Raimi, co-star/producer Bruce Campbell and producer Rob Tapert have made no secret of their feelings for “Crimewave” over the years. Recently at the SXSW panel for the “Evil Dead Rise” premiere, Campbell explained that the film’s flop taught them to develop a “Crimewave meter” that allows them to say no to projects they can see going down the road. south.
It’s most likely due to the bad vibes the Michigan-raised trio of filmmakers have given the film over the years since its botched release and the poor reception that the film hasn’t seen a major reappraisal, because “Crimewave” is not just a Raimi movie. , but also an early work by the Coen brothers, as the film was co-written by Joel and Ethan Coen along with Raimi.
With a pedigree like that, it’s almost impossible for the movie to be boring or uninteresting, two things it definitely isn’t. “Crimewave” is indeed a slice of insane cinema, a combination of 1940s film noir, Warner Bros. cartoons, and “Three Stooges”-style slapstick. The plot revolves around a goofball, Victor Ajax (Reed Birney), an employee of Trend-Odegard Security. His boss, Ernest Trend (Edward R. Pressman), arranges for his business partner Donald Odegard (Hamid Dana) to be beaten up after discovering that Odegard plans to sell the business to Renaldo “The Heel” (Campbell) behind his back. he. The two assassins Trend hires, Faron (Paul L. Smith) and Arthur (Brion James), are equal parts vicious and inept and end up killing Odegard and Trend by accident. When Trend’s nosy wife Helene (Louise Lasser, apparently dressed in the exact same outfit from the infamous Thanksgiving movie “Blood Rage”) witnesses the hit and the other residents of the building (including Victor and his love interest) mistakenly get caught up in the proceedings. , “Crimewave” goes off the rails nicely.