Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Phantom Racer (2009)

Let’s Ride #16!

Rivals on and off the track, Cutter McCullough and JJ Sawyer find themselves in a terrible racetrack accident. Cutter dies from his wounds and JJ walks away from the track and becomes a trucker for a racing company. Years after leaving the sport he loves, JJ finds himself back in the town where his rivalry with Cutter ended in tragedy. When people die in bizarre accidents, all featuring Cutter’s restored race car, JJ becomes the prime suspect. What JJ discovers, however, is that Cutter is back and wants to settle the score with JJ in 2009’s Phantom Racer.

The film stars Greg Evigan (B.J. And The Bear, My Two Dads) as JJ Sawyer, Nicole Eggert (Baywatch, Charles In Charge) as Tammy, and Brenna O’Brien (Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon) as Jesse, Tammy’s daughter. It has received generally negative reviews and while I completely understand why the “professional” critics would dislike this film, I believe that anybody who turned this Made-For-TV movie on back in 2009 knew what they were getting into before they decided to watch it.

This movie isn’t that terrible. It has reasonably good CGI for a TV film and some pretty decent action as well. The kills in this flick are surprisingly gory. They include a decapitation by a car window, a face shredded off by a tire, a person getting squeezed to death by a seat belt, and someone getting cut in half by a car trunk.

The film also has a few surprises for viewers. There’s at least one My Two Dads reference directed at Evigan. I didn’t notice any BJ And The Bear references nor any Baywatch references, but sharper ears and eyes might catch one of those. Fans of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica might be happy to see Luciana Carro, who portrayed Kat Katraine in that series, as Deputy Monroe in Phantom Racer. Fans of The Covenant might recognize Sarah Smyth as young Tammy as well.

If you are looking for award-winning acting and an eye-opening story, you won’t find it here. If you just want to watch a decent film with decent action and lovely Nicole Eggert in it, Phantom Racer is right up your alley. Give this film a look. I think that you’ll enjoy it.

Thanks for checking out my review.