The Cars That Ate Paris
| The Cars That Ate Paris | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster
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| Directed by | Peter Weir |
| Produced by | Hal and Jim McElroy |
| Screenplay by | Peter Weir |
| Based on |
Original story: Peter Weir and Keith Gow |
| Starring |
John Meillon Terry Camilleri Kevin Miles |
| Music by | Bruce Smeaton |
| Cinematography | John McLean |
| Edited by | Wayne LeClos |
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Production
company |
Salt Pan Films
Royce Smeal Film Productions |
| Distributed by | MCA (Australia) British Empire Films (Australia) New Line Cinema (US) |
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Release date
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Running time
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91 minutes 74 minutes (US cut) |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $250,000 |
The Cars That Ate Paris is a 1974 Australian horror comedy film, produced by twin brothers Hal and Jim McElroy and directed by Peter Weir. It was his first feature film, and was also based on an original story he had written. Shot mostly in the rural town of Sofala, New South Wales, the film is set in the fictional town of Paris in which most of the inhabitants appear to be directly, or indirectly, involved in profiting from the results of car accidents.
The film begins with an urban couple driving through the countryside in what looks like a cinema advertisement. The scene comes to a halt with a fatal accident. The rural Australian town of Paris arranges fatal accidents to visitors driving through. Townspeople collect items from the luggage of the deceased passengers whilst survivors are taken to the local hospital where they are given lobotomies with power tools and kept as "veggies" for medical experiments by the earnest town surgeon. The young men of the town salvage and modify the wrecked vehicles into a variety of strange-looking cars designed for destruction.
Arthur Waldo (Terry Camilleri) and his older brother, George Waldo (Rick Scully), drive though Paris with their caravan where they meet with an accident that kills George. Arthur is spared and looked after by the Mayor of Paris, Len Kelly (John Meillon), who invites Arthur to stay in his home as one of his family; his two young daughters have been "adopted" after being orphaned in motor accidents in the town.
Arthur unsuccessfully attempts to leave Paris but due to a previous incident where he was exonerated of manslaughter for running over an elderly pedestrian, he has lost his confidence in driving and there does not seem to be any public transport. Mayor Len gives Arthur a job at the local hospital as a medical orderly. Beneath the idyllic rural paradise of Paris is a festering feud between the young men of the town who live for their modified vehicles that they terrorise the town with and the older generation. When one of the hoons damages the Mayor's property and breaks a statue of an Aborigine the older men of the town burn the guilty driver's car as he is held down.
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Wikipedia