stevenfallonnyc
I'm giving this a "3" because despite it being garbage, as a car chase fanatic, I have to acknowledge that there are a few decent car crashes.But man, is this true tripe. From what I gather, this was rushed into the cinema to beat out "The Car" by making a film about their own killer car, namely a classic driverless Camaro convertible. Oh yeah sure, there's a silly revenge plot mixed in there somewhere that is supposed to be "horror" (wife with strange powers vs. ex-husband) but will scare absolutely no one over two years old, but it's the car action we all want to see.Frankly, the car crashes are really weird, because it's obvious they only had one of these Camaros and didn't want to put nary a scratch on the one they had (until the final scenes), so they made sure it barely touches other cars.For instance, the Camaro smashes through a police roadblock, but we don't actually "see" it smash through - convenient explosions go up right at the time we should see it, blocking our view, and the Camaro zooms on through, without a scratch.The film does have some decent crashes though, even though many of these have those "invisible ramps" that make cars go flying through the air.It all comes down to the finale, the proverbial Big Battle - demon Camaro vs... an old guy in a wheelchair. Yes, you read that right. Who will win? This film is so poor, at one point a little over the hour mark, it decides to kill some running time by replaying all the previous crashes we've seen! When that's done, we get some new crashes, and the aforementioned Camaro/wheelchair battle.If you can get a hold of this one, do yourself a favor, and just FF to all the road scenes. You will thank me. Oddly enough, the best part of the DVD is a rare 30-second clip of John, David and Keith Carradine fooling around.
Scott LeBrun
Be prepared for lots of vehicular carnage and lots of impressive fireballs in this goofy combination of possession themed horror and car-crash action fare. Most genre fans are likely to be more familiar with "The Car" (from the same year as this one) and the Stephen King adaptation "Christine", so "Crash!" could use a little more exposure.Jose Ferrer stars as Marc Denne, hateful towards his hot young wife Kim (Sue "Lolita" Lyon) because he holds her responsible for the fact that he's now a cripple. He tries to arrange for her death, but unknown to him, she's acquired an unusual small figurine at a swap meet, one that possesses weird powers. At the same time, a mysterious, black, driver less convertible has appeared and is sometimes killing motorists.Marc Marais wrote the silly script for this nonsensical but diverting B picture. The cast deserves credit for treating it with such straight faces. The plot isn't fleshed out all that well, but in this kind of low budget entertainment, that usually isn't too much of a concern. This plot tends to take a back seat to weirdness and mayhem, anyway. The filmmaking is fairly crude overall, although it's nice that producer / director Charles Band and his cinematographers, Andrew Davis and Bill Williams, shot this in Panavision. Utilizing the Panavision aspect ratio always gives a bigger look to smaller budgeted pictures, something Bands' peer John Carpenter knew very well. The music score by Andrew Belling feels very '70s at times, but it's fun, and atmospheric. There isn't much in the way of special effects, which is probably just as well. Those frequent explosions *are* pretty over the top, and cool to watch.Co-star John Ericson is utterly stiff as concerned, well meaning doctor Gregg Martin, but Ferrer is a treat to watch, with Lyon trying her hardest as the young wife. Leslie Parrish is likewise sincere as nurse Kathy Logan, and Jerome Guardino is okay as Pegler, the obligatory "detective on the case" character. Band appears uncredited as a helpful motorist; John Carradine and especially Reggie Nalder have great cameos.There's nothing really special here, but "Crash!" is still worth seeking out for B picture completists.Six out of 10.
Woodyanders
Bitter invalid Marc Denne (well played to the angry hilt by Jose Ferrer) tries to kill his unhappy young wife Kim (a solid and appealing performance by Sue Lyon). However, Kim survives the murder attempt and uses a strange trinket with supernatural powers to sic a lethal black car that destroys everything in its dangerous path on Marc.Director Charles Band uses the pretty silly script by Mark Marais as an excuse to go hold wild with loads of spectacular vehicular carnage complete with strenuous slow motion, plenty of explosions, and more than enough mangled metal for a dozen demolition derbies. The capable cast treat the foolish material with admirable seriousness: John Ericson as the concerned Dr. Gregg Martin, Leslie Parrish as sweet nurse Kathy Logan, John Carradine as the helpful Dr. Wesley Edwards, and Jerome Guardino as the diligent Lt. Begler. The ever-creepy Reggie Nalder has a nice bit as a weird guy at a swap meet. The sharp widescreen cinematography provides a pleasing polished look. Andrew Belling's funky-chilling score does the right-on groovy trick. Sure, this movie is basically mindless schlock, but it's nonetheless still quite entertaining in a blithely inane sort of way.
cllangkjaer
I got this movie from a good friend of mine. I have been on the look out for it for years, this is a pretty rare title, so I was very fortune that he fund it for me in Germany, on a Frensh Secam VHS tape. This French Languages version is unfortunately edit down. The entire dream sequence in the beginning of the movie is cut, but one cool thing is, this version is in widescreen. A few years later on I got the English UK VHS version, as far as I know, this this version is uncut. With both editions the picture is a little dusty, but the sound is OK. I have been a big fan of Charlie Band for more than 10 years now and Crash! was one of the very last of he's films to make my collection complete. I have been reading reviews about this movie before I finally got my hands on it and I must say, I was not disappointed. I think this is a great film, I just love the music in it, absolutely wonderful, mind you, this is a really strange film, even for Charlie. If you are a fan of Empire/Full Moon or just like 1970's horror, this is worth a look. I remember Crash! was on the release list some years ago, but never got out on DVD or laser disc. I emailed Charlie about this two years ago and he told me that he would love to re-release it to DVD, but unfortunately he did not own the rights anymore. This film is hard to come by, but as another IMDb user wrote, you can order it from Germany. This version should be in widescreen too, with German Languages. I have not jet seen this DVD, so I can not comment on the quality. Anyway hope you find this little gem, and enjoy it as much as I.
AD
