Crash And Burn — Crash And Burn( Blu Ray)
With a title like Crash And Burn, you might be expecting a road-based action film- featuring some form of vehicle in chases ‘n’ chaos. But in reality, it’s an early 90’s sci-fi film, finding a group of characters stuck inside an industrial facility/ TV station, where a deadly synthetic human/android is hiding out. The film's most notable cast member is Bill Mosely( The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2, The Devil's Rejects). Here from Full Moon Features, as either a Blu-Ray or DVD, the release is a reissue of the film. I’m reviewing the former, which takes in a new director/ actor commentary track and a few other extras.
Crash And Burn is from the year 1990- it’s an American production. It was directed by long-running/prolific filmmaker Charles Band, with a script by J.S. Cardone( The Slayer, 8MM 2). The film is a good/ even blend of entertainment, shifting from mystery & creepy corridors unease, to killer synthetic stalk and murder- with some brief/ fairly neat giant robot action.
The film is set in the year 2030, where computers and Robots have been banned. The earth has heated up so much that it’s unsafe to go outside for very long, with storms often occurring, meaning you can’t go outside at all. The picture is largely set around one such storm, where a group of characters have to hide out in an industrial facility/ small TV station, full of eerier corridors, shadowy steel walkways, and half-lit offices/ control rooms.
Stuck in the building, we have twenty-something motorcycle deliveryman Tyson(Paul Ganus), tomboy teen Arren(Megan Ward), late sixties cynical studio head Lathan( Ralph Watie), flirty female TV host Parice(Eva LaRue), reserved/ focused facility assistant Quinn(Bill Mosely), plump and brash TV show interviewer Winston Wickett (Jack McGee), and two travelling hookers.
As the first half of the film unfolds, and the group setting is in the best, they can. They have technical faults, one of the number is killed, and paranoia grows as they believe one of their number is a synthetic, with the group doing a blood test, almost taken wholesale from Carpenter's The Thing.
In the second half, and synthetic/ android killer gloves are off- we get a mix of stalking, a few gory kills, and flashes of nudity. The film resolves with a giant robot being brought back to life.
The cast is fine for this type of low-budget sci-fi from the 90’s. I won’t detail the actors in depth, as I think the film plays best when you don’t know who the killer is. But they certainly give a great teeth-gnashing/ deranged performance.
Crash And Burn is an entertaining enough 90’s low budget sci-fi film. Sure, it mimics, at times, wholesale rip-off elements of other films- but aside from some early pacing issues, it’s an engaging one hour and twenty-four minute watch.
This release features a new HD scan- it looks bright and well defined, even in the darker/ more shadowy moments. Though on the downside, some of the miniature/ stop motion effects do look a little ropy.
On the extras side, we get one new thing- a commentary track featuring director Charles Band and actor Bill Mosely- this is rather a chatty/laid-back affair. They begin by commenting on the bit parts/ cameos in the opening gas station scene, as well as the amazing use of lighting. We find out that the negative for this scan was found fairly recently, and the pair talk about how good it looks. They touch on the film's main location, which was a abbonded steam-powered electricity plant. Band talks about what he loves most as a director is shooting actors together in dialogue scenes. They chat about how sweaty the cast were made to look, and that they suites they go outside in look very Devo-like. Later on they discuss the synthetic/ robot reveal and how the dialogue surrounding this includes mention of the film's title. They comment on the film's effects and its shower scene. It’s an entertaining enough track, though I didn’t really learn much.
Otherwise, we get the following archive extras- Behind The Scenes ( 6.39), Bloopers ( 6.00), original trailer, and Full Moon trailer reel.
In finish if you enjoy one location set low budget 90’s sci-fi films, with elements like killer synthetics & (brief) giant robot action, then Crash And Burn will be something you’ll want to be taking a look at.