DUEL

DUEL. Steven Spielberg, dir. USA: Universal (Willis: ABC-TV/Universal-TV), 1971. Initial telecast length: 73 min.; 1983 theatrical release: 88 min.; current running time: 90 min. (Leonard Maltin's). Richard Matheson, script, from his story. Dennis Weaver, star.

Mainstream/Horror film, featuring a very uneven duel betwwen a car-driver and a mysterious truck; the car driver wins, painfully. Listen for the voice of William Daniels on Dennis Weaver's radio at the beginning of the film: a kind of prelude to Daniels as the voice of KITT on the Knight Rider TV series. Cf. and contrast Killdozer and other films in which demonic machines are possessed by alien intelligence, not (probably) driven by malicious human beings. Cf. and contrast also H. Ellison's more comic duel in "Along the Scenic Route," coll. Beast that Shouted Love [. . .].

RDE, Title, 21Aug19 (RDE, 21/11/93, 28/11/93)