Crash (1996)

After being involved in a fatal car crash, a film director (James Spader) becomes obsessed with auto accidents to the point of getting sexually excited. He finds a group of people who share his fetish and he explores this alternative lifestyle. Based on the novel by J.G. Ballard (EMPIRE OF THE SUN) and directed by David Cronenberg (DEAD RINGERS). I'll give Cronenberg a thumbs up for audacity and originality but damn, this is one sick movie! Is there an audience for a movie filled with close ups of scars, wounds and sores and where a bloody auto accident gets everyone sexually aroused? I watched the NC-17 version which is 8 minutes longer than the R rated version. There's nothing erotic about the film, it's mechanical in its sexual exploration and a suspension of disbelief is necessary in much of the movie. For example, after they're involved in a horrible car crash on a major freeway, the couple is so turned on they have sex immediately outside the overturned car yet no other cars stop to see if everyone is okay or what's going on. Performances are okay and I give the actors props for going through what only could be described as bizarre situations. The movie seems pointless yet like a real car crash, you can't take your eyes off it. With Holly Hunter, Elia Koteas, Rosanna Arquette and Deborah Kara Unger.