Damnation Alley (film)

Damnation Alley is a 1977 science-fiction thriller set in a post-apocalyptic world.

World War III happens. The crew at a remote US Air Force missile base survive the war, but following an accident which kills several of them and destroys most of their supplies, the remainder decide to make their way across the country to the only part of the USA that is still inhabitable. Unfortunately, the only way to get there is a narrow strip of not-quite lethal wasteland, dubbed by the leader of the expedition as "Damnation Alley". As the name suggests, it's no picnic. They set out in two "LandMaster" armored vehicles, encountering various dangers and other survivors as they travel east.

The LandMaster prop is arguably the best thing in this movie, and went on to have almost as long a career in cinema as the human star, Jan-Michael Vincent.

Very vaguely inspired by the novel of the same name by Roger Zelazny.

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 * Acting for Two: Only one LandMaster was actually built for the movie. One of the "twins" gets destroyed early on.
 * After the End
 * Alien Sky
 * Attack of the Killer Whatever: The cockroaches
 * Base on Wheels
 * Black Dude Dies First: Strictly speaking averted, in that he's not the first to die, but he doesn't come close to surviving the trip either. The fact he is played by Paul Winfield assures his fate.
 * Cool Car: If the LandMaster can be called a "car".
 * Cozy Catastrophe: The people of Albany have apparently been doing quite well despite the catastrophe.
 * During the War
 * Safe Zone Hope Spot: Blithely subverted with Albany.
 * Scary Scorpions: Giant mutated ones make a brief appearance.
 * The Swarm: The cockroaches again.
 * There Was a Door: The LandMaster is used to blast into and out of a parking garage.