Film

Crimewave

Name: Crimewave
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Horror
Released: 1985
Cast: Reed Birney, Louise Lasser, Sheree J. Wilson, Paul L. Smith, Brion James

Crime
Comedy
Strange

A fever dream of slapstick violence and rubber-faced villainy: two incompetent exterminator-hitmen bumble through a murder plot with cartoon logic in a live-action world. Sam Raimi's manic debut feature treats crime and consequence as pure comedy material. It's aggressively weird and intentionally artificial—for viewers who want cinema to feel like nothing else on earth.

TMDb rating

2.8

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The Hudsucker Proxy1994

Coen Brothers magic: a screwball romance wrapped around corporate greed, with Tim Robbins as a naive everyman destroyed by systems. The same DNA of ingenious mise-en-scène and sentimental chaos.

But Slower than Crimewave and much longer. The sentimentality might feel cloying if you want pure anarchic energy.

After Hours1985

Scorsese's own one-night fever dream: a man trapped in a hellscape of nightclub grotesques and malevolent strangers. Darkly funny, dizzyingly plotted, utterly unreal—and made in the same year.

But Relentlessly bleak and paranoid. No one here is redeemable or even particularly likeable beneath the surface humor.

Eating Raoul1982

Nerdy married couple accidentally kill a home invader and realize they can make money from the bodies. Deadpan satire that mines murder for laughs without winking. Dark, economical, genuinely twisted.

But The premise is grim and the tone won't lighten. It's not a romp—it's a bitter little fable.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Crimewave

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The King of Comedy1982

Both films locate comedy in the spaces between incompetence, delusion, and violence. Both suggest the world is indifferent and outcomes are arbitrary.

De Niro as a deranged nobody stalking a talk-show host. Scorsese treats celebrity obsession and social failure as comedy's dark core—laugh-track absent, the audience complicit. It's Crimewave's closest relative in moral texture.

But Deeply uncomfortable. It's not absurdist—it's a portrait of real humiliation and mental illness. The humor corrodes as you watch.

Raising Arizona1987

Coen Brothers at full throttle: Nicolas Cage as a bumbling ex-con, kidnapped babies, incompetent criminals, and a biker-from-hell. Cartoonish violence married to real emotion and gorgeous frames.

But The humor is very specific. If the Coen tone doesn't land for you in the first scene, nothing will save it.

Something Wild1986

Demme's genre-scrambler: conservative businessman kidnapped by manic pixie dream girl, then actual violence erupts. Tonal whiplash as a feature, not a bug. Jeff Daniels and Melanie Griffith are perfectly cast against type.

But The shift from romantic comedy to thriller feels jarring on purpose. If you need films to stay in one emotional lane, this will infuriate you.

Desperately Seeking Susan1985

Madonna and Rosanna Arquette in a case of mistaken identity that spirals into genuine mystery and oddball New York atmosphere. Scrappy, inventive, weirdly moving beneath the costume-party premise.

But The plot is deliberately convoluted and the 80s aesthetic is extremely pronounced. Patience required.

Repo Man1984

Punk-rock science fiction noir: a teenage drifter joins a repo crew hunting a glowing Chevy Malibu while the Cold War looms. Completely original. Emilio Estevez in his best role.

But Plotless and cryptic by design. It's an atmosphere and a mood more than a story you can follow.

The Manchurian Candidate1962

Paranoid masterpiece: a war hero returns home brainwashed, politicians plot, and satire becomes genuine menace. Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury—brilliant casting that makes the horror real beneath the politics.

But Made in a different era. The pacing is deliberate where Crimewave is manic, and the dread is serious.

Pee-wee's Big Adventure1985

Tim Burton's first feature: a man-child loses his bike and chases it across America through a gallery of grotesques. Anarchic production design, genuine sweetness, and complete tonal fearlessness.

But Relies on Pee-wee's persona. If that brand of childish energy annoys you, there's no refuge here.

Withnail & I1987

Both feature comic failure as the actual plot. Both use grotesque supporting characters as obstacles. Both treat suffering as material for dark comedy rather than tragedy.

Two unemployed actors drift through a nightmare weekend fueled by drink and desperation. British, deadpan, and constructed like a Beckett play in a pub. Complete tonal control and zero sentimentality. Quotable every line.

But It's slow and literary. Nothing happens except the slow accumulation of dread and disappointment. No plot rescue.

Tales from the Darkside: The Movie1990

Both are proudly artificial, mixing horror and comedy without apology. Both trust that the audience can hold two tones at once.

Four horror vignettes framed by a witch-and-child setup. Low budget, high imagination—mixes camp, gore, and genuine scares. Produces its own logic rather than respecting genre rules.

But Uneven by design. Some segments land harder than others. The wraparound story is intentionally silly in ways that might read as amateur.