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Crimewave
VHS release cover
Directed by
Sam Raimi
Written by
Joel Coen Ethan Coen
Sam Raimi
Produced by
Robert Tapert
Starring
Louise Lasser
Paul L. Smith
Brion James
Sheree J. Wilson
Edward R. Pressman
Bruce Campbell
Reed Birney
Cinematography
Robert Primes
Edited by
Michael Kelly
Kathie Weaver
Kaye Davis
Music by
Arlon Ober
Production companies
Embassy Films Associates
Renaissance Pictures
Distributed by
Columbia Pictures
Release date
April 12, 1985 (1985-04-12)
Running time
86 minutes[1]
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$2.5 million[2]
Box office
$5,101[3]
Crimewave is a 1985 American comedy film directed by Sam Raimi, from a screenplay he co-wrote with the Coen brothers. It stars Reed Birney, Sheree J. Wilson, Paul L. Smith, Brion James, Louise Lasser and Bruce Campbell, with the latter also serving as a co-producer. An unusual slapstick mix of film noir, black comedy, Hitchcockian suspense,[4] and B-movie conventions, Crimewave portrays bizarre situations involving a nebbish everyman (Birney) entangled in a murderous plot while pursuing his love interest (Wilson).
Following the commercial success of The Evil Dead (1981), Raimi and Campbell decided to collaborate on another project. Joel Coen of the Coen brothers served as one of the editors on The Evil Dead and worked with Raimi on the screenplay. Production was difficult for several members of the crew, and the production studio, Embassy Pictures, refused to allow Raimi to edit the film. Several arguments broke out during the shoot of the film due to continued interference by the studio.
The film was a box-office flop and has since fallen into relative obscurity outside of fans of Campbell and Raimi. Few critics reviewed it upon release, though the little amount of critical attention it received was mostly negative. Several story and style elements found in Crimewave influenced later productions by Raimi, and its overall failure directly led to the inception of Evil Dead II (1987). Over time, the film has achieved the status of a minor cult film.
^"CRIMEWAVE (PG) (CUT)". British Board of Film Classification. July 15, 1985. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
^Cite error: The named reference soap3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Crimewave (1986)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. May 2, 1986. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
^Shields, Meg (4 October 2021). "The Movie That Almost Killed Sam Raimi's Career". Film School Rejects. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
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possess and torment him. After the critical and commercial failure of Crimewave (1985), Raimi, producer Robert Tapert, and Campbell began work on a sequel...
(2015), and lesser-known, commercially unsuccessful comedies such as Crimewave (1985), The Naked Man (1998), and Gambit (2012). Ethan is also a writer...
typically involving Raimi and/or Campbell in some capacity, such as Crimewave, Easy Wheels, Darkman, Hard Target, Timecop, The Quick and the Dead, A...
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in a number of other films and television series, including the films Crimewave, Intruder, Shocker, Darkman, Candyman, Army of Darkness, Clear and Present...
effectively launched Raimi's career. He began work on his third film Crimewave (1985), which he co-wrote with the then-unknown Coen brothers, shortly...
Woods (1978). He has also featured in many low-budget cult movies such as Crimewave (1985), Maniac Cop (1988), Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (1989), and...
Roscoe, pp. 283–284. Fisk, Robert (7 September 2010). "Robert Fisk: The crimewave that shames the world". The Independent. Archived from the original on...
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Debating ' honor killings'. Open Democracy, 1 July 2014 Robert Fisk The crimewave that shames the world Archived 19 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine The...
Year Title Director Notes 1985 Crimewave Sam Raimi 2003 Bad Santa Terry Zwigoff Uncredited rewrites 2009 A Simple Noodle Story Zhang Yimou A comedic Mandarin-language...
Retrieved 26 January 2021. Bernardino, Shiena (13 May 2015). "'PayDay 2: Crimewave Edition' release date for PS4, Xbox One next month". Variety. Retrieved...
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