The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)

The Cars That Ate Paris
Directed by Peter Weir
Written by Peter Weir, Keith Gow and Piers Davies
1974/Australia
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel

Darryl: The other thing, is the patients. Now, most of the people here are accident victims. So, what you’ve got are your veggies.
Arthur Waldo: Veggies?
Darryl: Yeah, now these are people who’ve been in accidents that are so bad that their minds all get scrambled up like scrambled eggs. Right?
Arthur Waldo: Yeah.
Darryl: In any case, you got your full veggies. Well, I doubt if he’ll let you see them. I don’t think you’ll have much to do with them. And then there’s your half-veggies and your quarter-veggies.

How could I resist a movie with a title and director like this one?

Paris, New South Wales is an Australian  outback town occupied by hooligans and hypocrites.  The town’s income comes from arranging for car crashes and scavenging the car and victim.  One day, George and Arthur come through towing a huge caravan which hurtles off a cliff.  George, the driver, is killed in the accident while Arthur emerges relatively unscathed.  He reports having seen a light coming from the other direction before the crash.    For some reason, instead of eliminating this witness, the Mayor adopts him.

The remainder of the film carries forward the car crash theme.  Eventually the young gang members that cause the accidents decide to stop abiding by the establishment’s rules and all hell breaks loose.

I took a little break from more serious films and took a chance on this one.  Produced on a shoe string budget, the production is fairly effective.  It could have perhaps used some suspense and/or laughs.