The film is set in the year 2000, when the United States has been destroyed by a financial crisis and a military coup, and the United Provinces (a
fascist police state), rules America, keeping the people satisfied by feeding a stream of gory gladiatorial entertainment. The political parties have
collapsed into a single Bipartisan Party, which also fulfils the religious functions of a unified church and state.
Frankenstein (Carradine) is the most celebrated racer in a bloody spectacle instituted by the President of the United Provinces, the Transcontinental
Road Race. He is reputed to be part machine, rebuilt after many crashes, and he is the government's champion. The race itself, in three segments from
east coast to west, is scored both by traditional methods of timed checkpoints, and also by the number, age and gender of people killed by the
drivers.
The cars are equipped to kill, bearing anti-personnel weaponry ranging from blades to rockets, and the drivers and their cars are themed in a manner
reminiscent of the Hanna-Barbera animated series Wacky Races.
In form, the film is thus part horror film, part satire. The dysfunctional fascist society is depicted, often accompanied by sick humor, through the
playing out of the suicidal and homicidal impulses of the drivers and their victims. For example, in one memorable early scene, the staff of a
geriatric nursing home array their patients in the path of the race. Frankenstein veers off the road and kills the staff instead.
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