I had the opportunity to see the newly restored print of this Canadian cult classic at TIFF '14 (free screening, no less!) The director was present and told us the DVD release date is in November. The print is awesome, with great sound, brilliant colour and fine detail, very unlike the VHS release. I last saw the tape about 15 years ago, and quality aside the quirky humour, micro-budget sets, costumes and effects, and lovable non-actors still work together perfectly to create outsider movie magic.After the screening i remarked to Mr. Paizs that the overall tone of pre-Peewee's Playhouse naive child-adult humor was brilliantly counter-pointed by the sleazy "colour crime" sequences, and the occasional acts of gory violence got the biggest laughs due to being totally unexpected. I was rewarded with a lovely silk-screened poster, which i have framed and put up in our guest room.If this sounds like your cup of tea, be sure to give it a viewing. It really is The Top!

If you haven't seen Paizs's film work before, you may or may not know that he later directed remote segments for The Kids in the Hall ("It's a Fact!" and "30 Helens Agree", etc). I saw Crime Wave shortly after it came out, and then I taped it off CBC, at which point I've shown it to everyone who's come to my place. 30 viewers agree, it's one of the funniest, darkest, quirkiest movies ever to come out of the Canadian prairies, Canada in general, or anywhere.The plot points have already been covered in the other reviews, but there are a few other things I could mention. For instance, I figured that the colour and lighting were an homage to all those National Film Board shorts we watched in high school. I asked Paizs about this, and he confirmed it.The dialogue is sharp, the satire is pointed, and the acting has an edge. Some fun moments: Steven and Dr Jolly's dead-of-night meeting in the cornfield outside Sayles, Kansas; The masquerade party where Steven shows up shirtless, painted up with green camouflage markings, festooned with dynamite and holding a detonator -- his costume was of a guy who blew himself up in a bank;Inside the traffic-counting booth, where Steven's friend has three buttons to push: left turn, right turn, and straight ahead. When he sees a car sitting at an intersection, Steven's friend has his finger poised and hovering over the buttons, waiting, waiting, waiting to see which button he should push, beads of perspiration forming on his upper lip. Then the car turns left and with relief he pushes the "left" button. Who knew counting cars was so stressful? Go figure;Eva Kovacs's line delivery throughout the movie, but especially where she shows Steven a letter and says "Steven, Steven, read this! Don't ask why, don't ask how, just read it!";Steven explaining the concept of "persistence of vision": Keep looking at the dot through two verses of "When the Saints Go Marching In" on the harmonica;All the assorted movie beginnings and endings that he can't join together, all satires of various genres, and all of which contain the phrase "But from the NORTH!"This movie is a cult classic and not to be missed!

I happened to catch part of Crime Wave on CBC late one night in the 80s and I was hypnotized by it's underground feel and truly offbeat humor. Then I didn't think about it again for about fifteen years until I came across a used copy in a video store that was going out of business. I have watched it a few times and each time my eyes widen like a little child. John Paizs as Steven Penny is a deadpan delight, future anchorwoman Eva Covacs is perfect as the precocious Kim. And of course there's Dr. Jolly. The cornfield scene is probably the weirdest scene of any film I've ever seen.Overall if you appreciate low-budget comedy miracles, this is a prototype.

I've seen this brilliant film at least ten times, and always marvel at the way director John Paizs captures the ambition, self-doubt, and frustrations of artists. I'm a professional artist myself, and find it hard not to identify with Stephen Penny, a quiet man, who aspires to be the greatest color crime movie maker in the world.Beautiful, touching, weird, inspiring, and fall-down funny!One of the best films about the artistic process ever. For everyone who ever dreamed of reaching THE TOP!