Under the Car (1992)
7/10
Little seen horror short is a gem.
7 October 2007
A group of friends return to the deserted car park where the designated driver's 4 wheel drive is situated. The group are all happy go lucky after a fun night out but soon things change. After entering the car and finding it won't start they disembark the vehicle and attempt to fix it. 1 by 1 though the group (numbering about 5 or 6 I think) which is comprised of couples, begin to be picked off by an invisible entity.

The creature seems to be hiding under the vehicle and attacks with deadly precision and ferocity. The only safe place seems to be inside the car and the survivors of the original attack hole up in there for the night. But of course each one attempts to either take a look, fight back or make a run for it. All with gruesome consequences.

The question is ' Will anyone survive?' I was lucky enough to see this riveting little American short sometime late at night in the mid 90s on ITV in the UK. This little short was part of a schedule filler series called 'Short Story Cinema(or theatre)' or something like that. By schedule filler I mean these little short films would appear sporadically late at night, sometimes months apart, simply to fill up any spaces in the night's TV listings. I think ITV just made up a title for the series as I can't find it listed on IMDb.

Sadly ITV haven't done this show for some time and will probably never again. Even if they did its just your luck if you switch on at the right time and it happens to be this particular short that they're showing. A shame as it really is exciting and scary. Kind of like 'Predator'meets 'Wolfen' condensed into about 10mins (or whatever the running time was.) The ending is also pretty cool with a good reveal as to what the creature actually is. There had been some funny and entertaining dialogue scenes in the car as the panicking friends had began to debate what the creature is. One suggestion i think was an escaped tiger from the local zoo. There is also a lot of arguing and concern over how they will be able to go to the can. The film was really well scripted.

Ultimately though it makes you appreciate the benefits of a mobile phone.

In the unlikely event that you obtain a copy ,or like me stumble upon it unwittingly one night,......enjoy.

PS/ Another good short in the same series is called 'The Jogger'. This film is also a horror and is listed on the movie database.
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