Good start, but then it gets ruined

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

When I first saw this film, I neither knew nor cared who the Coen Brothers or Sam Raimi were. Probably a good thing, really. 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. According to one of Bruce's books, making the film was a tough job for various reasons, but the result, while not a classic, is definitely worth your time.

Canadian director John Piazs made another film titled Crimewave at the same time and was unable to use the title in the states due to Dantes Crimewave. Its titles have the word "big" awkwardly pop up on the screen. The Piazs film is also a homage to pulp 50s/60s crime dramas as well as the frustration, illusion and apathy the main character goes thru in trying to realize his dream. Despite how depressing the description may seem the film is hilarious and one of my all time faves. Its narrated by the little girl who's parents rent him the attic above their garage. The film contains beginnings and endings of his films. According to the girl Kim he has problems with the stuff in between.Hence why he never finishes his Crimewave films. Piazs even filmed the movie in lavish color. Its a total classic and unfortunately even less known in the states then the Dante crimewave Thu a respected cult film in Canada. See by all means if you can find a copy

Oh what gleeful, delirious, no-holds-barred and anything (illogical but fun) goes movie Crimewave is! I use an exclamation point to add a little emphasis, perhaps in a near abstract way, but really this is a picture chock-full of abstractions, to the point where if you don't get into it by the first twenty or so minutes, you might as well turn it off (well, actually, don't if you dare). 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. One friend said it best, which is maybe the only way to describe Crimewave aka the XYZ Murders- it's a full-bodied live-action cartoon. Granted this approach to style has been a big chunk of Raimi's forte, particularly in the horror films. But here its cranked up to its maximum, and as the characters go to their most extreme lengths and attitudes, and situations and sequences go to their absolute limits AND beyond even, it becomes like a daring act of entertainment. It's like Looney Tunes done through the heedlessly deranged, bizarre, crude, and bombastic heights that Raimi and the Coens go for.Indeed, we even tried to guess at times what scenes might have been written more by the brothers and which were more of Raimi's doing. But either way, it all combines into a very simple idea stretched out- a man, Vic Ajax (Reed Birney), recounts the twisted and too-much-to-believe story of what REALLY happened the night of the crimes committed, as he is nearing the electric chair. This involves mainly a shifty-eyed employer, a character with more to do with Ajax than the other parts (Bruce Campbell as the 'Heel', classic with a chin that is even more chin-ier, if that's possible), and a pair of exterminators who are, without a doubt, crazy enough to kill anyone, be then bugs, rats, 'Men', or even 'Heroes' depending on their electric-setting. 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. There's no stone unturned in putting clichés here to be ripped to shreds, and the two actors playing the exterminators (Paul L. Smith and Brion James) are so far-gone into their characterizations that they couldn't be more convincing if they were drawn by Chuck Jones himself. I couldn't help but burst out laughing at the absurdities that would go on and on; my favorites included the big bust-in that Smith did on Lasser's place (she throwing everything she has at him, then once crushed by bowling balls literally pulling the room towards him, then on and on it goes), and the big car chase climax that features everything from car-top brawls to the typical 'will the car slip over to the river' moments. It's a sign of true mad-cap quality when Campbell, who relishes greatly in playing such a one-note sleaze-bag, is only one of the finest components in the puzzle. 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. This might even be one of those rare cases, at least to me, where the producers might have been right about this, concerning the recasting of Campbell I mean (he works best as a hero in Evil Dead, but here it wouldn't of been as convincing for the nerd work, plus he'd have to fight for room with the killer/exterminator actors). And as far as the editing and music goes I might be missing something, but it doesn't really feel compromised. If anything the cuts end up having to get into a sort of groove with Raimi's takes and angles and such. 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). It's up there with my favorites of the director's, with splendid contributions from Joel & Ethan Coen.

It is so strange how some films never seem to catch the attention of either the public or the critics. Most would rightly assume the reason being the lack of quality of the film in question, which is indeed often the case. But not so with 'Crimewave', at least not as far as I am concerned.This film is so far out that most people never ever venture there and never will. There is scarcely anything normal about this film: even other Coen products pale into normality compared to it. And this is precisely the film's attractiveness. The situations, characters, dialogues and overall cinematographic language is absolutely unique. I cannot compare Crimewave with any other film out there, and I've seen thousands. Cartoonesque, surreal, utterly stupid, screamingly funny because not trying to be, the film boasts attributes I have not really encountered anywhere else, at least not in just the one film. Tex Avery cartoons may at times spring to mind, as may some films by French director George Lautner, or Bogdanovich' screamingly funny 'What's Up, Doc?' ... oh, and of course the equally terrific over the top romp 'Raising Arizona'!Acting as well is so totally over the top that even just trying to take it serious, merely results in total incomprehension on the part of the utterly bewildered and bemused viewer. This film is totally about style inasmuch as even its substance is style.The incredibly unreal atmosphere the film exudes is - apart from the aspects already mentioned - also due to the lavish use of alienatingly oversaturated colours: they marvellously complement the overall strangeness of the film.I have seen this film dozens of times and have never had any cinematic blinkers on me and I still get warped and thrilled out of my human, mainly logical mind by everything this jewel of a film can and does throw at me, time and time again.Approach it for yourself without prejudice, constraint or any other preconceived notion of what a film can, must, could or should be and simply enjoy 80 minutes of marvel!