Review #73: 'Duel' (1971)

This made-for-TV movie about a man having a bad day, is a very well executed, wonderfully shot story of an angry truck driver, hell-bent on antagonising David Mann (Dennis Weaver), after he overtook him on a dusty, lonely stretch of road. This was the first feature of future uber-director Steven Spielberg. It is telling in the construction of the shots, and has a similar atmosphere to his mega-hit Jaws (1975).

More importantly is the screenwriter, Richard Matheson - who adapted it from one of his own stories. There is a sequence where David stops at a diner after his initial shock of the terrorism. In here, he sits at a table; an internal monologue plays. His pure thoughts of paranoia as he watches a bunch of truckers at the bar, scrutinising their boots (after he had only seen this part of the truck driver when stopped at a gas station. This is pure Matheson, straight out of his work on the TV show The Twilight Zone.

We never actually see the driver of the truck. This demonstrates the intention that the monster is not human, but is in fact the machine itself. An idea perpetuated at the end of the film when the monster truck careens off the edge of a cliff, the sound of a monster (much like the ones seen in '50's monster movies) is heard screaming. Maybe this was an intentional idea from Spielberg, who would later get to executive produce a bunch of trucks/cars etcetera, who can all transform into more recognisable monsters (i.e. have eyes and all that). Aside from the later travesty of Spielberg's inflated ego, I do still have affection for some of his earlier work, and Duel is another example of his knowing cinematic style.

Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Dennis Weaver, Eddie Firestone, Gene Dynarski
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Marc Ivamy