A sentence with the words "David Cronenberg" and "car racing movie" isn't exactly something you hear every day, but yes, Cronenberg did in fact make one in the late 70s in between his horror classics 'Rabid' and 'The Brood'. Very few people outside of Canada have seen 'Fast Company', and as Cronenberg is my favourite contemporary director I've been intrigued about it for years. Now that Blue Underground have released a restored version on DVD we can all finally get to see it. Now I'd love to be able to say that's it's some kind of lost masterpiece and essential viewing for Cronenberg buffs, but to be honest it's just an enjoyable b-grade racing movie, the kind of flick AIP would have released without a blink of an eye. I seriously doubt that anyone who watched it not knowing who directed it would be able to guess that Cronenberg was involved. He himself regards it as an important movie in his career, as it was another step in his learning how to make "real" movies, and because he also met several key future collaborators. That historical interest aside it's by far the most "normal" and therefore least interesting movie he's made to date. The movie is helped immeasurably by having b-grade legends William Smith ('Run, Angel, Run', 'Invasion Of The Bee Girls', 'Boss N*gger', 'The Ultimate Warrior') and John Saxon ('Planet Of Blood', 'Enter The Dragon', 'Black Christmas', 'Cannibal Apocalypse') as leads. Smith plays Lonnie Johnson a racer under pressure from his sponsors, who are represented by the back stabbing Saxon. The two work well together and by the looks of the short interview included on the DVD seem like great buddies. The late Claudia Jennings (her final role) plays Smith's love interest Sammy, and Nicholas Campbell, who subsequently acted in Cronenberg's 'The Brood', 'The Dead Zone' and 'Naked Lunch', plays his cocky protege Billy "The Kid" Brocker. The main problem with the movie apart from the awful sub-Springsteen "rawk" score, is a dull script. With a bit more work the movie really could have been something special , but as it stands 'Fast Company' is little more than an interesting curio for fans of Cronenberg and/or 70s exploitation movies.
