Sam Raimi wanted his friend Bruce Campbell to star in the film; however, producers wanted a "Hollywood" actor instead.
Given the commercial success of The Evil Dead, studio financial backing for the new project came quickly. Though Raimi and Campbell did not profit from the film, the studio believed in which meant Raimi was initially allowed complete creative control on the project; however, this later proved not factual as the executives interfered with production.[15] They developed the project with Embassy Pictures' producer Norman Lear, who supposedly had a "Midas touch", because of the consistent success he had attained from various television productions.[ He suggested the title Crimewave, which was ultimately used.

Raimi and the studio clashed several times during production. The first disagreement between the director and the executives stemmed from the latter's insistence on casting a "Hollywood" actor in the lead role instead of Raimi's long-time collaborator and friend Campbell. In his 2002 autobiography If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor, Campbell commented about how difficult it was working with more established producers; "jumping into the big time meant dealing with the excruciatingly specific and alternately vague demands of a studio, ... Hollywood executives took an interest in everything."[15] Campbell was surprised that he had to audition for the lead role, as he did not have to test for The Evil Dead. Campbell and his photographer friend Mike Ditz used a 16 mm film camera and shot a scene to show to the producers. Upon viewing it, the producers asserted that "Campbell will not star in this film". In retaliation, Raimi lengthened a supporting role and gave it to Campbell: the character of Renaldo "The Heel". This allowed for Campbell to be present through the production.

Raimi budgeted the film at $2.5 million, an amount the studio greenlit. But the calculations had not taken union fees and regulations into account, making the proposed budgeting and scheduling unrealistic.[15] In addition, the crew were talked into spending three times the allotted money for one shooting location. The shoot quickly went both over budget and over schedule. At that point, the studio stepped in, with executives demanding cuts in the script, budget restrictions, layoffs, and their own supervision of the project. The studio also insisted on reviewing every batch of dailies, criticizng the decision to use cast and crew members (including Campbell) as extras in several scenes (a Raimi trademark known as "Shemping").


Because the Detroit River was frozen, the cast had to use dynamite to achieve a shot of the water.

Even without Embassy's interference, however, the production was plagued with difficulties. According to Campbell, lead actress Louise Lasser—under the influence of cocaine—fired her make-up artist. She insisted that she apply all her own make-up, despite objections from the cast. She would often show up on set with poorly applied "clown make-up" and messed up hair, oblivious to how she appeared. There were occasions when she outright refused to leave her trailer, to the annoyance of the cast and crew. Production was often affected by "weird" events; actor Brion James trashed his hotel room in an attempt to "exorcise a ghost from his light fixtures".

At one point, shooting was to take place at a bridge overlooking the Detroit River, which was frozen at the time. The script, however, called for clear and running water, meaning that the crew had to brave dangerously low temperatures and conditions to clear the ice; finally they blew up the ice with dynamite.At another time, the crew spent a week filming on a Detroit street after dark, directly under a nursing home, with huge wind machines blowing for long hours. One evening a glass bottle with a note in it crashed to the ground from an upper floor. The note inside read, "The noise is keeping me awake all night long and I am getting sick. I am dying because of you."John Cameron, second assistant director on the film, would later remark, "I see Crimewave as a real turning point in a certain way, because if you survived that experience, nothing in the business could ever be as hard again."Raimi cited the experience as one of the least favorite moments of his career.

Post production

Director Sam Raimi was not allowed by the studio to edit Crimewave.
In post-production, Embassy's self-imposed role in making Crimewave was even greater. Although Raimi, Tapert, and Campbell insisted that they had made the film as partners, the studio refused — because of the already ballooning costs — to pay for Campbell to stay in Los Angeles during post-production (although the executives later compromised). The studio replaced Raimi's music composer, Joseph LoDuca, with one of its own choosing. It did the same with the editor, removing Raimi's influence over the film's final cut.

An argument broke out near the end of the post-production between Campbell and the producers. Campbell argued that he and Raimi had always closely been involved with their own film's editing, describing the behavior of the producers as "nickel-and-dime-bullshit". One of the producers replied by calling Campbell an "asshole", commenting that the crew had gone severely over budget. The difficulty during production left a negative impression on Campbell, who insisted that he wanted to never work with big-budget producers again, insisting that the conduct was "soulless" and "just a business." Raimi commented negatively about the process too, musing that "it was really wrong. It was such a horrible, horrible, horrible, depressing scene.''