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The Crazies

Directed by Breck Eisner
Screenplay by Scott Kosar, Ray Wright

Sheriff David Dutton – Timothy Olyphant
Dr. Judy Dutton – Radha Mitchell
Russell Clank – Joe Anderson
Becca Darling – Danielle Panabaker

CLR Rating:

Remake Is No Masterpiece,
but Succeeds with Good Pacing and Shocks Galore

Horror film is enduring a period of what some would call “rejuvenation” and others would dub “total lack of imagination.” Good new horror is hard to find and recent remakes have been totally hit-or-miss. This weekend’s The Crazies is based on a 1973 George Romero film of the same name. This version, directed by Breck Eisner, shares basic plot points and characters, but it outdoes the mediocre-to-awful original by far. The premise is simple: small town America turned upside down by a force that pits neighbor against neighbor in a gruesome battle for their lives. The Crazies isn’t a masterpiece, but its pacing and effects ensure a good time for those in search of an old-school, seventies-style scare flick.

It is spring in idyllic Ogden Marsh, Iowa: baseball season is opening, the fields are ripe for planting, and the sound of tractors fills the air. Young love blossoms amidst the gently rustling grass, and the townsfolk go about their daily lives. The inherent strangeness of rural America is common in horror cinema, partly because it’s familiar to so many Americans and partly because there’s something eerie about such tranquility. Sheriff David Dutten (Timothy Olyphant) suddenly finds himself in a tough situation when the people of Ogden Marsh begin to go completely out of their minds. The film follows a pretty standard formula: Dutten, his wife Judy (Radha Mitchell), and Deputy Russell Clank (Joe Anderson) manage to survive the initial outbreak and have to fight their way through the hordes of crazies to save themselves. While it bears a lot of resemblance to older horror (obviously), its production values are fantastic and the pacing is ideal. Between atrocious kills there are minor chuckles. Psychologically it works wonders—the moment everyone in the theater breathes a sigh of relief, another shocker hits them.

As it turns out, the government accidentally released a biological weapon into the water supply of Ogden Marsh, causing sentient humans to go totally insane. The movie bears a resemblance to zombie films because the agent causes deterioration and spooky physical changes, but these are not zombies—they’re far scarier than the walking (or running) dead. The crazies just want to kill, kill, kill, but because the infected retain knowledge of weaponry and everyday functions, they’re a scarier threat than zombies, whose only concern is to consume. Hunting is a hefty pastime in Ogden Marsh, and when the virus infiltrates the brains of those with the shotguns, they train their sights on more familiar fodder—a terrifying but obvious twist. The Crazies plays with the idea that a person’s very universe can be turned upside down in a matter of moments, which is, on a base level, what makes horror so fascinating and entertaining.

Good horror film and literature can transform everyday objects, situations, and people into something completely off-the-wall and appalling. To a farmer, tillers, tractors, and pitchforks are simply equipment used to ensure a good crop. To an outsider, these things shriek “instrument of torture.” The Crazies features farm tools used in the latter way, which is effective considering its setting (though not new). The movie also strums on the nerves of claustrophobics and those of us who, as kids, loved the old car washes in which huge rubber tentacles slap against the windows. There are a number of really creative, smart kills that aren’t implausible, but neither are they routine. In particular, a thresher featured early in the movie doesn’t live up to its myriad possibilities, but it’s better for filmmakers to refrain from taking the easy out. It’s difficult for a movie to make a horror fan think, “Whoa!” but The Crazies succeeds at that.

The movie could easily have taken an enthusiastic anti-war or anti-government stance, but chooses to sympathize with the soldiers who appear to exterminate the infected (and anyone who gets in their way). The few military men that survivors encounter make it perfectly clear that they were only trying to help, that they were only following orders. (Though it is worth noting that throughout human history, “I was only following orders” has popped up when the worst atrocities are committed.) There is no real enemy here, and that’s terrifying. Throughout the film, satellite imagery appears, backing away in spurts from the action on the ground. Red letters pop up on the screen: Begin Quarantine Sequence. The audience is privy to the terrifying minutiae of a small town’s destruction, but someone else is watching from above, plotting the best way to save the rest of the world from contamination. It’s a creepy and thoroughly neat way to remind the audience that they’re not the only voyeurs.

The Crazies suffers from a merely adequate script, and a few sentimental scenes that have no place and feel utterly dumb. Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell are good in their respective roles, and Joe Anderson’s (Across the Universe) cheekbones and baby blues go a long way. Danielle Panabaker (Sky High) does well in a rather disposable role, adding pretty youthfulness to a cast of largely older actors. The movie’s merit lies in its smart editing, great makeup effects, and classic feel. Character development isn’t at the forefront, but that’s just as well. For a film like this, it’s important just to be effectively creepy and shocking, and at that it succeeds admirably.

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