With the creative and box office success of “The Evil Dead” under his belt, Sam Raimi was ready to move onto a bigger project. His second feature, “Crimewave,” would pair him with an unexpected set of screenwriters. The assistant editor on “Evil Dead” was someone named Joel Coen. Sam wasn't that impressed with the guy at the time but, after Bruce Campbell read the Coen Brothers' script for “Blood Simple,” he suggested Sam work with the pair. The trio collaborated on an aggressively wacky film noir comedy called “Relentless.” Impressed with his debut feature, Raimi would receive studio support for the film, the title quickly changed to “The XYZ Murders” and then “Crimewave.” Filming, however, was a nightmare that went over-budget and over-schedule. The producers would meddle and Raimi would be locked out of the editing room. Can “Crimewave” ultimately be said to belong to the director and his distinctive screenwriters?
Victor Ajax is carted off to the electric chair. As he faces down death, he tells the story of how he was wrongly accused of a series of lurid crimes. He talks of how he worked as a security guard for a local firm. He learned of a plan to murder the company's owner, to be performed by Faron Crush and Arthur Coddish, two demented “exterminators.” Crush and Coddish ran amok in an apartment complex, pursuing a number of witnesses to their crimes and wracking up a body count. Vic, meanwhile, was trying to romance Nancy, a beautiful woman who happened to walk into his life. Soon enough, both of them are running for their lives from the madmen.
If you are curious what a Coen brothers script directed by Sam Raimi might look like, “Crimewave” shows the place where their interests intersect. Both Raimi and the Coens have a fascination for classic film noir and all the cliches associated with the genre. “Crimewave” functions as a manic parody of the classic genre. So many of the tropes are highlighted. We have an everyman protagonist, a Man Who Knew Too Much wrapped up in wild crime plot. There are cold-hearted killers who exterminate their targets without a moment's notice. A glamorous dame floats into the story and the hero's heart. Unscrupulous types make sneaky deals, ending up dead as a result. The music is here too, with all the boozy horns and smoky instrumentation you associate with the genre.
The reason “Crimewave” is not that preoccupied with plot is because its a live action cartoon. Raimi's film is obviously influenced by Looney Tunes cartoons and the Three Stooges. The film makes its aggressively wacky tone apparent early on. Upon seeing Nancy for the first time, Vic's tie blows outward in an exaggerated way. Renoldo the Heel blows a cloud of smoke that turns into an animated, dancing girl. The hard-boiled dialogue the characters communicate with is emphasized with wacky bullet or bouncing sound effects. All the scenes involving the killers explode with manic energy. To the point where Crush pulling the entire room apart so he can get closer to his prey doesn't strike one as out-of-the-ordinary for this movie at all.
However he felt about the finished product, there's no denying that “Crimewave” is a Sam Raimi movie. The Three Stooge obsession is very evident, from the constant crude slapstick. (More people get smashed on the head in this movie than you can count, a few by bowling balls.) Raimi's trademark energetic visual style is more than accounted for. Raimi attaches his camera to a litany of thrown objects. Plates and various other objects sail across the room into Crush's face. Another scene has objects flying through a darken room in a suspended, surreal fashion. This approach is extended to people when they are tossed from buildings. Raimi also brings the same horror movie lighting he utilized in “The Evil Dead” to this project, several characters cast in spooky green or blue lighting.
I have described “Crimewave” as a film noir parody but, truthfully, the film avoids easy classification. While its absurd set-pieces are clearly meant to amuse, it wouldn't be hard to read “Crimewave” as a horror movie. The film begins on a dark and stormy night, after all, with lightning cracking across the sky. Most of the story is devoted to defenseless women being chased by remorseless killers, who basically have super-human abilities. One scene has a corpse jutting into frame suddenly, in a way any horror fan will recognize as a jump scare. There's even a shot of Nancy running down the city streets, frantic P.O.V. shots following her, that feels directly out of “The Evil Dead.” It's clear Raimi wasn't quite ready to leave horror behind, even as he tried to branch out into other genres.
Despite its obvious horrific overtones, it's clear that “Crimewave” is supposed to be funny. However, the movie largely does not work as a comedy. There's a clear reason for that. The movie's tone is too mean-spirited. You can mix murder scenes with slapstick and still have it be funny – Raimi would pull it off in his next movie – but the formula is askew here, coming across as too violent to be funny. Especially when the sole black character in the film is among the brutally executed characters. Mostly, it's the abuse that's heaped on the hapless protagonist that makes it hard to laugh at “Crimewave.” Poor Vic is abused throughout the film. He has water splashed in his face, is humiliated by Nancy and the killers, and gets repeatedly beaten by his attackers in the second half. Everyone treats him terrible. The movie then almost kills him off at the end. He's a slightly dorky but otherwise stand-up guy, making you wonder why the filmmakers hated him so much.
To bring such an aggressively wacky film to life, Raimi and company assembled an incredibly manic cast. The wildest performances are from Paul L. Smith – best known as “Popeye's” Bluto – and Brion James as the killers. James spends the entire film giggling like a lunatic, talking in an exaggerated and squeaky voice. When Coddish's trademark weapon, a shock treatment machine that spurts giant lightning bolts, is deployed, James' performance gets even wackier. Smith had his already deep voice dubbed by an even heftier baritone, making his brutish performance even more exaggerated. Louise Lasser is top-billed, despite playing the witless screaming woman Crush chases through most of the movie. Lasser was supposedly coked out of her gourd throughout filming and you can see that in her wide-eyed performance.
It must be said that Reed Bimey and Sheree J. Wilson are admittedly well cast as the schmo-like Vic and the desperate Nancy. Bimey, however, was not Raimi's first pick for the leading role. He wrote it with Bruce Campbell, already established as his regular leading man, in mind. However, the producers demanded a more traditional Hollywood leading man for the part. Thus, Bruce was pushed into the supporting role of Renaldo the Heel. Campbell's acting abilities have already grown a lot from “The Evil Dead.” He mugs extensively through the part of the Heel, something Bruce is exceptionally good at. A good-looking but excessively smarmy scumbag that is always on the look-out for his next con is an ideal role for Campbell. “Crimewave” is at its most consistent when he's on-screen... Which isn't that much, as Renaldo bites it half-way through.
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