Killer in the backseat
Encyclopedia
Killer in the Backseat (also known as High Beams) is a common, car-crime urban legend
well known mostly in the United States and United Kingdom. It was first noted by folklorist Carlos Drake in 1968 in texts collected by Indiana University students.
her, and sometimes even rams her vehicle. When she finally makes it home, she realizes that the driver was trying to warn her that there was a man (a murderer, rapist, or escaped mental patient) hiding in her back seat. Each time the man sat up to attack her, the driver behind had used his high beams to scare the killer.
In some versions the woman stops for gas, and the attendant asks her to come inside to sort out a problem with her credit card
. Inside the station, he asks if she knows there's a man in her back seat. In another she sees a doll on the road in the moors, stops, and then the man gets in the back.
The story is often told with a moral. The attendant is often a lumberjack
, a trucker, or a scary-looking man; someone the driver mistrusts without reason. She assumes it is the attendant who wants to do her harm, when in reality it is he who saves her life.
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
well known mostly in the United States and United Kingdom. It was first noted by folklorist Carlos Drake in 1968 in texts collected by Indiana University students.
Legend
The legend involves a woman who is driving and being followed by a strange car or truck. The mysterious pursuer flashes his high beams, tailgatesTailgating
Tailgating is the practice of driving on a road too close to the vehicle in front, at a distance which does not guarantee that stopping to avoid collision is possible...
her, and sometimes even rams her vehicle. When she finally makes it home, she realizes that the driver was trying to warn her that there was a man (a murderer, rapist, or escaped mental patient) hiding in her back seat. Each time the man sat up to attack her, the driver behind had used his high beams to scare the killer.
In some versions the woman stops for gas, and the attendant asks her to come inside to sort out a problem with her credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
. Inside the station, he asks if she knows there's a man in her back seat. In another she sees a doll on the road in the moors, stops, and then the man gets in the back.
The story is often told with a moral. The attendant is often a lumberjack
Lumberjack
A lumberjack is a worker in the logging industry who performs the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to a bygone era when hand tools were used in harvesting trees principally from virgin forest...
, a trucker, or a scary-looking man; someone the driver mistrusts without reason. She assumes it is the attendant who wants to do her harm, when in reality it is he who saves her life.
In popular media
- The 1998 film Urban LegendUrban Legend (film)Urban Legend is a 1998 horror film starring Alicia Witt, Rebecca Gayheart, Jared Leto, Michael Rosenbaum, Natasha Gregson Wagner, Loretta Devine, Robert Englund, John Neville, Joshua Jackson, Regina King, and Tara Reid...
begins with this scenario. - The 1st segment, Terror in Topanga, of the 1983 film Nightmares is a depiction of this legend.
- An episode of Jonathan CreekJonathan CreekJonathan Creek is a British mystery series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. Primarily a crime drama, the show is also peppered with broadly comic touches...
begins with a version of this legend, except instead of a killer inside the car the pursuing driver was trying to alert that there was a body tied to the back of the car. - In a 1998 episode of MillenniumMillennium (TV series)Millennium is an American television series created by Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files. Millennium aired on the Fox Network from 1996 to 1999. The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, though most episodes were ostensibly set in or around Seattle, Washington...
, The Pest House, Frank Black chases a doctor from a mental hospital after one of its patients escapes into the back of her car and tries to kill her. When she pulls over at a gas station, the attendant saves her by taking her inside. - The 2003 Tamil Film from India, WhistleWhistle (film)Whistle is a 2003 South Indian Tamil film which is a verbatim remake of the English horror film Urban Legend. Although an average grosser, the film was a musical super hit. It is noted for vivek's rib tickling comedy. It is one of the most remarkable horror movies. The film marked the debut of...
also begins with this scenario - The story is featured in the television show Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction.
- The story is featured in an episode of The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
when Otto tells Lisa the legend as a bedtime story. In his version, the victim is chased by another car that keeps ramming her vehicle, and she drives off the road into the woods and loses the other car. She is then killed by an axe-wielding maniac who had been hiding in her backseat. - In the 2006 horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The BeginningThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The BeginningThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, a 2006 American slasher film, functions as a prequel to the 2003 remake of the 1974 film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Directed by Jonathan Liebesman and co-produced by Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper , the film went into release in North America on October 6,...
, the victim, Chrissie (played by actress Jordana BrewsterJordana BrewsterJordana Brewster is an American actress. She began her acting career in her late teens, with a 1995 one-episode role in the soap opera All My Children. She followed that appearance with the recurring role as Nikki Munson in As the World Turns, for which Brewster was nominated for Outstanding Teen...
) is driving and sees a sheriff and a citizen . She puts a smile on her face. But that fades away when she sees LeatherfaceLeatherfaceLeatherface is the main antagonist in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre horror-film series and its spin-offs. He wears masks made of human skin and engages in murder and cannibalism alongside his inbred family. He is considered by many to be one of the first major slasher film villains alongside Michael...
(played by actor, Andrew BryniarskiAndrew BryniarskiAndrew Bryniarski is an American actor and a former bodybuilder of Russian descent, who is best known for portraying Steve Lattimer in The Program, as well as Leatherface in the remake of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and its prequel and Zangief in the live action Street Fighter movie...
) appear in the back seat. Instead of someone trying to warn her and her surviving, Chrissie is stabbed by Leatherface's chainsaw. She is killed and crashes in the sheriff and citizen(who dies too) and Leatherface gets out of the car and leaves the dead Chrissie.