Crimewave
Tags: absurd, cult, comedy

Plot synopsis:
Victor Ajax has been sentenced to death, sitting in an electric chair. In a flashback, we learn that Victor once was a promising young technician in the employ of Trend-Odegard Security. Mr. Trend, co-owner of the company, has learned of a plan by his partner to sell the company to Renaldo "The Heel" and responds by hiring two exterminators who promise to "kill all sizes" in order to eliminate Odegard and his plan. When Victor, who has been installing security cameras in Trend's apartment building, seems about to go back to the store, Trend distracts him with a lecture about "the grand design" and sends Victor on a quest to find his dream girl.
The dream girl is found in the form of Nancy, who responds minimally to Vic but is enamored of Renaldo. Victor and several residents of the building, including Mrs. Trend, run afoul of the killers, and a seemingly random series of slapstick murders occur, for all of which Victor is ultimately blamed. Nancy inevitably becomes target and Vic saves her and kills the exterminators after a long comical fight sequence. The flashback ends and Victor is in the electric chair, and awaits his execution while an elaborate race sequence occurs in which Nancy, accompanied by several nuns, drive manically, Nancy at the wheel, to the scene in order to prove his innocence. Before the switch is pulled however, Nancy arrives just in time and clears his name. The movie concludes with their marriage.

Review: I hadn't heard anything good about this film, and its obscurity didn't lend much credence to the theory that it was any good, but it seemed impossible to me that coming from Joel & Ethan Coen, Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, and Bruce Campbell, that it could be totally lacking in quality.And indeed it isn't.
dialogue, Sam Raimi crazy camera moves (indeed, in this sense this film is more entertaining than his recent sedate mainstream work), and Bruce Campbell charming cheesiness.
Both films, for instance, feature the classic wipe consisting of a black circle that closes in on the shot, ceasing contraction for a moment to frame an actor's face as they do a final take, and then contracting the rest of the way to a black screen.I guess one thing that might have lifted this movie to greater heights would have been if Bruce Campbell had been allowed to play leading man Vic as was originally intended (but disallowed by the studio, per Bruce's excellent autobiography "If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor").
Oh well -- Renaldo "The Heel" is a classic Campbell character, so there's some consolation there.A parting note is that Arlon Ober, a primary composer of the brilliant score to the "Robotech" series, provides a wonderful score here as well, one of only 11 he's done, per IMDb. Almost worth seeking this out just for his great, fun score (the ending credits song is especially smile-inducing)..
A COMEDY??Yep, and a great one, too!Even a movie as ragged and dog-eared as "Crimewave" can blindside you with all of its talent, effort and loving detail to the life and loves of criminals, love-struck young men and Louise Lasser.The look of this movie is definitely one-of-a-kind.
Sam Raimi followed up the superb video nasty 'Evil Dead' with this; 'Crimewave' (AKA The XYZ Murders), a hugely enjoyable screwball slapstick comic book of a film, with not a few homages to The Three Stooges and classic Looney Tunes cartoons.The plot is loose and largely an irrelevant excuse for madcap chases, crazy caricatures and playful one-liners.
The Coens' script is inventive, funny and faster than a speeding bullet, showing some of the flair that would present itself in 'Raising Arizona'.Although the central performances of nerdy lead man Paul Smith (who looks like he walked out of a Troma film) and (comparatively bland) heroine Louise Lasser are adequate and entertaining (particularly Smith's 'Ren & Stimpy' style expressions), it's Bruce Campbell who steals the show in a small role as Renaldo the Heel.
The first of two cinematic collaborations between Sam Raimi and the Coen brothers ("The Hudsucker Proxy," on which Raimi was Second Unit Director, is the other), this hilarious movie could have, SHOULD have, been a lot funnier.
The story behind why it ISN'T is just as wacky as the flick itself:After the unexpected success of "Evil Dead" in 1982-'83, Embassy Pictures, which had released "Escape From New York," among others, contacted the young Sam Raimi about possibly directing a comedy written by two up-and-comers named Joel and Ethan Coen.
**EDIT 2018: the interview is in issue #64, 1987, page 33**) So, the studio, trying to keep afloat, re-edited the final cut of the movie, releasing it as "Crimewave." It did not, of course, work, as Embassy Pictures went bankrupt that same year, but not because of this film -- Embassy was finished long before they released this, actually.If there was some way Raimi and the Coens could, I wish they would go back to this movie and either remake it or re-release it in its intended form.
In the "Fangoria" interview, Raimi confessed he regretted the way "The XYZ Murders" turned out -- so why not re-do it now that he can probably do anything he wants (thanks to the "Spider-Man" series)?What a shame that a struggling movie studio took a great, unique, funny movie and turned it into a curiosity.
Okay, it's directed by Sam Raimi, co-written with the Coen brothers, and features both Bruce Campbell and the late Brion James, so what are you waiting for?!
Fans of 30s/40s comedies and musicals ( Emil Sitka doesn't have a cameo for nothing), the more slapstick parts of Evil Dead 2 and Army Of Darkness, the zanier Coen Bros ( think Raising Arizona or Hudsucker Proxy) or Stanley Tucci's The Imposters should enjoy this zany fun.
Finally seeing Crimewave now means that I have seen (and enjoyed, mostly) all of Sam Raimi's feature films.
Despite them having the writing credit, this really doesn't feel like a Coen Brothers film; and that is testament to Sam Raimi's direction.
Raimi perhaps goes a little bit too over the top at times, and the film does almost feel like a series of slapstick sketches threaded together by a thin plot.
On the whole, this is a good film; but I'd only really recommend it to Raimi/Campbell fans, and people that will appreciate that it's more of a prelude to greater things to come than a great cult flick..
A nerdy security system installer gets himself in a mess of trouble, when he falls for a beautiful woman and encounters two bumbling- but malicious exterminators that one of his boss's Ernest Trend has hired them to eliminate his co-partner Mr. Odegard of an security business and Renaldo 'The Heel' who Mr. Odegard is secretly selling it to but it goes horribly wrong.The story starts out that Vic Ajax (Reed Birney) the bumbling security system installer is facing death row for the murders of the security owners and the stunning Nancy (Sheree J Wilson).
This is when he recounts what did actually happen that night.This was a better than expected broad comedy from director Sam Raimi, though he has disowned it because the studio took control of it especially since Raimi wanted Campbell as the lead man.
While the style and the look of some of the filming techniques is very much from the golden age of films.The Coen's script is filled with a great deal of wit and very satirical moments, mostly in the dark humorousness kind with Bruce Campbell mostly having the best lines and funniest moments and the little boy in lift gave me a laugh.
While the characters they created are extravagantly colourful and very cartoon-like, which makes it fun viewing.My only complaints are the music score was too distracting and somewhat annoying at times, while the weird sounds effects weren't really needed.Stick around at the end of the credits, as the film isn't entirely finished.Overall this is a comical and quite funny film that's if you enjoy that sort of humour.3.5/5.
I recently read Bruce Campbell's highly entertaining and informative first book, If Chins Could Kill, which served to instill within me a heightened interest in seeing his more obscure roles over the years, other than his role as Ash in the Evil Dead films, some of my favorite horror films of all time (as well as some of my favorite horror performances).
In attempting to check out some of those movies that I had never seen, I watched Crimewave which, being the honest man that he is, Campbell came right out in his book and said that no matter how you slice it, the film is a dog and everyone involved should line up for their forty whacks.
The villains in this film are absolutely ludicrous, they are some of the worst bad movie performances I've ever seen.Remember that bully that roughed up Charlie Chaplin in Easy Street?
It was written by the Coen brothers and directed by Sam Raimi, and starred, to some extent, Bruce Campbell who, b-movie virus or not, has a huge cult following.
Fun. Sam Raimi's follow-up to The Evil Dead is a goofy, live action cartoon.
Evil Dead II is a better film in every way, but Crimewave is most certainly worth a look..
Sandwiched in between his first two "Evil Dead" movies is filmmaker Sam Raimis' "Crimewave", a silly, over the top tribute to film noir and especially slapstick comedy.
(Film buffs know that Raimi is a big Three Stooges fan.) It may be a little much for some people, but it does have a lot of energy, and spirited performances.It begins as Vic Ajax (Reed Birney), the ultimate nerd / patsy, is about to be executed for a series of crimes.
Overall, the movie is extremely well cast; Raimis' old pal Bruce Campbell (also the co-producer) has a recurring bit and is so funny the viewer will wish that he had more to do.
Smith and James are hilarious and fun to watch as the antagonists, although in real life Raimi and company had their problems dealing with them: James had a drug habit during this period and Smith, supposedly believing himself above the material, gave a performance disliked by the filmmakers so much that they dubbed him for the duration of the movie.From beginning to end, this is an effectively wild and (fairly) unpredictable affair; Raimi co-wrote with his fellow directors and friends the Coen brothers.
Paul Smith's goofy hero is likable enough as a geeky home security installer with a crush on a feisty independent girl, but Bruce Campbell's oily sleezebag heel definitely steals the show, sometimes with just a single slimy look and a self-confident guffaw.The pace of the film is pretty well established with loads of car chases & cartoon violence, but Sam Raimi has a few tricks up his sleeve.
One of the more memorable, and brilliant set pieces is the chase through the 'Safest corridoor in the world', or the attack in the apartment.Some of the dialogue is a bit poor though, and very predictable, but if the verbal jokes don't make you laugh, the visual ones will.Great fun the first time around, but not exactly a film I'd want to watch again & again..
I watched it with a few friends and it made it even more of a great ride as it's a movie made in mind for an audience who's already used to Raimi (and the Coen brothers for that matter) with the style of film-making in tow.
This then leads to the sordid tale of one night's time as the exterminators wipe out almost everyone- well, ALMOST- as Ajax gets swept into this wild downward trip of insanity and inane chases and attempting to murder/murder, and becomes a hero to the woman he wants in the process.All of this is told with the visual verve, panache, and unique sensibility that has made Raimi a filmmaker who can bring out laughs sometimes by how he puts props and sets together and moves the camera all around through them.
And the hero character too, played by Birney, becomes a little more believable after the initial blandness of the 'nerd' quality fades, particularly in the dance-hall scenes and towards the end too.Crimewave is so dedicated to only following the rules of there being 'no-rules' in what can be done with the camera and with deranged night-time lighting and getting such obscenely cool performances coming out of a cracker-jack script, that it's ironic to see that Raimi supposedly disowned the film.
Also at 83 minutes, despite what may or may not have been cut out, it feels at a near-perfect length for the subject matter; any more might have run the risk of losing its sustained momentum, if that makes sense.But to put it in brief, if you haven't heard of this movie and by some chance come across it on ebay, and are a fan of the filmmakers by any stretch (or just in general a fan of cartoons), it's a must-see sleeper kind of comedy, where the gags and jokes and puns keep staying strong all the way up to the big finale at the Hudsucker prison (ho-ho).
This movie is SO cartoony it is painful to watch, and I AM a fan of Raimi, Campbell and the Coens.
But alas...Now what to think of this movie: I liked it, but I have a soft spot when it comes to Sam Raimi movies I loved it, but I always liked "weird movies" I Enjoyed it, but I always enjoy movies that the Coen Brothers have made (though they didn't direct this one)This was suppose to be a main audience feature that Raimi was allowed to make after "Evil Dead" -if I'm correct- The main problem with this movie is that it's most definitely not.
It's like watching a real live action Tom & Jerry cartoon that has a bad case Three Stooges influences and the flashback style is soo weird, it almost seems incoherent and Raimi's visual style is to typical to describe and the humour won't be appreciated by everybody.All and all I think the makers did a good job, okay it may not be greatest movie ever and the actors may not have give their best Oscar winning performances (unless it's terribly hard to play such wooden caricatures :-P, but I'm not an actor so I can't tell) but it's a fun movie to watch.
For all the weirdness, strange black humour, the caricatural and cartoony-three-stooges-tom & jerry-style is what makes it different from the average movie, it has an original script and the cartoony visual style is refreshing, it's recognisable cartoonish BUT with a Sam Raimi twist (as he will display in Evil Dead II and Army Of Darkness later on).If this isn't a problem and you're not the kind of person that thinks "Pearl Harbor" was an instant classic and "behind enemy lines" (owen Wilson) was a "beautiful movie, you gotta have on DVD" and if you loved "Bubba Hotep" or(and) enjoyed "Army Of Darkness" or (and) laughed your behind off watching "Rasing Arizona", this may be a movie for you.If all of the above didn't appeal to you, I still would recommend to watch it anyway (because I enjoyed it very much) -you are warned now!
At times, Raimi's direction is absolutely eye popping.Fans of Raimi and Bruce Cambell take note: If you havent seen this film, Bruce Cambell does show up in the first third, and he does get hit in the head and fall down a lot.
When I first saw this film, I neither knew nor cared who the Coen Brothers or Sam Raimi were.
I now identify the goofy, cartoonish elements with 'Raising Arizona' and the violence with 'Bottom' or 'Itchy & Scratchy', but I do remember laughing like a drain at this strangely unhinged melodrama.The rodent-like Brion James and the brutish Paul L.Smith are excellent slapstick hoods, Louise Lasser has a brittle classic glamour and Reed Birney (who I've never seen in anything else) is the wide-eyed, hopelessly romantic loser who would be totally out of his depth in a puddle, let alone the troubles that come to him in this story.Being a Sam Raimi film, Bruce Campbell is present, in a splendidly oily performance as a total heel.
A nebbishy guy is on the run from the cops after a couple of hit men frame him for their wild crime spree in this dark and quite funny action comedy from early in the careers of the Coen Brothers.
I'm a huge fan of the Coen Brothers, well, up until Intolerable Cruelty, and Raimi as well, and think this is one of the best films all three have been involved in.Admittedly Crimewave won't be to everyone's tastes, but it is a great, unpredictable slapstick comedy with some fantastically funny dialogue, and truly bizarre moments in it.Bruce Campbell's superb in a cameo role, showing how adept he was at diverse roles long before his recent 'comeback' in Bubba Ho-Tep, Paul L Smith is a truly frightening villain, and even Reed Birney's great, though sadly his career seemed to falter after this.If you like your films to be unusual, entertaining, and ones that you'll want to watch again, then Crimewave's definitely for you!.
This is a film that I learned Sam Raimi and the Coen Bros.
If you are expecting a Coen Bros./Raimi film on the same level as Spiderman or Fargo, then you will be disappointed.
And with names like Sam Raimi and the Coen brothers you probably want to see it anyway.
With the clear presence of both the Coen brothers and Sam Raimi this crazy comedy is A-O.K. in my book!
Some will like some will hate this film but for me you must atleast watch this film once.Sam Raimi best film is Evil Dead but for me this comes second because its concept as a film is very entertaining.
Well worth a rental to true fans of Bruce Campbell, Sam Raimi and/or the Coens..
"Crimewave" is a bizarre film, written by the Coen Brothers and directed by Sam Raimi.
Done in slapstick comedy style...This film has Sam Raimi written all over it.
While not the Coens' best, not Raimi's best, it's an interesting little film, bizarre, and a good showcase of early work from those involved..
My feeling is that many fans of the Coens and Sam Raimi will be curious enough about "Crimewave" to seek this out.
I am a huge Coen Brothers fan, a huge Sam Raimi fan, and I love Bruce Campbell as well- but the whole does not always equal the sum of its parts as demonstrated by this movie.
Sam Raimi proved to us, with his first film "The Evil Dead", that his mixed Comedy/Horror combination made his original directing style stand out.
A movie written by the Coen brothers and directed by Sam Raimi!
One of the many Raimi cult films from the 80s, this movie is not very good.
But since it had the names Raimi and Coen attached to it, there was no choice, I had to see it.This flick contains good slapstick, though the timing is s bit off, and the cartoonish pace of the movie makes everything pass at lightning speed.
Raimi has done some great movies over the years, and he'll no doubt do many more, but CRIMEWAVE (no matter how you cut it) will never be one of them.