Draculas Todesrennen

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.