Phantom Racer

Scarecrow-88

Following in the footsteps of such "killer car" features as Christine and The Car is Phantom Racer, about the vengeful ghost of a dead race car driver who returns to get revenge on the one he holds responsible for his demise.

I primarily watched this because Greg Evigan was in the starring role as a broken down, burn out, JJ Sawyer, returning home after a 17 year absence due to the race car crash concerning a fellow hot rodder, Cutter(Adam Battrick), with a bright future, blaming himself all these years for it occurring. Confronting an old gear-head, Cliff(Chad Willett), JJ is told that the crash wasn't his fault after all, fueling his obvious rage..in fact, Cliff and Cutter had sabotaged his car so that they could win due to the promise of sponsorships among other perks if JJ were out of the way.

Nicole Eggert also was a sight for sore eyes, co-starring as JJ's former flame, Tammy, soon breaking the news, albeit reluctantly, that he has a daughter, Jesse(Brenna O'Brien). All three will have to eventually face Cutter and his haunted car, not going away until there is a true victor.

The car itself seems to have the ability to kill people in a variety of ways, such as the driver's side seat belt breaking into the chest of an unfortunate victim who gets behind the wheel, another victim(..reaching into the trunk in the hopes of finding a six-pack)losing an arm and the lower half of his body, a head taken off by a window, and a deputy's face chopped to pieces by windshield wipers! It can also withstand heavy damage(..including a fire set off by gasoline) and survive a dive into a lake.

Despite the incredibly laughable plot, Evigan comes away from Phantom Racer relatively unscathed, if just on his charisma alone. He has good chemistry with Eggert, along with O'Brien who lands the role of wise-cracking daughter who contributes to their situation when innovative methods for stopping the possessed car begin to run out. O'Brien even gets trapped in the car at one point. The last half of the movie consists of one big chase as the trio attempt to evade their pursuer. Earns it's place in the genre with enough over-the-top violence to maintain interest. How the car remains intact, without a hint of damage on it's exterior after being set on fire, rammed by a truck, and lifted up in the air by a forklift tests credibility, but the plot is so corny, that will probably fall to the wayside. Evigan does a credible job presenting us with an emotionally-drained, wore-out has-been who could've been a star yet suffered years with guilt over the death of a friend he thought he was responsible for.

score 5/10

Scarecrow-88 19 September 2009

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2129350/