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.

suchenwi Not a bad mix of horror and massive car-crashing B-movie - for better appreciation, you see the crashes twice, once in parts, injected into the story, once mostly blocked and through some sauna haze. One point I could not figure out is that the initial accident of Mr & Mrs Denne seems to be already caused by the black Camaro.Historically, this seems to be the first movie Charles Band directed under his own name. As some funny parallel, Steven Spielberg's first was "Duel" (1971) in which a demonious truck chases cars off the road... I was thrilled to see that Charles Band had also acted, 15 years before, in "La leggenda di Enea" (1962).As several users asked for DVD availability: I bought it yesterday (at EUR 1 you don't risk much). German sound only (German title "Draculas Todesrennen" which isn't such a bad fit), no frills, Laser Paradise 1997889, production year not evident. Colors and sharpness are not perfect (maybe the DVD was made from older video tape), but OK to watch.

Scott_Mercer As somebody else said, probably one of the better haunted keychain movies ever made.Saw this last night here in Hollywood at the monthly Grindhouse Festival at the New Beverly Theatre.Needless to say, a flick like this plays much better with an appreciative audience. The only thing better would have been seeing it at a drive-in.Part of this film resembles a Gothic-horror-drama such as "Gaslight." The other part is a car crash film.Director Charles Band was at the screening and said there were only three requirements to get the film sold to distributors: 1) put as many car crashes in it as possible, 2)get some "name" actors in it (you can get old guys for cheap), and 3) shoot it in widescreen. The film was made for under $100,000.Jose Ferrer is a bitter, wheelchair bound (sort of) expert in antiquities. Sue Lyon is his much younger wife. He holds her responsible for being in the wheelchair due to an auto accident. When an ancient Hittitte idol comes into their lives, they both now have the power to wreak vengeance on each other.He attacks her, she tries to get away and crashes her car. His dog attacks her, but doesn't kill her. She ends up in the hospital with amnesia, the only clue to her identity the evil idol, which she holds in a death grip.Can the kindly nurse and hunky doctor treating her find out her identity before its too late? Meanwhile, thanks to the cursed idol, her driverless car goes on a rampage, causing accident after accident and explosion after explosion, tormenting the local sheriff's department in whatever podunk town this was filmed in (the end credits state "filmed in Los Angeles" but that's true only in the loosest possible definition of the term).A weird little film from the dying days of the true "B" movie.

rixrex This combination of occult-horror and speeding car chase film somewhat effectively merges two of the more popular genres of the 1970s. I saw this back in 1977 when it first came out on a hunch that it might be fun, and it was the only horror flick playing at the time. As I remember, Jose Ferrer is an invalid with a younger wife, and she wanted to get rid of him, and visa versa. Somehow an occult figurine with evil spirits within comes into play and takes control of a Camaro/Firebird speedster, and goes around wrecking other cars and offing folks without a dent of it's own. Obviously a Charles Band low budget take on other slicker studio occult horror such as THE CAR. It's a good example of the Charles Band exploitation style and I remember it being fast-paced and fun, without any real memorable moments, but a nice way to spend a couple of hours, and made before Band started to become a bit pretentious. However, I have not yet been able to find a copy of it in any format anywhere yet! Any ideas out there?