Rent Cars That Ate Paris (1974)

Mad Max meets The Wicker Man - Cars That Ate Paris review by AER

This Australian oddity is worth seeking out if you love Mad Max and The Wicker Man. It centres around a remote country town in NSW where the mayor and it's people have devised a scheme to stay afloat by plundering the cars of passing travellers. Unsuspecting folks are killed by the townsfolk or booby-trapped roads - yet dischord begins to reasonate as the young car mad youth begin to chafe against the order. At the centre of this is a survivor who is taken in as a waif and who slow begins to see the town for what it is. Our hero is largely passive, played by the gentle Terry Camillieri (who play Napoleon in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure), and the big bad just eccentric (John Meillon - Wally from Crocodile Dundee). Other familiar faces pop up like Chris Haywood (Muriel's Wedding) and Bruce Spence (The Matrix 3).

The cars are great, specifically a VW beetle with spikes! It's not an action film, like the sexed-up trailer suggests, it's more typical of those meandering 70s films that were pretty common in Australia. Peter Weir went on to direct some great Hollywood films before leaving his natice Australia. Odd, memorable, and deserves a considered remake that keeps the soul intact but bolsters the threat levels to the max.

All Revved Up with Nowhere to Go - Cars That Ate Paris review by griggs

The Cars That Ate Paris is an oddball slice of early Aussie cinema that never quite figures out what kind of film it wants to be. It sets off like it’s heading toward something surreal and sinister but quickly stalls. The fictional and rural town of Paris is pitched as a self-sufficient outpost clinging to the past, full of wary smiles and buried secrets. It hints at Wicker Man -style creepiness but never builds enough tension to deliver on that promise.

Peter Weir, making his feature debut, focuses more on quiet character moments than any real sense of momentum. We follow Arthur, a confused outsider with a thousand-yard stare, as he wanders through a town that’s equal parts sinister and silly. There’s a supposed clash between generations—grizzled locals and teens in souped-up deathmobiles—but it’s mostly background noise.

The infamous spiked car is admittedly a cool design. Still, its delayed entrance and underwhelming impact just sum up the whole film: more concept than execution. There’s a thin layer of satire under the surface, but it’s too murky to land.

Yes, there’s a whiff of Hot Fuzz in the setup—a quaint town with a violent streak—but where Edgar Wright went full throttle, this one mostly putters around the paddock. Curious? Sure. Essential? Not really. Disappointing? Most definitely.