I went through a whole lot of effort to finally see "Crimewave" (it's incredibly hard to find),but I can't help feeling a little bit unsatisfied with the result. Maybe it's only natural that it doesn't live up to high expectations, since Sam Raime had to deliver a follow-up to his downright brilliant "The Evil Dead" and that's much easier said than done. The screenplay, written by the gifted Coen brothers who just finished their dazzling debut "Blood Simple" the previous year, is overly hectic and far too absurd to summarize. I'm not even sure if this can be called a movie, as it feel more like a series of slapstick gags and insane sketches linked together by the ultra-thin premise of two professional exterminators gone berserk. Crush and Coddish are a couple of criminally insane lunies who wipe out more than just rodents, but eventually meet their equal in the nerdy bell-boy of a building complex. Some of the grotesque comedy sequences are hysterical (the slamming doors, the dance contest...) while others completely miss the mark (the whole car chase finale). The acting is tremendously over the top – what else did you expect in a light-headed project such as this? - and it looks like the entire B-cast never had this much fun in their whole lives. They're happy...we're happy, I guess.

"Crimewave" is especially worth a peek in case you're a member of the Bruce Campbell fan-club. Evil Dead's Ash steals the show as slick and obnoxious womanizer Renaldo.

"Crimewave" is a bizarre film, written by the Coen Brothers and directed by Sam Raimi. The plot is just strange... two criminals kill the owners of an alarm company and then begin killing the witnesses to the crime. Done in slapstick comedy style...

This film has Sam Raimi written all over it. His crazy zoom camera shots, the inclusion of Bruce Campbell as "the heel"... and the very over-the-top silliness. The only other time the Coens really tread this path was with "The Hudsucker Proxy" (which is, in all fairness, the better film)... and that, too, had Raimi's involvement.

I suggest this film is worth seeing. 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.

A smash-and-grab cut-rate showpiece from green-yet-enthusiastic director and co-writer Sam Raimi and his writing partners, brothers Joel and Ethan Coen. Loosely-hinged tale concerns an inmate at Hudsucker Penitentiary who swears he is innocent of murder, telling his fateful story while strapped to the electric chair. Raimi and cinematographer Robert Primes treat the camera like a brand new toy, seeing its possibilities as endless. Their visual satirizing of cheap noirs and late-night thrillers is initially quite impressive; however, without a bigger budget and a sharper sense of narrative, the film simply can't sustain itself. "Crimewave" is full of whiz-bang effects, but the slapstick motifs and vignettes hold no weight--it's just a doodle. Paul L. Smith (who does a funny slow burn) and Louise Lasser have a wonderfully silly extended chase sequence, and there's a funny pay-off after the end-credits. *1/2 from ****