10.000 PS – Vollgasrausch im Grenzbereich (1979)

10.000 PS – Vollgasrausch im Grenzbereich: Directed by David Cronenberg. With William Smith, Claudia Jennings, John Saxon, Nicholas Campbell. After his sponsor replaces him with his arch rival, a race-car driver decides to steal the car and race it himself.

“Iu0026#39;m really just getting into this fascinating Canadian director and have yet to view some of his better known films. His early features u0026quot;Shiversu0026quot; and u0026quot;Rabidu0026quot; are acquired tastes but very interesting and, with repeated viewings, get a lot more chilly and thought provoking. Next up was this drag racing movie that fans consider to be his most atypical film and apparently some waited decades to see it due to some financial fiasco that prevented solid distribution outside Canada.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Fast Companyu0026quot; is a terrific little B-movie concerning drag racing and the people in the thick of it and the ones behind the scenes. Good and evil is firmly established with William Smith (the one and only Falconetti) as an aging racer and John Saxon as the slimy Fast Co. rep that doesnu0026#39;t shy away from killing if it gives him more publicity and money.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eApparently, director Cronenberg is a self confessed car nut. Cronenberg aficionados, desperate to tie this flick in with the rest of his filmography, point to his fetishistic detail for car parts, loud engine noises and the overall workings of the machines but for the most part this plays out like a straight B-movie, made even more complete with some fancy display of solid sleaze and a somewhat cheesy (but still enjoyable) original rock soundtrack.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFans of Cronenberg will not want to miss this flick but whatu0026#39;s even more important here is that B-movie lovers (and car flick lovers) will probably enjoy this even more. As for the cast; itu0026#39;s impeccable. Smith, known mostly for playing mean dudes (like Falconetti in u0026quot;Rich Man, Poor Manu0026quot;) is terrific here as the good guy and John Saxon is simply superb as the slimy rep. Lovely Claudia Jennings doesnu0026#39;t have a lot of screen time but sheu0026#39;s great in her final film role.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWell, these B-movies donu0026#39;t score very highly on a genuine cinematic scale but these flicks always deliver the goods when made with passion. As with his body horror examinations and genuinely weird sexual fetishes (u0026quot;Crashu0026quot;, another car flick by the director) Cronenberg invests as much of his creative energy to this u0026quot;anomalyu0026quot; in his career and the result is one enjoyable movie.”