Fear is the Key

At the risk of sounding like a senior citizen, I lost interest in car chase movies once the vehicles themselves stopped following the rules of physics.  Although I'm sure there are a few stunt drivers still involved the the Fast & Furious franchise, they're definitely taking a backseat to visual effects artists who probably never got behind the wheel of anything more intimidating than a tricked-out Tesla.  John Frankenheimer's Ronin might have been the last gasp of real pedal-to-the-metal filmmaking before CGI took over.  But nothing compares to the vehicular choreography of the 1970s, where an out-of-context 20-minute chase scene like the one in Fear is the Key (1972) slides into an under-the-radar thriller and takes your breath away.

Kicking up some dust in a quiet Louisiana town, drifter John Talbot (Barry Newman) absconds with a hostage (Suzy Kendall) during his trial and leads the local authorities on a wild pursuit.  His escape lands him at the mercy of an oil baron who needs Talbot's special skills for a treasure hunt on the seafloor.  But our anti-hero has a few tricks up his sleeve and an agenda all his own that will turn this predictable thriller into something else entirely.

Based on a novel by Alistair MacLean, Fear is the Key does its damndest to mislead the audience from the get-to.  Suffice to say that what begins as a Vanishing Point-inspired exercise in hemi-powered badassery takes a sharp left turn into 007 territory.  It's a satisfying twist but you can't help but wish Talbot had gotten one more chance to show off his particular set of driving skills.

Speaking of which, that opening car chase delivers pretty much everything you could ask for: frame-crunching jumps, off-road shortcuts and 45-degree angle straightaways traveled at a ridiculously high rate of speed.  It's all there at 24 frames per second without a single cheat in sight.  And even if the film itself never quite comes down from that first act adrenaline rush, it makes for one hell of addition to the old-fashioned car chase pantheon.

Arrow Video's Blu-ray licensed from the Paramount library is easy to recommend as a blind-buy, which it likely will be for most viewers. The transfer is choose-your-own-adjective flawless and extras include an audio commentary, visual essay and insight into the score by Roy Budd.  Archival featurettes along with a fold-out poster and collector's booklet just seal the deal.



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