Crash! (1976)

Director: Charles Band

Writer: Marc Marais

Composer: Andrew Belling

Starring: Jose Ferrer, Sue Lyon, John Ericson, Leslie Parrish, John Carradine, Jerome Guardino

More info: IMDb

Tagline: An Occult Object Takes Possession of a Driverless Car and Causes One Spectacular Crash After Another Until Fifty Cars Are Pounded Into a Mass of Twisted Metal

Plot: Jealous invalid husband tries to kill sexy blond wife, who uses occult powers and devices to try to kill him.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Here's an interesting hybrid of horror and 70s car action rolled into one.  For a while the car chases (and the car is a driverless convertible) feel like they were part of another movie that was shoe-horned into a horror film to salvage another picture's footage.  But then it all comes together in the final act.  The horror isn't bad, either.  It helps to have veteran actor Mel Ferrer in the lead.  Now, the acting is good, the story is good and the car action is good, but this is only the second film for director Band (who would later form his own low budget production company, Full Moon) but that's the film's biggest (if you can consider it that big of a deal) flaw.  In a more experienced director's hands, this picture would've shed some of its low budget trappings and it would've likely been better to the point of being a minor classic.  I can't fault Band too much...it's only his second movie and I think it's pretty darn good as it is and it's worth checking out.  My favorite scene is the supernaturally controlled wheelchair attacking the dog and it's shown from the wheelchair's point of view.  Fun.