Shout! Factory’s Crimewave Blu-ray Arrives in Unexpected Unedited Form

Steve Barton |

Jun 24, 2013

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Shout! Factory's Crimewave Blu-ray Arrives in Unexpected Unedited Form DC favorite, filmmaker/author Stephen Romano, knows his classic sleazy cinema better than anyone. That’s why when we wrote in with some surprising news, we had no choice but to share it. Read on for the details surrounding Shout! Factory’s release of Sam Raimi’s Crimewave!

“As far as I know, and according to Bruce Campbell’s commentary, this film was never actually (or at least widely) released in movie theaters,” Romano tells us. “We all caught up with this on tape and on cable, back in the 1980s. I still have my VHS copy, which I’ve watched at least 20-30 times over the years, it being one of my very favorite Raimi Movies. I’m the guy who can literally quote chapter and verse from the dialogue. You need to know this about me because today I watched the Shout! Factory Blu-ray edition for the first time, and it turns out this is sourced from a print that is actually more than SIX MINUTES longer than the version I’ve known and loved for so long. While not pointed out in the packaging, advertising, or even in Campbell’s commentary, there are two scene extensions and one entire five-minute sequence that were cut from the original release version and appear here for the VERY FIRST TIME in more than 30 years.”

For die-hard fans, the scenes are as follows:

At 42:29, there is an additional bit of dialogue as Nancy complains about her bad night with Vic, just before she’s hit with the mud.

At 51:51, there is an entire additional scene that last almost five minutes, depicting Vic returning to the apartment and being “rejected” by Nancy, whom he can’t really see because she’s behind a door, bound and gaged by Arthur Coddish. Vic then walks out of her apartment, glum and rejected. It’s actually a crucial missing bit in the film, kind of the turning point at which Vic thinks he’s been spurned by the girl of his dreams, but of course it’s one big “bedroom farce-style” misunderstanding. In the original release cut (and also in this version), the deleted scene is later referenced on the bridge, just after the film’s climax, when Vic says, “I went in your room and thought you didn’t care about me.” I always wondered what he was talking about back in the day because that scene NEVER HAPPENS in the video version.

And, finally, at 1:11.04… there is a final scene extension, just before Arthur Coddish is killed, when Vic tries to trick him before the overpass hits. I won’t spoil it, but it’s a pretty lame joke.

Upon doing a little digging with the powers-that-be, Romano uncovered the following info:

“[Shout! Factory] sourced the Blu-ray from original negative materials, preparing an all-new hi-def master because the film had never been released previously on DVD or any other digital format. The negative materials they found in the vault go back to the very first answer cut of the movie, which I assume was supposed to be the theatrical version for US and foreign markets. The version eventually released in the States was cut by six minutes by the studio and is the version most of us are familiar with. Because of Cliff McMillian’s tireless efforts at Shout! in getting this weird little classic out, we’re actually seeing a “lost” version of the film never before seen in America.”

“Groovy!”

Thanks for the heads-up, brother! And there you go, kids! Order your copy below!

Crimewave

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Tags: Sam Raimi

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