Written by Robert Scucci | Published
In 1988 Crime Scene that’s what you get if Blade Runner again 1984 they’re thrown into a blender, along with everything Roger Corman produced. The result is a low-budget sci-fi action flick that leans heavily on typical dystopian themes. The common man lives under a brutal, tyrannical government, intimacy is illegal, wars are fought on many fronts, and everyone tries to make the best of their suffering while hoping there’s enough rations to go around. It’s a dim, but dare I say, stylish place.
Although far from original, even by 1988 standards, Crime Scene It’s always a fun romp about escaping a retro-futuristic hellhole that feels too easy to imagine. To me, it is the ultimate form of wish fulfillment. One day, when we’re at odds with ourselves, eating whatever the government has to offer before they kill our fellow citizens on live television under the door to protect the crew, you can hope the escape is as fun and powerful as it gets. Crime Scene.
The Rebel, And Her Child, For A Cause
Bone (Peter Nelson) is an excellent host Crime Scene because when we meet him, he is fired from his government job for disobedience. He hates authority and blindly follows the rules “just because.” Living in a police district known as Soleil, and belonging to a socio-economic group known as the “subgrades,” Bone and his friends, Creon (Michael Shaner), JD (Don Manor), and Alexi (Orlando Sacha), spend their free time shooting at one of the many government-sanctioned brothels. This is where Bone meets and quickly becomes infatuated with a prostitute named Helen (Sherilyn Fenn).
Although Bone and Helen quickly become an item, Soleil forbids any unauthorized romantic or sexual acts, meaning they must keep their relationship a secret. Fed up with the status quo, and ready for a quick coup, they decide to escape the oppressive regime and venture beyond its heavily fortified borders.
They turn to crime to raise money, but their plans change when they encounter a mysterious man named Jason (David Carradine), who makes them an offer they can’t refuse.
Jason, who always smokes cigarettes and appears at suspicious times, tells Bone and Helen that if they help him steal confidential records from a government building, he will help them leave Soleil and guide them to Frodan, another world that may offer a better life.
The problem is that Jason keeps moving the stakes after making his will, which eventually leads to the couple robbing a bank to get more money. Now fugitives, they need to figure out a plan to escape on their own, though Jason continues to appear at worse times, his motives becoming clearer with each encounter. With no one to trust and everyone wanting to make an example of them by being killed in public, our heroes have to figure out how to get out, even if it feels like it’s over for Bone and Helen.
Gritty, Sexy, and All Too Familiar
Crime Scene it’s not an original movie, but with a low-budget B-movie aesthetic, it’s a solid romp through an industrial wasteland that doesn’t feel too far from where society might aspire. If you are fluent in the language of cinema it is available Blade Runner, RoboCopand the Terminator movies, you might scoff because you’ve seen it all before. However, watching it with a blank slate is a rewarding experience. It has its strings up its sleeve, but they work shockingly well in this context.
Movies are the same Crime Scene it was everywhere in the 80s, and your grade will vary depending on how deep you go into the genre. At the right price, Crime Scene it has enough twists to keep things interesting, a believable level of action in the police state setting, and enough moral ambiguity between our heroes and their mysterious guide to keep you guessing well into the third act. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it spins hard enough to explain 96 minutes of your time.
As of this writing, Crime Scene is streaming for free on Tubi.
