214 Crimewave

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MichaelB
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214 Crimewave

#1 Post by MichaelB » Thu Dec 03, 2020 6:04 am

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CRIMEWAVE
(Sam Raimi, 1985)

Release date: 22 March 2021
Limited Edition Blu-ray (UK Blu-ray premiere)

Pre-order here.

After the colossal success of The Evil Dead, director Sam Raimi teamed up with the Coen brothers (fresh from Blood Simple) to make his next film, Crimewave, an unusual mixture of screwball comedy, film noir and B-movie homage.

Raimi’s film tells the bizarre story of a security-system installer, Vic (Reed Birney), who finds himself in the electric chair when he falls in love with Nancy (Sheree J Wilson), a femme fatale on the run from two bumbling exterminators ‘of all sizes’ (Paul L Smith, Popeye, and Brion James, Blade Runner).

A notoriously troubled production which flopped upon its original release, Crimewave can now be enjoyed as a riotously entertaining showcase for Raimi and the Coens, which also benefits from a highly amusing performance from cult-horror star Bruce Campbell.


INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

• High Definition remaster
• Original mono audio
• Alternative presentation with pre-release Broken Hearts and Broken Noses title sequence
• Audio commentary with actor Bruce Campbell (2013)
• The Crimewave Meter with Bruce Campbell (2013): the Evil Dead star revisits Crimewave and his various collaborations with Sam Raimi
• Made in Detroit with Edward Pressman (2013): the producer discusses his participation in the making of the film
• Leading Man with Reed Birney (2013): the actor talks about his lead role in Crimewave and his wider career
• Rank Outsider (2021): genre-film expert, critic and author Kim Newman remembers the film’s original UK cinema release
• New appreciation by the comedian, musician and writer Rob Deering (2021)
• Alternative titles and credits
• Original theatrical trailers
• TV spots
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Amanda Reyes, interview extracts with cast and crew members, an overview of contemporary critical responses and film credits
• UK premiere on Blu-ray
• Limited edition of 3,000 copies
• All extras subject to change

#PHILTD214
BBFC cert: 12
REGION B
EAN: 5060697921007

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Dr Amicus
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Re: 214 Crimewave

#2 Post by Dr Amicus » Thu Dec 03, 2020 6:18 am

Funnily enough, I was just thinking about this the other day after rewatching DarkMan. I remember really liking it when it turned up on TV a couple of times in the late 80s / early 90s (maybe Moviedrome?) and was bemoaning its lack of easy availability.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: 214 Crimewave

#3 Post by therewillbeblus » Wed Dec 16, 2020 10:29 pm

I remembered feeling pretty ambivalent about this when I saw it half a lifetime ago, and a rewatch was absolutely painful. I'm sure Raimi and the Coens had some fun nights writing this out in their apt in the 80s, because it's quite literally throwing every idea at the wall to see what sticks. The problem isn't the amateur filmmaking or absurd tone, but that nothing does stick, and I mean nothing. This kind of inane energy and creative on-the-fly filmmaking techniques worked well within the confines of Evil Dead's parameters, which provided a set structure of space and characters to play with- while this film jumps around to everyone and everything, leaving ends behind like a scattered meth-addled rant that loses itself without a focal point, slipping away from any sense of investment on a gag. I like silly, wild movies that don't take themselves too seriously, but man I hated this.

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Roger Ryan
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Re: 214 Crimewave

#4 Post by Roger Ryan » Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:07 am

This one's a bit like Raimi's and the Coens' 1941 even though no one involved had produced a large budget, successful film prior to this. It wants to be big and zany, but all you see is the effort and the compromises. Among the odd choices was having a local Detroit disc jockey (George Baier) dub all of Paul L. Smith's lines; the voice is so clearly the popular radio morning show character "Dick The Bruiser" that it must have created cognitive dissonance for regional audiences (it did for me, anyway).

A personal anecdote: I was attending a video production conference at a Ramada Inn hotel in Southfield, MI while Crimewave was in production and was surprised to see all manner of film production equipment taking up the rear parking lot, including a large camera crane and show cars (I vividly remember an exterminator vehicle with the rat affixed to the top). It turns out that the hotel was the production headquarters for this film (known as The XYZ Murders at this time). Having been a fan of Raimi's The Evil Dead, I asked at the front desk if I could leave a message for the director, suspecting he must be staying at the hotel. The desk attendant dutifully placed my note congratulating Raimi on his debut feature and wishing him luck on this new one in Raimi's key/mail cubby box.

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Dylan
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Re: 214 Crimewave

#5 Post by Dylan » Thu Dec 17, 2020 6:30 pm

This is probably addressed in the extras on this disc, but there is a quote from Sam Raimi in The Evil Dead Companion about how Embassy Pictures took Crimewave away from him and recut it, which he described as "a traumatic, turbulent experience." Embassy told him that his rough cut was like "another Evil Dead" so they were going to "cut out everything that is wild and over the top, that general audiences don't want to see." Oddly, from what I recall this film is pretty wild and over the top, just not at all cohesive (though I do remember it being well-shot). Unfortunately, the deleted scenes that apparently made this film more in the vein of Evil Dead probably no longer exist if they aren't included on this blu-ray (save for what it listed as an alternative title sequence).

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therewillbeblus
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Re: 214 Crimewave

#6 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Dec 17, 2020 7:08 pm

If the studio intended to cut "everything wild and over the top" this film would include a shot of nuns in a car listening to the radio and then cut to credits (same for anything "general audiences don't want to see").

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JamesF
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Re: 214 Crimewave

#7 Post by JamesF » Tue Dec 22, 2020 8:14 am

There, uh, may or may not be a new "expert's" (ahem) commentary added to the disc that goes into a lot of depth about Raimi's original concept for the film and how it was altered during shooting and editing, including descriptions of deleted scenes from the original screenplay (which will hopefully also be included on the disc in some form).

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domino harvey
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Re: 214 Crimewave

#8 Post by domino harvey » Tue Dec 22, 2020 11:19 am

JamesF is Bruce Campbell confirmed

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Dylan
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Re: 214 Crimewave

#9 Post by Dylan » Tue Dec 22, 2020 4:08 pm

JamesF wrote:
Tue Dec 22, 2020 8:14 am
There, uh, may or may not be a new "expert's" (ahem) commentary added to the disc that goes into a lot of depth about Raimi's original concept for the film and how it was altered during shooting and editing, including descriptions of deleted scenes from the original screenplay (which will hopefully also be included on the disc in some form).
This is excellent news. Looking forward to it, and congratulations.

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MichaelB
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Re: 214 Crimewave

#10 Post by MichaelB » Wed Jan 27, 2021 9:27 am

Final specs, including some last-minute additions:

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rapta
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Re: 214 Crimewave

#11 Post by rapta » Wed Jan 27, 2021 1:19 pm

JamesF wrote:
Tue Dec 22, 2020 8:14 am
There, uh, may or may not be a new "expert's" (ahem) commentary added to the disc that goes into a lot of depth about Raimi's original concept for the film and how it was altered during shooting and editing, including descriptions of deleted scenes from the original screenplay (which will hopefully also be included on the disc in some form).
Hello Mr. Sam Raimi Expert! Glad to see one of his lesser-appreciated films get this much attention (4 versions!?) and hope it leads to more Raimi (A Simple Plan, The Quick and the Dead; maybe Darkman eventually?) and Coen Bros (The Hudsucker Proxy, Barton Fink; The Man Who Wasn't There if Criterion don't have it) from either Indicator or Arrow!

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JamesF
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Re: 214 Crimewave

#12 Post by JamesF » Wed Jan 27, 2021 7:02 pm

rapta wrote:
Wed Jan 27, 2021 1:19 pm
Hello Mr. Sam Raimi Expert!
The original text billed me as “Crimewave expert”, but that was just too depressingly small a niche to bear 😂

Can’t wait to see the final disc, some fantastically rare stuff on it!

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Dylan
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Re: 214 Crimewave

#13 Post by Dylan » Wed Jan 27, 2021 7:06 pm

James, this looks like an amazing release and congratulations on your commentary. It sounds like you have a lot of passion and insight to share.

I understand that the international version is slightly longer, but I'm assuming it doesn't include the deleted scenes that would apparently radically change the film? Also, if I read your December 22nd post correctly, the deleted scenes do exist but from the final specs it doesn't look like they were able to be included. Do you know why that wasn't possible?

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JamesF
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Re: 214 Crimewave

#14 Post by JamesF » Thu Jan 28, 2021 2:42 am

Dylan wrote:
Wed Jan 27, 2021 7:06 pm
James, this looks like an amazing release and congratulations on your commentary. It sounds like you have a lot of passion and insight to share.

I understand that the international version is slightly longer, but I'm assuming it doesn't include the deleted scenes that would apparently radically change the film? Also, if I read your December 22nd post correctly, the deleted scenes do exist but from the final specs it doesn't look like they were able to be included. Do you know why that wasn't possible?
Thanks Dylan. The international version is the one that’s on Shout’s disc; the film was then cut down and re-edited slightly further when it finally got a US theatrical release (basically the last territory to do so), missing a few minutes as a result, but no deleted scenes were reintegrated. And no, some of the deleted scenes I describe were shot, were in Raimi’s first assembly and are even glimpsed briefly in trailers, but there’s no evidence that they survive in any viewable or readily accessible form, sadly. Reading the original screenplay (which is what I referred to being included on the disc) is currently the only way we can experience them.

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MichaelB
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Re: 214 Crimewave

#15 Post by MichaelB » Sat Mar 13, 2021 11:57 am

Slarek at CineOutsider turns out to have been a passionate fan since its original release, and explains why in some detail.

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MichaelB
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Re: 214 Crimewave

#16 Post by MichaelB » Fri Mar 19, 2021 3:24 pm


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