Pixar's seventh full-length computer animated feature may not be as fine-tuned as its most recent models (The Incredibles, Finding Nemo), nor souped-up with as many super-charged thrills and spills, but Cars is nevertheless terrific, high-performance family entertainment. The visuals are absolutely stunning, from the reflections in the glass and bodywork of the automotive protagonists as they accelerate through beautifully rendered towns and deserts, to clever touches, like the bluebottle fly cars which buzz noisily in the heat.

Director John Lasseter, returning to the helm for the first time since 1999's Toy Story 2, fuels up his picture with plentiful laughs and a garage full of loveable four-wheeled characters. However, he encounters a few problems with pacing the narrative is stuck in second gear for the middle act, ensuring a road trip in excess of two hours, which may leave some younger viewers impatiently asking, "Are we there yet?"

Vocal performances are energetic. Larry The Cable Guy clamps all of the biggest laughs as rusty tow truck Mater, who is a couple of spark plugs short of a full set and loves the simple pleasures of late-night tractor tipping. "I'm happier than a tornado in a trailer park!" he giggles.

Visual gags abound, from a glimpse at The Jay Limo Show to a Yellow Hummer that bears an uncanny resemblance to a certain governor of California. The dazzling end credits sequence is the icing on the cake, including remakes of all the early Pixar films with automobiles in the lead roles. Genius.

The film opens on track with rookie race car Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) in a three-way tie for the Piston Cup with reigning champion The King (Richard Petty) and perennial runner-up Chick Hicks (Michael Keaton). The leading contenders head for California for the final decisive race of the season, only for Lightning to lose his way and end up in the sleepy town of Radiator Springs. The locals, including a wise ole 1951 Hudson Hornet called Doc Hudson (Paul Newman), a pretty 2002 Porsche called Sally (Bonnie Hunt), a 1960 VW bus called Fillmore (George Carlin) and tow truck Mater, welcome Lightning with open bonnets, and show him there is much more to life than burnin' rubber.

By turns charming and inventive, Cars motors smoothly from one laugh to the next, promoting familiar messages of loyalty, friendship and self-sacrifice. Humour is broad, to appeal to all ages. When Lightning discovers a secret about one of Radiator Springs's residents "He won three Piston Cups!" poor Mater mishears and splutters, "He did what in his cup!?"

As with other Pixar features, Cars is preceded by a great short film One Man Band about two musicians trying to out-do one another, to win a little girl's affections and the coin in her pocket.

William Brent Bell's youth-oriented horror thriller Stay Alive should perhaps be re-titled Stay Awake a plea to the audience. As Bell and co-writer Matthew Peterman spin their increasingly laughable yarn, hi-tech hokum about a spooky videogame with the power to kill its players in the real world, it's difficult to sustain interest.

If the film were indeed a horror survival game in the mould of Resident Evil, we'd hit the reset button well before the end. The central concept doesn't generate any tension: we're not frightened for an instant by the bloodthirsty villainess who stalks the virtual realm, and the characters are so witless in the face of impending doom, death is frankly the kindest option for most of them. Unintentionally hilarious dialogue ("Somebody ran over my brother in a horse-drawn carriage. I'm going to find whoever it was and I'm going to hurt them") and performances more wooden than the creaky house sets are a momentary distraction. The good-looking cast never threatens to invest the protagonists with any personality or charm. They scream and babble on cue, and later make lovely corpses.

Instead of a killer videotape a la The Ring, Bell's film centres on a killer videogame based on the chilling true story of a 17th-century noblewoman known as The Blood Countess. A yet-to-be-released copy of the game, snappily named Stay Alive, comes into the possession of a group of cocksure gamers Hutch (Jon Foster), Swink (Frankie Muniz), Abigail (Smantha Armstrong), Phineus (Jimmi Simpson) and his sister October (Sophia Bush) who have been brought together by the suspicious death of a pal. Curiosity gets the better of the youngsters and they decide to boot up the disc, opening the portal to another world by chanting the verse that preludes the game.

As members of the group die in the same fashion as their on-screen characters, it becomes clear that the petrified players must find a way to defeat the Blood Countess, otherwise it will be game over for them all.