The Crazies Review

The Crazies is revamped version of George A Romero’s 1973 long forgotten film which filled the void between Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead. The Crazies starts with an interesting premise about a small old town in Iowa with several citizens being struck down with spontaneous bouts of insanity and soon a military crackdown ensues. Before sitting down to this film, I predicted this film would be rated at about 2 to 4 out of 5, sadly my prediction was proved right at the lesser end of the scale.

The film begins with great promise. It sets the scene quickly- idyllic little town, agrarian community, simple folk time – and respects the audience’s previous knowledge of zombie films understanding that a long melodramatic sepia-toned beginning is unnecessary. Furthermore, within the first 10 minutes, the first shocking incident happens and the audience is hooked. So far so good. But oh dear, the early tightness completely unravels as the story continues. For example, this is how each “encounter” plays out in rather sarcastic style. Woman – oh there’s a noise. Man/Woman- I will investigate. Phew, there’s nobody here. Oh wait, there still here! This would result in either- escape or death. Sad to say, this is extremely accurate.

To say that every zombie film is like this, maybe true, but it does not excuse this film. However, Eisner does try to create some original ideas such as the entrapment of citizens, and it is a credit to Eisner that the military’s response is probably an accurate representation if this were to actually to occur. However, this movie is not completely terrible and the main reason for this is Timothy Olyphant. Ever since the end of the TV series Deadwood, Olyphant has never been rewarded the good roles that he deserves. Instead of simply presenting a flawed magnolia flavoured sheriff, he represents someone who has a brain and a heart. Indeed, he gets support from Radha Mitchell, especially in latter half of the film once she stops attempting her Fay Wray impersonation.

There are much better films than this. Indeed Zack Snyder has shown that it is possible to update a Romero classic with verve and frantic energy as shown in his version of Dawn of the Dead. However, the main flaw is that it does not capitalise on its flashes of genuine promise. It has dark moments with the cold blooded murder of a woman and a child through their house being torched by someone suffering from the insanity. However, the finale is a cop out with it verging on the pure ridiculousness stealing a scene straight from Indiana Jones 4. It is sadly a rather depressing affair.

2/5