Synopsis
Killing was his obsession. Fame was his reward...
The star of a TV crime reenactment show becomes caught up in the mind of the killer he is playing.
Crimetime
1996 Directed by George Sluizer
Cast
Stephen Baldwin Pete Postlethwaite Sadie Frost Geraldine Chaplin Karen Black James Faulkner Phil Davis Marianne Faithfull Anne Lambton Suzanne Bertish Anna Bolt Pippa Hinchley Emma Roberts Trasa Dilks Jake Wood Frances Grey Gwyneth Strong Max Gold Roger Frost Peter Mackriel Pete Lee-Wilson Tom Fisher Ron Berglas Caroline Langrishe George Sluizer Laura Brattan
Director
Producer
Writer
Editor
Cinematography
Executive Producers
Production Design
Art Direction
Set Decoration
Composer
Costume Design
Studios
Starhaus Filmproduktion Arts Council of England Media Programme of the European Community National Lottery
Countries
Language
Alternative Titles
Ώρα Εγκλήματος, Envolvido com o Crime, 犯罪时刻, La hora del crimen, Crime Time, Час убийств, 크라임 타임
Releases by Date
Theatrical
-
USAR
29 Nov 1996
-
UK18
Releases by Country
UK
29 Nov 1996
- Theatrical18
USA
01 Aug 1996
- TheatricalR
Popular reviews
More-
The first logged George Sluizer flick. Technically I have see the OG Vanishing twice however both times I fell asleep during it. No fault of the movie, both times I did put it on at times not very conducive to watching it. While I know exactly what happens I'd still rather go end to end with it before I write about it. Crimetime is way better the the rating on here leads you believe.
We follow an American actor in England working on a true crime show that serializes recent murders around the city in an attempt to aid police.... but really for entertainment and profit. Reminds me of a recent doc that has some of that same disingenuous DNA…
-
Letter to George Sluizer from Brian Eno
Thanks for the chance to see your film yesterday. I have to say that it
is one of the most disturbing experiences I have ever had in a cinema.
The film is brilliant in many ways: the sets and the casting particularly
impress, and Karen Black is astonishing and totally compelling, and
Postlethwaite is hauntingly nasty. But the feeling of the film is so dark
and weird that I really don't know what to make of it. To be honest
with you, I'm really not sure how much further into the psyche of
these exceptionally sick people I wish to delve. Nonetheless, I will, as
suggested, compile some things for you to listen… -
VHS RENTAL 📼
CHOICES VIDEO, KETTERINGThis British Crime/Drama was an ok watch, an unemployed actor named Bobby (Stephen Baldwin) is hired to play a serial killer (Pete Postlethwaite) on a crime reenactment television series he desires to understand the killer's motivations and begins researching the crimes getting police officers to describe the grisly details of recent murders. Bobby becomes an expert and a star, which delights the real culprit and inspires him to go on to even more lurid, headline-grabbing crimes.
It set in a near future but doesn't over do it, the acting is OK and Stephen Baldwin is very slimy in his role, and Pete Postlethwaite is as good as ever, not as good as it should of been but ok. -
Watched this after Chris Boyd’s glowing recommendation and couldn’t tell what to make of it.
It’s a British movie from 1996 made in that period when everything we made was low budget, featured at least one American star and had one foot in the mainstream and another in the art realm.
Chris mentions Paul Verhoeven in his review and his name popped into my head watching this too.
It’s a satire based around a Crimewatch UK style crime reenactment show but one that instead of being very matter of fact and public service focussed is instead a sensationalist Hollywood style, star-making Television behemoth.
It’s big and fun and nostalgic and familiar enough that I think I might even…
-
-
Wow this movie was long! Or maybe it just seemed so. What do you do when you're an aspiring actor who has found overnight fame by portraying a murderer on a crime-stoppers TV show only to have the killings run dry and your dream career put on hold? We can all answer that question pretty quickly which makes the overlong runtime excessive and unnecessary, but thank goodness for a beautiful ass shot from the lesser of the multitude evil Baldwin brothers. Primetime crime. Who cares about real life when ratings and fame are on the line.
IMDb and Wiki pages:
-
This is an unusual British psychological murder thriller which is better than most reviews suggest. Both Pete Postlewaithe and Stephen Baldwin give great performances. The story is intriguing and the ending unexpected. Definitely worth a watch.
-
-
I remember being fairly excited but a little skeptical when Spoorloos director George Sluizer's Crimetime was first announced. I never got around to seeing it at the time because word of mouth was so bad and I'm not usually a fan of broad satirical swipes at things like reality television. It's far from great but I was sucked into it's enjoyably seedy atmosphere for much of the runtime. Also, Stephen Baldwin was perfectly cast as a vain, creepy actor along with Pete Postlethwaite, an inspired choice for the serial killer who initiates the central thread. Other than those passable attributes and a few cameos from reliable vets like Karen Black there isn't a lot going on in this interesting failure. I still recommend it and the superior Utz as curiosities from a director who is mostly known for one stunning film and it's ill-fated American remake.
-
Review from my VOD column "This Week on Demand"
Having made his name with the brooding Dutch drama The Vanishing, director George Sluizer went on to all-but-destroy that reputation with his own critically-reviled Hollywood remake. He followed that misstep with another in the form of 1996’s Crimetime, an intelligently conceived but appallingly executed crime thriller starring Steven Baldwin as an actor on a television reconstruction programme for whom the lines between reality and fiction begin to blur. There’s much to be explored in this concept, and Sluizer seems for a while to mine the material for the considerable depth it offers, but tonal uncertainty, uneven casting, and surprisingly shoddy filmmaking sees all promise rapidly evaporate. Baldwin is a perfectly decent…
-
I absolutely loved this. It’s like Paul Verhoeven directing an Alan Moore story.
So many strange and memorable moments and performances. It’s vibrating at its own frequency.
You’ve got 3 days left to watch it before it disappears off 4OD. Do it and seriously re-think your Top 4 on here.
-
