David Cronenberg's Fast Company (1979)
Surprised that a David Cronenberg title didn’t make an immediate connection? Released between low budget horror epics Rabid and The Brood, Canadian Cronenberg’s third big-screen outing never made it to an American multiplex near you. The US distribution company handling it went belly up, and with it, the film’s American playdates. Ever wonder what a shit-kicking Burt Reynolds-style car comedy might look like under the direction of the master of clinical horror? William Smith stars as a drag-racing legend at the top of his game but about ready to round the corner and head over the hill. After a series of uncredited bits for Metro, the rugged actor turned his attention to playing heavies in exploitation quickies, most notably a handful of successful biker flicks (Run, Angel, Run!, Nam’s Angels, C.C. and Company). He worked with a lot of action greats (Burt, Clint, Arnold), but of the 300 films he appeared in, this was as close as he ever came to opening a picture. The biggest loss here is Claudia Jennings, former Playmate turned exploitation queen, whose promising career was cut short in a fatal car crash not long after the film’s release. On a lighter note, Smith’s combination office/bedroom on wheels is a superb addition, as is John Saxon’s racing team boss, who’s more interested in selling FastCo — an STP-ish oil treatment — than he is winning the race. (For those looking for the definitive study of drag racing, look no further than Jonathan Kaplan’s biopic of Shirley Muldowney, Heart Like A Wheel.) It’s by far the director’s most commercial venture, but Cronenberg did have a hand in the scripting. Working overtime to find the artist in his art, a user review on IMDb claimed, “The car races are a metaphoric expression of ‘the rebuilding of the human body by technology.’” Now do you understand?