mkm-hermanjnr Duel is a perfect example of the soaring dramatic heights a movie can attain on a shoestring budget when given competent direction, good acting and a decent script.The main character is the somewhat placid businessman David Mann, played low-key yet with surprising depth by Dennis Weaver. Mann is driving in the middle of nowhere to get to a business meeting when he begins being harassed by a truck driver for seemingly no reason. Things quickly get worse.Weaver knows the correct moments to escalate Mann's hysteria to breaking point and when to dial in a subtle performance and he sells every scene - from the monologues to the action setpieces. Mann's character also develops throughout the movie, as he slowly grows more of a backbone in response to the life threatening situation he is placed in.The real star of the show, however, is the tanker truck which acts as the main antagonist. We never see the driver of the truck, but the mere design of the vehicle is compellingly horrific. The brutish engine grill, filthy exhaust, the license plate collection mounted on the front and years of grime and oil built up on the chassis act almost like a window into the mind of the deranged psychopath whom we never see.This driverless depiction of the truck elevates it from a mere road vehicle into a soulless and diabolical killing machine, utterly relentless in it's incomprehensible pursuit of Mann in a way that evokes implacable and inhuman villains like The Terminator.The movie does a great job of constantly escalating the tension throughout, constantly keeping the viewer on the edge of their seat during the chase sequences, with occasional slower sequences that avoid dragging by virtue of good plotting and writing. The cafe scene, for example, is not merely a breather for the audience, but also features an interesting "detective" section in which a panicking Mann attempts to identify his tormentor among a crowd of truckers.The script also keeps things believable. At no point does Mann do anything mind-blowingly stupid like many "horror" film characters (in fact he tries many sensible tactics to escape his situation but the truck is always one step ahead). All technical faults with his car that present themselves as obstacles over the run time are also hinted at early in the movie rather than being cheaply thrown in with no explanation or build up.Overall, Duel combines good acting and smart writing with excellent shot direction to produce a taut, high-tension horror-thriller on a minimal budget. Recommended.

hrkepler Hitchcockian road rage thriller. High octane cat and mouse play. Jaws on wheels. I could come up with dozen one liners like that to describe 'Duel'. It is real edge on your seat thrill ride. Only Steven Spielberg can stretch such simple premise into an exiting and entertaining hour and a half. Not much work has gone into developing characters, but that is not important in this film. The director just wants you to feel uncomfortable all through movie. I couldn't stop noticing some Hitchcock vibes there - these dense moments where the truck is seeking for it's pray and that score (very similar to Bernard Hermann's work) starts to play.'Duel', being the first feature film for Spielberg, who made many more masterful films in his career, truly stands as a testament to his directing talents.

julesfdelorme I'm coming back to my Halloween theme on Horror films that don't seem, at first glance to be Horror films. I think that nothing represents this kind of movie better than Steven Spielberg's first film, Duel. A TV movie starring Dennis Weaver (Of McCloud fame), Duel was pretty much the result of a TV Network throwing Spielberg a bone for winning an award for a Night Gallery episode, or maybe just because he survived working with Joan Crawford. It was meant to be just another TV movie of the week. And it was nothing more than that in North America. But French critics, including Francois Truffault were so impressed with the movie that it was a successful theatrical release in Europe. Duel has the production value of a 70s TV Movie, but it still manages to be much more than that. First, it was preview of what Spielberg was capable of as a director. And second it is a superb monster movie. You wouldn't know it from the premise. Duel is the story of a somewhat weak willed motorist who finds himself pursued by a truck after he passes it on the highway. He doesn't even cut the truck off. And that's part of the key to this being a very good horror movie. The Antagonist operates without reason and seems to be utterly relentless. You never see the trucker. You see a hint of boots and an arm, but you never see a man. As he will do so well later in Jaws, Spielberg makes the unseen and unknown create the tension and the fear in our minds. Because we never see the trucker Weaver's character is pursued by a machine, not a human being. Even Pauline Kael gave the movie a great review. And she would go on to blame Spielberg, along with George Lucas for ruining American film. Her particular prejudice, that small films are important, and big budget films are mindless, would be echoed by far too many people, particularly when it came to Steven Spielberg. He didn't just become a great film maker when he made Schindler's List and Finding Private Ryan. Jaws is a superb film. One of the greatest horror films of all time. It put beaches out of business. And Duel, despite being intended as a cheap TV movie, is far better than it might seem on the surface. What Spielberg was able to do with so little is an indication of how great a director he was even then. It's a creepy, nerve wrenching monster movie that draws you in to its odd premise scene by scene. It's original and it's so much better than it was meant to be. It's well worth the watch, especially just before Halloween. If you haven't seen Duel, I would highly recommend it. Even if you watch it just as a curiosity, just as Spielberg's earliest work, I think you'll be surprised at how much of the film mastery that we would see in Spielberg's later work already present in Duel. And you may not want to drive on a lonely highway for a little while after that.#movies #film #filmcritique #horrorfilm #duel #stevenspielberg

freemantle_uk Duel was Steven Spielberg's debut film, made as a TV in the US but extended to be a theatrical film in Europe.Duel follows David Mann (Dennis Weaver) is a businessman who ends up being chased and tormented by a large truck on the Californian Roads. This simple premise was great for a first-time director to cut his teeth on and even at the age of 24 Spielberg showed his talent. Duel was basically a chase film/horror-thriller that only had a few moments of respite.Spielberg knew how to make increase the tension of the situation, working with his composer and editor to do this. It is especially true for the final showdown between David and the Truck. For a fan of practical effects Duel is a treat because of all the car chases and stunts. It is even more impressive because the film's budget $450,000, which even by early '70s standards a modest sum. It was similar to the first Mad Max film which was also a car movie made cheaply.The problem with the film is the writing. Duel was written by Richard Matheson, best known for writing I Am Legend. Matheson also wrote episodes of The Twilight Zone and Duel was basically an extended episode. Even at 89 minutes Duel was padded - 50 to 60 minutes would have been sufficient.