‘How many cars can one movie crash?’
Crash! is a 1976 American action horror film produced and directed by Charles Band (Parasite; Evil Bong 420; Ooga Booga) from a screenplay written by Marc Marais (House of the Living Dead).
In the USA, Crash! was distributed by exploitation specialists Group 1 (Love Camp 27; The Hollywood Meatcleaver Massacre). It should not be confused with David Cronenberg’s Crash (1995).
Main cast:
José Ferrer (Blood and Roses; Zoltan… Hound of Dracula; Bloody Birthday), Sue Lyon (The Astral Factor; End of the World; Alligator), John Ericson, Leslie Parrish (The Giant Spider Invasion; The Astral Factor), John Carradine, Jerome Guardino (Octaman; Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo; Victims), John Hayes (director of Dream No Evil, Garden of the Dead, Grave of the Vampire) and Reggie Nalder.
The funky score was composed by Andrew Belling (The Killing Kind; Zoltan… Hound of Dracula).
A jealous invalid husband (Ferrer) tries to kill his attractive younger blonde wife (Lyon), but she uses occult powers to take her revenge…
Reviews:
“Lyon is quite good, whether under literal wraps or dealing with her toxic husband (not to mention she looks bitchin’ in red contacts to boot); but Ferrer steps up in this one, going beyond his normal Helicopter Cameo to create a bitter monster who’s way worse than the vehicular villain.” Daily Dead
” … even for all its faults, whether they be of the rough-around-the-edges variety or of the what-where-they-thinking variety, Crash! is so kooky it’s hard dismiss it outright. This is a bizarre cinematic curiosity worth tracking down if you’re a fan of truly oddball cinema.” Dread Central
“Only future Full Moon front man Charles Band would have the kahonies to try and cash in on the dubious demon-possession and The Amazing Dobermans and the cataclysmic car chase-n-wreck boom of the late 1970’s all in the same movie.” Micro-Brewed Reviews
‘Crash! is a fun B-movie with lots of great explosions and slow-mo car crashes. The added supernatural elements were interesting and unexpected, adding another layer of fun on top of the car action. The acting was pretty good from the cast, with José Ferrer standing out as the invalid husband and Sue Lyon holding her own as the hero/victim … It’s definitely got a low-budget 70s vibe to it, so if that’s a turn-off, be warned.’ Silver Emulsion Film Reviews
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‘This film is profoundly weird, although I’m not sure how much of that weirdness was intended. With its somnambulant acting, jumbled narrative and cheapjack filmmaking, the whole thing has a strangely disconnected, almost dreamlike air that was evidently due to ineptitude on the part of Charles Band … The copious car chases and crashes appear to be the film’s primary reason for being, yet they’re quite clumsily filmed and edited.’ Fright.com
“uncomfortably mixes Smokey and the Bandit-style stunt action, bumbling cops included, with numerous horror elements cribbed from the likes of Carrie (1976) and primarily The Car (1977), which Crash! both cashed in on and managed to beat to the big screen…”
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“A muddled mixture of mayhem and the supernatural, that fails on both counts.”John Elliot, Elliot’s Guide to Films on Video
“Ineffably silly occult thriller, consisting mainly of unspectacular car crashes which are all reprised towards the end of the film to ensure total tedium.” Leslie Halliwell, Halliwell’s Film Guide
“Strange, far fetched combination of an occult and a material chase, in the last case by a car.” Hoffman’s Guide to SF, Horror and Fantasy Movies
” … a mangled mess…” John Stanley, Creature Features
Mansion of the Doomed (1976)
Filming locations:
Fillmore, Los Angeles and Piru, California
Choice dialogue:
“Her eyes were like living fire.”
Image credits: Critical Condition | Scenes from the Morgue | Vampyres Online
Trailer:
YouTube reviews:
