User reviews

Crash! (1976) is a Charles Band throwback I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows a woman that is almost killed in a car accident and uses a voodoo trinket to get revenge and then some...The voodoo trinket allows a car to come to life and go on a killing spree as well as other possessions.

This movie is directed by Charles Band (Puppet Master) and stars José Ferrer (Dune), Sue Lyon (Tony Rome), John Ericson (Bedknobs and Broomsticks), Leslie Parrish (The Giant Spider Invasion), John Carradine (Stagecoach) and Jerome Guardino (Columbo).

The storyline for this is pretty unique and well executed. The driverless Camaro was fun and all the kill scenes tied to it. They had a Dukes of Hazzard feel to it with some fun crashes. The possession scenes with red eyes were very well done and intense. Some of the kills could have been better with more gore, but when the red eyes came out you knew it was about to go down.

Overall this is an above average addition to the horror genre that's worth a viewing. I would score this a 6/10 and recommend seeing it once.

This horror film is more occultic than others I have seen. "The Car" was made within the same year as "Crash!". "The Car" is dealing with an automobile that is pure evil. This movie however dealing with a car controlled by evil. One car caused terror in a town, while this one caused chaos in its path. One car was controlled by the driver, while the other, didn't need one! In "Crash!", you have a beautiful blonde (Sue Lyon) who goes out to a swap meet and buys an idol to show her wheelchair bound husband (Jose Ferrer). Filled will jealousy, he tries to stop her from going places. While on a stretch of road, a large dog attacks her, causing her to crash. She comes out, clutching the idol. She never released it during her stay at the local hospital. That idol did a lot of damage to the motorists. Especially, the police. When she recovered, there was more information about the idol she has. Her scheming husband dug the true worth of it. Since she bought it cheap, it has more worth underneath the ceramic casing. This movie was indeed cheaply made. The crashes was more of the fun, very little action. But watchable.

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.

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?

B-grade thriller from debuting director Charles Band has a driverless black Camaro causing destruction and death on rural highways and back roads; meanwhile, invalid Jose Ferrer (the victim of a mysterious car accident himself) accuses wife Sue Lyon of cheating and attempts to have her killed, but she's in possession of an occult amulet which may help her turn the tables. Not a bad plot (as these things go), and the cast is certainly solid, but there's barely a semblance of filmmaking talent behind the camera. Band, working with two cinematographers, stages outlandish car crashes and smash-ups without any tension or excitement (though some may say the squashing of a bickering couple in their car has a touch of black humor). The movie is just an exercise in vehicular mayhem--topped with a love of sending cars to their demise in fiery explosions--while the occult asides seem merely an afterthought. *1/2 from ****

Not to be confused with Cronenberg's sex drive epic, this is Charles Band mixing demonic possession with car crashes. Housewife Kim Denne (Sue Lyon, far away from LOLITA [1962]) is shacked up with bitter professor Marc Denne (José Ferrer). Wait, is this a LOLITA sequel? Anyway, he is angry because she caused an accident where he has to use a wheelchair a lot of the time. So when she buys him a African-looking trinket (from Reggie Nalder at a flea market; never buy from Nalder!), he rejects it and moves forward with his plan of having his Doberman pinscher kill her while she is driving in a convertible (!). She survives, but is hospitalized with no memory and refusing to release the tiny mystical idol. Somehow it possesses her and her car (!), which rumbles around town driver-less and causes tons of crashes. I'm willing to bet Band's second feature came together after someone showed him the crazy gimmick car that looks like it has no one driving it. Oh, and after he watched THE EXORCIST (1973). Surprisingly, this beat THE CAR to theaters by a few months. The film makes absolutely no sense, but is worth seeing for some crazy car stuff. So at least he delivered on the title.

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.

A young woman (Lyon) innocently purchases a mysterious idol-trinket that remarkably helps her in dealing with her bitter crippled husband (Ferrer), specifically in the form of a possessed black Camaro. John Ericson plays the concerned doctor and Leslie Parrish her nurse. John Carradine has a negligible role.

"Crash!" (1976) is the second movie by 'B' filmmaker Charles Band (and arguably his first). It's basically a less competent (and more obscure) version of "The Car" and technically beat that one to release. Both would inspire the superior "Christine" and all were likely influenced by "Killdozer."

While I'm giving this mid-70's oddity a relatively low grade due to non-sensical storytelling, questionable filmmaking, lousy acting (particularly Ericson) and totally unconvincing vehicle explosions, it has its highlights for those interested. For instance, the red-eyed 'possession' scenes are well done and very creepy. So, yeah, it's a bad movie, but it has its points of interest and is strangely compelling despite its glaring flaws.

Lyon is best known as the alluring teen in "Lolita" and "The Night of the Iguana." Here, she was 30 years-old during shooting and too thin IMHO. As for Parrish, you might remember her from her notable part in the Star Trek episode "Who Mourns of Adonais" from a decade prior.

While my title blurb describes this as "The Dukes of Hazzard meets The Exorcist," the Dukes of Hazzard wouldn't even debut for another 2.5 years when this was initially released. So, motor-mayhem flicks from the mid-70's, like "Eat My Dust," would be more apt.

The movie runs 1 hour, 28 minutes, and was shot in Fillmore, California (substituting for San Cecilia), which is roughly 45 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

GRADE: C-/C.

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.

Some good actors in a very very bad movie. Succession of either much too long, or chopped, non-sensical flashing sequences of boring car crashes and improbable explosions, occurring, it seems, even a second before the cars collide!

Only positive point : the two very beautiful blond actresses and the handsome young doctor. But there are plenty of beautiful actors to watch in a lot of good movies. Don't waste precious time watching that one.

The spanish revival home owned by Marc Denne in the film is actually located at 1 Peppertree Drive in Palos Verdes, California. The home known as "Villa Francesca" identifies the estate of Harry E. Benedict (1890-1977). Mr. Benedict, an associate of Frank A. Vanderlip, the initial developer of 16,000 acres of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, completed the gatehouse and the farmstead in 1930. The name "Villa Francesca" honors Mrs. Francis Homberg Benedict, his wife. The architect was Gordon B. Kaufmann, one of Southern California's masters of the Mediterranean style. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Greetings and salutations, and welcome to my review of 1976s. Crash

Before I get into the film review, here are my ratings for the movie.

The story gets 1.5 out of 2: The Direction a 1.25: The Tempo and Flow receive a 0.75: While the Acting gets 1.25: And my Enjoyment level earns a 1.25 out of 2: Crash, therefore, receives a total of 6 out of 10.

Crash is a film crying out for a remake. I say this because the place where the film falls flat is its dated and standard directing techniques. With today's more engaging methods, the chase and crash-n-burn sequences would be infinitely more enjoyable.

Marc Marais presents the audience with a basic yet above-average imaginative story of revenge. Marc and Kim Denne have been in an automobile accident. Marc's left in a wheelchair while his youthful wife remains physically healthy. Kim's fitness allows Marc's jealousy to fester and mature. How can an attractive and younger woman be interested in a more elderly cripple like himself; undoubtedly, she's having an affair. Though their relationship is stressful, Kim is persecuted unjustly by her husband, who's fixated on wreaking his "rightful" revenge upon her. He engineers a way to have his pet Doberman attack her while driving. Though this causes her severe injury, she doesn't die. So Marc has to take matters into his own hands. But here lies the problem. Before the accident, Kim bought Marc a present, which he threw back in her face. It was a keychain of an ancient deity. A God, well-known for his vengefulness. The divinity uses Kim and her car to seek out Marc and deliver justice. Unfortunately, everyone else on the road that gets in his way is mere collateral damage.

What would have strengthened the story is more structure around Marc and Kim. We easily recognise their strained relationship, but we don't fully relate to either. Their failing marriage is the perfect place to draw in the audience, allowing them to connect better with the characters.

That said, this should have been an all-out car-wreck (in a good way) of a film. And, it's here the direction lets the movie down. The budget could have been a major issue. However, sharper cuts and exciting camera angles would have strengthened the filming considerably. It doesn't help that Band uses alternating present and past sequences to tell the story. Though this is frequent nowadays, it was a relatively modern concept when they filmed Crash. Mainly, it works well. You quickly realise the car scenes are the present, and the people sequences represent the past moving forward to the present, where both collide. Unfortunately, director Charles Band falls into the montage trap. He reintroduces all the car's crashes before the past and present catch up with one another. It wouldn't have been so bad, but he chose to show each one in its entirety. Cutting them to exciting bite-size reflections would have served better. The dusky faded effect on the montage is annoying also. These five minutes needed to hit the cutting room floor. It completely pulls the audience out of the film. I noted my attention started shifting at this point. Losing the audience at this point is a terrible thing to do, especially when the conclusion is near.

I do have to offer Band credit for using a driver-less car. In my favourite automobile movie, "The Car", which is superior to this film - only because the direction and camera shots added to the exciting and ominous atmosphere - they opt for a heavily tinted window approach so you can't see the driver. Band revels in keeping the car open-topped and constantly showing the empty driver seat. A few techniques, like a hidden driver, duel-drive, and remote control, could have been used to accomplish this. However, it makes some of the cars crashes unbelievable. In the first crash, for example, another vehicle draws alongside the car. At which point, the possessed car is meant to keep side-swiping the other vehicle. Sadly, it's evident this second car does the swiping and the crashing. While the evil-mobile gently and negligibly moves from side to side. Again, with our modern capabilities, these scenes would be so much better today.

The pacing and flow of these crash scenes demanded the most attention. These segments are where the majority of excitement and fear should hook into the viewer. But the standard tempo of the whole movie doesn't work. The crash scenes, though inventive, aren't overly exciting to watch. The best example of this is the sequence where a boat gets propelled through a truck's trailer. Enjoyable, yes, but they all needed more punch.

As for the cast. Though not superb, they are well above average. I've appreciated Jose Ferrer for a long time, and it was he who drew me to Crash! Had I known it was a Full Moon picture, I may have watched it sooner. Ferrer needed more meat on his character. He does well with the script, but his range is limited to the story. As stated above, the story and characters would have been stronger had they possessed more substance.

I can say the same for Sue Lyon, who I respect for donning those nasty looking red contact lenses. Damn, they looked bulky and uncomfortable. Bless her for that because they worked splendidly, as did her possessed scenes.

The remaining cast, including John Carradine, is on form. And because they are on par with the films main leads, it adds strength to the film and makes the movie more watchable.

Crash is enjoyable, and I fully embraced the concept. However, the single tempo causes the film to be a tad dull, especially around the crash sequences. If you like automobile horror, such as The Car, Killdozer, and Christine, then give the Crash some of your time. However, watch it for the concept and the story, not the action or the horror. If you're a newbie to this subgenre, go and check out the others on the list, all three are better than Crash... though, not in story concept.

Speed on over to my Absolute Horror list to see where the car crashed in my rankings

Take Care & Stay Well & Get Your Inoculation.