The Insane Story of Sam Raimi's 1985 Film CRIMEWAVE and How it Almost Killed His Career
A few years after Sam Raimi directed The Evil Dead, which is the film that helped launch his directing career, he made a movie titled Crimewave. The movie was released in 1985 and it was such a disaster that it almost killed the careers of the people involved.
Raimi directed the film, the script was written by the Coen Brothers, and Bruce Campbell was one of the actors that appeared in the movie. I’ve got a video essay from In Praise of Shadows that you have watch that takes a deep dive into the film’s production, which is absolutely fascinating.
Crimewave was conceived as an Alfred Hitchcock thriller with a mix of the Three Stooges type comedy. In the story, “Aware that partner Donald Odegard (Hamid Dana) wants to sell their security firm, Ernest Trend (Edward R. Pressman) hires Arthur Coddish (Brion James) and Faron Crush (Paul L. Smith) to kill him. The hit men get the job done, but they go too far, killing others in the process. Finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, security firm employee Victor Ajax (Reed Birney) is charged with the murders, but his new friend, Nancy (Sheree J. Wilson), intends to prove he's innocent.”
This movie was produced by Embassy Pictures and it’s considered one of the most disastrous productions in Hollywood history. The production went way over budget because of Raimi’s inexperience, and it’s explained that it’s a miracle that no one was seriously injured or died while making the movie! It’s pretty crazy to learn how some of the stunts were pulled off in this movie! There were no safety precautions taken!
This is the one Sam Raimi movie that I’ve never seen. I’ve never gone out of my way to find and watch it. But after watching this video, I have to see it!
It’s pretty incredibly that Raimi actually managed to have a filmmaking career after making this movie! Luckily everyone survived. Everyone except for Embassy Pictures, which went bankrupt.
The making of this film needs to be made into a movie, and Sam Raimi needs to direct it!