car has to be the villain like Christine, either. Some just add realistic set dressing to place the film in a certain time period or to give viewers an idea of who the driver might be. Either way, cars are just as important to giving the movie a certain feel as costumes, fake blood, convincing prop weapons, or eerie music.

In the opening scenes of Stanley Kubrick's classic "The Shining," Jack Torrance (played by Jack Nicholson) is driving to the Overlook Hotel in a Volkswagen Beetle. If it weren't for the dark musical accompaniment and the fact that Stanley Kubrick was directing it, the yellow Beetle would make you think you were about to watch a fun, lighthearted family movie instead of almost two and a half hours of masterful filmmaking combined with abject terror and an elevator full of blood.

The bright and colorful Beetle betrays the overall spookiness of the film and the Overlook Hotel. While Beetles, with their air-cooled engines, are undoubtedly capable of being utilitarian and reliable cars, the Beetle, with a sunny disposition, has no place in the harsh mountains of Colorado in the middle of a long winter with several feet of snow on the ground. It'd be better off cruising around Southern California several thousand miles away from wherever Jack Torrance is. 

"Beetlejuice" barely features any cars and instead consists of classic Tim Burton wackiness with the thinnest veneer of goofy horror. However, at the beginning of the movie, the Maitlands (played by Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin) meet their demise behind the wheel of a late 1970s Volvo 200-series wagon after it falls off a bridge while avoiding a dog. While Volvos are known for being one of the safest cars on the road, it evidently wasn't enough to save the Maitlands from having to deal with the bureaucracy of dying and trying to figure out how to live the rest of eternity in peace, not to mention dealing with the titular "Beetlejuice."

Similar to the yellow VW Beetle in "The Shining," the happy-looking Volvo serves as a literal vehicle to advance the plot while looking completely out of place for the rest of the movie. The Maitlands probably should have kept up with brake maintenance and lived up to Volvo's ironic "I BRAKE FOR ANIMALS" bumper sticker.

FBI Agent in training Clarice Starling (played by Jodie Foster) owns a beat-up and rusting Ford Pinto in "The Silence of the Lambs." She drives the Pinto to Baltimore, Maryland, to consult serial killer and fava bean appreciator Doctor Hannibal Lector (played by Anthony Hopkins) on how to catch another serial killer dubbed "Buffalo Bill." Much like Starling, the Pinto is underestimated and almost written off. Yet unlike the Pinto, a car maligned for decades as a safety nightmare, Starling actually delivers in the end, finding Buffalo Bill and neutralizing them.

The Ford Pinto was already ancient history and an automotive punchline when the movie came out in 1991 and fought an uphill battle to be recognized as a hero car. As a woman in a primarily male-dominated field like the FBI, Clarice Starling fought that same uphill battle against sexism in her field. Although Agent Starling was significantly more successful.

There's some debate about whether or not "Jaws" is a horror movie. It certainly made an entire generation afraid of the mere idea of water, so it likely fits the bill, even if it seems quaint almost 50 years later. Still, the film is one of the best thrillers ever made, featuring more than enough 1970s automotive goodness. Amity Island Police Chief Martin Brody (played by Roy Scheider) drives a convertible Chevy K5 Blazer throughout the movie while dealing with the horror of a town besieged by a fish.

Much like the fact that Amity Island is not at all ready to deal with a murderous shark in the middle of the summer, the K5 Blazer is just about barely a viable police car. It is more suited to sit in parking lots while officers yell at teenagers than cope with ocean-borne threats it doesn't understand. Still, looking at it in 2023, the K5 and Chief Brody stand out as humble heroes on the screen.

William Friedkin's 1973 horror classic "The Exorcist" has vanishingly little to do with cars, aside from the fact that people drive cars in the movie. It's widely considered one of the greatest scary movies of all time and among the top movies ever made. Naturally, being filmed in the 1970s, there are some fantastic cars rumbling around in the background. However, some take center stage, even for a scant few seconds.

After hearing a team of exasperated doctors suggest an exorcism for her daughter, Regan, high-class actress Chris MacNeil (played by Ellen Burstyn) is driven in a black Mercedes-Benz 280 SE. The Mercedes works on multiple levels for the film. It's a perfectly cast car for a ritzy neighborhood in Washington, D.C., where the movie takes place. It's subtle, the opposite of flashy, yet it lets everyone know you have cash to burn. Additionally, it's an imposing car and deadly serious. It's the opposite of lighthearted and fun, like the movie's tone.

Director Sam Raimi's 1981 film "The Evil Dead" doesn't have the same campy and goofy tone as the late films in the franchise, but it made its mark nonetheless. Bruce Campbell, who plays Ash Williams, became a movie hero icon, and Sam Raimi would go on to direct the first successful trilogy of endlessly meme-able "Spider-Man" movies. As far as cars go, "The Evil Dead" stars Sam Raimi's own yellow 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88. Hagerty reports that the Olds would become a movie star in its own right and feature in many later movies after its 1981 debut.

In the film, it serves as nondescript transportation that wouldn't be at all out of place in the hands of a college kid in the early 1980s. Despite its pale yellow paint, it's perfectly boring and emblematic of dreary suburban life and sets the viewer up to be surprised when the dead suddenly aren't dead anymore.