Crash! — Crash!(Blu Ray)
Not to be confused with either David Cronenberg’s 1996 cold and disturbing sex ‘n’ wreaks film, or 2004's edgy LA drama, Crash! Is from the mid-’70s, and is best described as a demonic car-meets- campy supernature revenge thriller. Here from the guys at Full Moon Features is a recent region free Blue Ray release of the film- taking in a new scan of the picture, a directors’ commentary, and a few other extras.
Crash! ( aka Death Ride, Devil Car, Full Crash, Akaza, the God of Vengeance) was the first film directed( under his own name) by well-known b movie/ cult director/producer Charles Band. It was released in the year 1976, and I guess is fairly typical of the more wacky side of 70’s exploitation- as the films, a crossbreed of car chase ‘n’ crash action fare, supernatural revenge horror, and thriller.
The film focuses on husband and wife Marc(José Ferrer) and Kim Denne(Sue Lyon). The pair live out in a large house out in the Californian- and it’s fair to say their marriage isn’t going well- Marc is older than his wife, and is wheelchair bound, due to an accident he blames on his wife. Kim is trying her best with the marriage, and when we first meet her is buying her husband an ancient charm from a market, as he’s an expert on them. Without unwarping the charm, he throws it back to Kim- and she decides(for a convenient plot point) to clip the charm to her keys. One day while she out driving Marc sends his Doberman to attacks Kim, she crashes/ stumbles out of her car- fairly soon getting picked up and taken to a local hospital.
When she’s admitted she completely lost her memory, so it’s up to Greg Martin(John Ericson) – a rather bland and flat local Dr, to try and help Kim get her memory back, solve the mystery of the strange charm she’s won’t let go of, and generally save the day.
The film plays at the one hour and twenty-eight-minute mark, and largely keeps you held- due to the wacky and camp exploitation genre-blending, and general entertaining very 70’s vibe. The two leads of Ferrer and Lyon are good enough- with Ferrer effective as the nasty and scheming husband, and Lyon as the blond lost her memory to glowing red-eyed possessed wife. Oh, and we get David Carradine, as another Doctor. About 60 % of the film focuses on the car action side of things- with a driverless car in chases with cops, running cars off the road, explosions, and general car-bound stunts. The remainder of the film is a mix of Kim trying to get her memory back, Marc trying to kill off his wife, red glow eye possession footage, and general 70’s horror/ thriller kookiness. The film's structure is a little messy, as it switches around with timelines- then towards the end we a big chuck of repeated footage, which is little frustrating. But on the whole Crash! is an enjoyable enough slice of 70’s exploitation cake.
Moving onto this new region free Blu Ray, and we get a remastered scan of the film- this looks good, with nice bold colours and crisp definition- though the sound mix is a little booming in places. Moving onto the extras- and get a commentary track, and as far I can gather it’s from a few years back due to them mentioning how old the film was when they recorded it. The track brings together director Charles Band and David DeCoteau- who has of course made more than a few films for Band/ Full Moon, and he’s a uber fan of Crash!. The track, as you’d expect is a nicely chatty and laid back affair- they start off discussing the film’s opening credits, and how some of those mentioned have gone onto bigger things. They talk about the film being in widescreen Panavision, and why they went for this. Moving on they talk about the film’s stunts & detail how the seemingly driver-less car was driven. They comment on certain scenes, try to make sense of the plot, discuss what the actors were like to work with, and more. All in all, a most enjoyable & entertaining track. Next we get an around nine-minute doc about the film- this features DeCoteau discussing the trailer & when he first saw the film in the ’70s. He moves on to visit shooting locations today, do a brief on- screen interview with Mr Band, and shows off poster/ related fare from Crash!, including one of the charms from the film which Charles gave him for one of his birthday. There’s original trailer, and a short clip with David Carradine, and his two actors’ sons.
In finishing this is certainly something you’ll be wanting to pick-up if you enjoy wacky-at-points quite silly blends of 1970’s action, horror, and thriller. With this Blu Ray offering up a small if good selection of extras.