CRASH *

 For those who like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing they like as Miss Jean Brodie might have said and "Crash" certainly has its fans. There's no denying it's brilliantly done for what it is and there's the rub since what it is is a thoroughly unpleasant picture of thoroughly unpleasant people doing thoroughly unpleasant things. I've never liked the film but I certainly wouldn't advocate censoring it or banning it as happened at the time of its release.

Based on J. G. Ballard's novel, David Cronenberg's film is about people maimed in car accidents who get their rocks off simply from that very fact; it's their wounds and the pain that provide the pleasure, the ultimate S&M trip, the ultimate body horror movie. Sex predominates and a brilliant cast, (James Spader, who just happens to be playing a character called J. G. Ballard, Holly Hunter, Elias Koteas, Deborah Kara Unger, Rosanna Arquette), throw themselves into it like there's no tomorrow which for some of them there might not be. It's also superbly photographed by Peter Suschitzky though you might feel like averting your eyes from the screen every now and then. Far from pleasant, then, but undeniably erotic and often quite brilliant.