Celebrity Nooz: Crimewave

Crimewave (1985)

Movie Title: Crimewave

Year Released: 1985

Rated: PG-13

Runtime: 1h 23min

Genre: Comedy, Crime, Thriller

Director: Sam Raimi

Writer: Sam Raimi, Ethan Coen, and Joel Coen

Starring: Louise Lasser, Paul L. Smith, Brion James, Sheree J. Wilson, Edward R. Pressman, Bruce Campbell, Reed Birney, Richard Bright, Antonio Fargas

Review: When a businessman hires two cartoonish "exterminators" to take care of the owner of a burglar-alarm company, a nerdy employee gets framed for murder and tells this high-energy, darkly comedic story in flashback as he awaits the electric chair. Brace yourself for the most hardboiled, zany, goofy comedy ever made! Beware...there's a Crimewave!

Hot off of their horror hit The Evil Dead, director Sam Raimi, producer Robert Tapert, and leading man Bruce Campbell, were anxious to make their next feature film. After combining their talents with that of Joel and Ethan Coen (The Big Lebowski, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs), Crimewave, originally titled The XYZ Murders, was born! Sounds like a slam dunk, right? Well...not exactly.

This was the first instance of the group working within the studio system. They were used to their "Indie" production work ethic and that went against everything the studios were about. With budget concerns, studio interference, difficult actors, and casting disagreements, Crimewave was one of the most troubled film productions to date; so much so that Sam Raimi disowned it. Now, with that said... Crimewave might be a flawed mess, but it's a fun, flawed mess.

What's great about it is that it literally plays out like a live-action cartoon. There's all the Raimi staples of sight-gags, physical comedy, outrageous stunts, dizzying camera work, over-the-top performances, and more! All the actors are game for this movie's madcap mayhem. Paul L. Smith and Brion James, as the "exterminators", look, sound, and act like cartoon characters and they are as funny as they are menacing. Sheree J. Wilson is gorgeous and funny as Nancy. Reed Birney hits the right note as the nerdy, love-sick hero, Vic Ajax - best character name ever! And Bruce Campbell, who Raimi wanted for the role of Vic, is hilariously despicable as the appropriately named Renaldo 'The Heel'.

My biggest problem with Crimewave is the editing and pacing. Even at 1h 23min it feels a bit too drawn out and never really finds its footing until the last act. If the editing was tighter and the movie flowed much better I think this would have become a huge cult hit and not a forgotten, almost cult classic.

I remember seeing a trailer for Crimewave as a kid and instantly wanting to see it. I saw it on VHS years ago and since then it's been buried, but I found it again on a very well produced Blu-ray from Shout Factory and enjoyed it immensely. If you're a fan of Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, cartoonish violence, sight-gags, pratfalls, monstrous explosions, dance numbers, washing dishes, pulling up carpet, car chases, and stuff of that ilk, then lock the doors, grab a blunt object, put on Crimewave. It should be a crime for a movie to be this crazy!

Stars (out of 4):

Fun Fact: Co-writers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen appear as newspaper photographers during the prison scenes.

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