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nCrimewaven(1985)
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nDirector:nSam Raimi
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nWriters:nJoel & Ethan Coen, Sam Raimi
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nSo you guysnknow how there are certain films that have nightmarish production stories,nwhere everything goes wrong and they turn into total fiascos? Well, that’s whatnhappened with Sam Raimi’s Crimewave. This was Sam Raimi’s film after he showednthe world what he was capable of doing behind the camera with Evil Dead (1981).nThis was also the first time that Raimi worked with a real budget. Not moneynfrom his dentist or from his friends. Nah, this was a real true blue Hollywoodnproduction, with professional actors and producers. Would Raimi adapt to workingnin a studio production when he was so used to artistic freedom? Would thenensuing film be worth watching?
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nThis isnlike a long lost gem for me because I watched it a lot as a kid when it wasnfirst released. I discovered it because HBO played it a lot back in 1985. Sad partnis that Crimewave is a film that everyone involved wanted to forget about. Thenstudio didn’t like it, test audiences didn’t like, the studio decided thatnBruce Campbell wasn’t big enough of a star to star in the film and to topnthings off, the film went over budget and had a couple of the actors go on drug binges. Brion James and LouisenLasser would hault production because of their drug problems! So yeah, things didn’tngo well for Raimi and Crimewave. Thing is, I think the way the film was treatednwas total boloney. This film is not without its merits!
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nThe story isnabout this guy called Vic Ajax, a regular every day Joe. Sadly, this every daynJoe gets blamed for a bunch of murders that these two crazy rat exterminatorsncommitted. Yes you read that sentence right. Anyhows, Vic is sitting in thenelectric chair about to get zapped away for crimes he did not commit. The filmntranspires as he tells us the story of how everything went down. Will hensurvive? Will his innocence shine through? Will someone save this poor dope?
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nWhat Inabsolutely love about this movie is the film noir feel it has all throughout.nThere isn’t a second of film on Crimewave where you don’t feel like you’re innthis big, dark, lonely metropolis in which lots of evil things happen in everyndark corner or alley. To make things even spookier, it’s always stormy andnwindy…a lightning storm is about to strike! The wind cries in the middle of thennight and newspapers fly through the air, it is definitely not the kind ofnnight anyone wants to be out and about. So there’s always that feeling of dreadnall throughout the movie. The city exudes this feeling of emptiness…as ifneveryone is hiding away, looking out through their windows, peeking at the evilnthings scourging in the night; kudos to Sam Raimi for successfully maintainingnthat feeling of dread all through the film.
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nAnd yes, Insaid Sam Raimi, he of Evil Dead and Spider Man fame. You see, this here filmnwas his sophomore effort and his first studio film, with a budget. The greatnthing about Crimewave is that it has all of that Sam Raimi style and flare.nLots of camera tricks, lots of movement and lots of composite shots…basically,nthis movie has a lot of what I love about Sam Raimi, a lot of what I miss aboutnthis filmmaker. You see, when he became an A list director, he sort of lostnthat zany style he was so known for in order to play the Hollywood game. I personallynloved low budget Sam Raimi because he was free to do all these crazy thingsnwith the camera. Thankfully, Crimewavenwas a small enough picture that it allowed Raimi to show off his comic/kinetic stylenin spades! In other words, this movie is extremely cartoonish and feels a lotnlike a Three Stooges sketch. The whole film is made up of camera tricks, unorthodoxnangles and cartoony situations.
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nAll the characters in Crimewave behave like cartoonncharacters. We got the snake, we got the nerdy guy, we got the damsel inndistress and we got the two crazy villains! Now these two crazy villains arenspecial, they are so over the top that they end up being the real stars of thenshow. There’s a reason why they are on the poster, it’s because they are thenbest thing in the movie! One is played by Paul L. Smith who some of you mightnremember as the guy who played Bluto in Robert Altman’s Popeye (1980) and thenother is played by Brion James, better known for his role as Leon the Replicantnin Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982). He’s the guy who tells Harrison Ford “WakenUp! Time to Die!” So anyway, these twonguys are basically rat exterminators. And how do we know this? They drive a trucknwith a huge rat on top of it that’s how we know! They kill rats during the daynbut work nights as Hit Men. So they kill whoever they have to kill in the same waynthey kill rats! With a machine that generates bolts of electricity called ‘The Shocker’!nTrust me; these two guys will have you cracking up.
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nBrucenCampbell has said that with Evil Dead they learned all about success and thatnwith Crimewave they learned how to fail. Well, the film might have failed atnthe box office (hell it was only released in Kansas and Alaska) and the studionmight have had no faith in it, but there’s a lot to like here. It was writtennby the freaking Coen Brothers and Sam Raimi! It has style and fun to spare! Itsnfilm noir! It’s cartoonish! It’s dark and gruesome fun; this is dark humor ofnthe best kind. Of course a lot of people might be put off by seeing some of thenunrealistic cartoonish action, but for lovers of that sort of unrealistic sillynfun, well, you’re in for a treat! This movie was made for you! It’s a realnshame that Crimewave has been treated like some sort of unwanted step child. Inmean, yeah the studio messed around with it and cut it to pieces, still, a fun filmnshines through. A similar situation happened with David Lynch’s Dune (1984) andnmany adore that film, myself included; same thing with Crimewave. This is anvery kinetic film, visually, you will never be bored. There’s always some gagngoing on. It might have been a nightmare to make, but it sure is a pleasure tonwatch. Enjoy this forgotten gem, you won’t regret it.
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nRating: 4nout of 5
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