The Cars That Ate Paris

The Cars That Ate Paris
Australian film poster
Directed byPeter Weir
Screenplay byPeter Weir
Story byPeter Weir
Keith Gow
Piers Davies
Produced byHal and Jim McElroy
StarringJohn Meillon
Terry Camilleri
Kevin Miles
CinematographyJohn McLean
Edited byWayne LeClos
Music byBruce Smeaton
Production
companies
Australian Film Development Corporation
Royce Smeal Film Productions
Salt Pan Films
Distributed byBritish Empire Films
Release dates
  • 10 October 1974 (1974-10-10) (AUS)
  • 11 June 1976 (1976-06-11) (US)
Running time
91 minutes
74 minutes (US cut)
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Budget$250,000[1]

The Cars That Ate Paris is a 1974 Australian horror comedy film, produced by twin brothers Hal and Jim McElroy and directed by Peter Weir. It was his first feature film, and was also based on an original story he had written. Shot mostly in the rural town of Sofala, New South Wales, the film is set in the fictional town of Paris in which most of the inhabitants appear to be directly, or indirectly, involved in profiting from the results of car accidents. The film is considered part of the Australian New Wave genre.

  1. ^ Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998 p. 277