Crash

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.