The Crazies Review

Posted by Bryan Kristopowitz on 03.01.2010

Depressing, but in a good way.

"The Crazies" Review

Timothy Olyphant- David Dutton
Radha Mitchell- Judy Dutton
Joe Anderson- Russell Clank
Danielle Panabaker- Becca Darling
Christie Lynn Smith- Deardra Farnum
Brett Rickaby- Bill Farnum
John Aylward- Mayor Hobbs
Larry Cedar- Ben Sandborn
Joe Reegan- Pvt. Billy Babcock
Glenn Morshower- Intelligence Officer
Justin Miles- Scotty McGregor

Directed by Breck Eisner
Screenplay by Scott Kosar and Ray Wright, based on a movie and screenplay by George A. Romero

Distributed by Overture Films

Rated Rfor bloody violence and language
Runtime- 101 minutes
Website: http://www.thecrazies-movie.com/




"The Crazies," directed by Breck Eisner, stars Timothy Olyphant as David Dutton, the sheriff of a small Iowa town that's under U.S. government quarantine because of the accidental release of an experimental biological weapon that causes the infected to, well, go crazy and kill people. Dutton, stripped of his authority once the town is sealed off by heavily armed soldiers decked out in gas masks and contamination suits, quickly becomes a man that just wants to survive. With the help of his deputy Russell (Joe Anderson), Dutton rescues his believed to be infected but she really isn't town doctor wife Judy (Radha Mitchell) from a containment facility and tries to get out of town. Dutton believes that if he can get his wife, Russell, and young hottie Becca (Danielle Panabaker, who plays Judy's assistant) to a truck stop several miles away they can all get away from whatever the heck is happening in the farming community of Ogden Marsh. The only things standing in their way are the rampaging infected and the military patrols that will stop at nothing to prevent people, infected or not infected, from escaping.

The flick, a remake of the 1973 low budget classic horror action flick "The Crazies" (aka "Codename: Trixie") by George A. Romero (he serves as an executive producer here), is one of the most depressing horror movies in a good, long while. Depressing because, at its core, "The Crazies" is a movie about hopelessness. The people of Ogden Marsh are in a no-win situation that they can't get out of and there is no one there to help them. Infected or not infected, they are the enemy. Will fighting back make a difference? You certainly hope so. You actively root for Dutton and his uninfected group once the hooey hits the fan because they are the only ones we see trying to get out of the town. They're also the ones we see intimately under siege. If they survive an attack by an infected fellow citizen, will they be able to escape the attack helicopters roaming the sky?

One of the things you'll likely notice and be surprised by is the flick's total lack of a political message. Unlike the Romero original, which took shots at the military and irresponsible scientists at the height of Vietnam, Eisner's flick really isn't interested in making a statement about anything. The closest thing that comes to a political statement is an impromptu meeting with a government scientist (expertly played by the great Glenn Morshower) where we find out a few details about the biological weapon. You may ask yourself why the hell anyone would create a weapon like the "Trixie" virus in the first place, but the characters really don't have the time to wonder about it. The characters just want to survive. Now, could you say that the movie is making a political statement because the soldiers are just as dangerous as the infected crazies, not to mention the whole "government putting people into camps and getting rid of the evidence of their own massive mistake" thing? Probably, but the movie itself never comes out and says anything explicitly one way or the other. The whole situation, on all sides, is messed up (hopeless). That's what Eisner wants you to see and be aware of be scared of. And, for the most part, Eisner succeeds.



"The Crazies" isn't perfect. The movie's opening scene is annoying (we see Ogden Marsh two days in the future, on fire) and the general set up of the plot is a tad clunky. The movie needs about five more minutes of set up in terms of seeing the town and its citizens before the first incident (you've seen it in commercials, the old guy with the gun walks out into the middle of a high school baseball game for seemingly no reason). The military plane crash that leaks the Trixie toxin into the town's water supply (that's how the town gets infected) is a tad implausible because no one in town knows about it. I don't give a flying hooey if Ogden Marsh is out in the middle of nowhere and the military plane is a super secret jet, someone in town besides the town weirdo would know about it (especially now, with everyone having cell phones and instant communication. Plus, it's a goddamn plane crash. There would have been a shockwave after it smashed into the ground. No one felt it? Please). The whole Johnny Cash song in the beginning is way too obvious an homage to Zack Snyder's "Dawn of the Dead" remake, which also opened with a Johnny Cash song ("We'll Meet Again" is from the same album as "The Man Comes Around," which was what Snyder used in "Dawn") And the final scene is a tad too "Resident Evil Apocalypse" for my tastes (I like that movie, but the scene doesn't make any sense). But once the quarantine situation starts up and Dutton is on his quest the movie kicks ass. It's depressing, yeah, but it's pretty damn decent anyway.

Olyphant does a good job as the town sheriff David Dutton. He's plausible as the sheriff of the town and he's believable as a man that just wants to survive. Olyphant probably could have been a tad more emotional when his Dutton decides to rescue his wife, but then Dutton is all about keeping cool and in control (he is the sheriff). Olyphant's performance makes sense. Radha Mitchell is decent as Dutton's wife Judy. She's just as interested in keeping cool and in control of things even when she's captured by the soldiers and placed in the containment facility. She also has good chemistry with Olyphant and with Panabaker's Becca (I would have liked to have seen more of that relationship). Joe Anderson is excellent, at least at first, as deputy Russell Clank. He's a great sidekick, but I don't know if I totally buy his transformation later on when there's a chance he may be infected. And Danielle Panabaker's Becca is the least developed main character because we don't get to find out much about her. She's in love with Scotty (Justin Miles) and that's about it. Panabaker makes the most of her character, though, and is fun to watch.

Larry Cedar (of "Feds," "C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud" and "Square One" fame) is pretty cool as Ben Sandborn (he gets to have fun with a pitchfork). John Aylward is brilliant as the town's douchebag mayor Hobbs (he has one scene, where we get to see his in ground pool in the middle of a field, which, to me, is freaking hilarious). Glenn Morshower, again, is great as the government scientist that Dutton meets on the road. I also want to commend Justin Welborn (he plays Curt Hamill) for just having a weird face that's scary without make up and then incredibly scary with it. That's rare.



"The Crazies" is definitely worth a look. It's got issues and it's depressing as all hell, sure, but it's well made. It will not have the shelf life of the Romero original, but then very few horror movies do.

See "The Crazies." See it, see it, see it.

So what do we have here? Gratuitous burning buildings, gratuitous Johnny Cash song at the beginning of the movie, gratuitous Danielle Panabaker, gratuitous Timothy Olyphant, gratuitous Larry Cedar, coffee cup dropping, bullet to the head, gratuitous people hanging out at the town funeral home, wood shaving, a massive farm machine, some serious Kim Richards, gratuitous douchebag hunters (one of them looks like Will Ferrell), a seriously dead body in the swamp, gratuitous submerged fighter jet, gratuitous satellite surveillance, gratuitous John Aylward, an in ground pool in the middle of a field, bad cell phone reception, a grown woman with pigtails riding a banana seat bike, lip sewing, metal rod to the back of the head, attempted bone saw to the face, runaway bone saw, gratuitous massive quarantine situation, temperature taking, pick up truck attack, multiple pitchforks through the stomach, an explanation of the balance of power, dead body collecting, an incredibly brutal flamethrower scene, gratuitous multiple "car boots," some serious chair bondage, knife through the hand, knife through the hand and then through the neck, gratuitous attack helicopter, car wash attack, window smashing, impromptu hanging, exploding car, a massive truck wreck with wild flip, gratuitous Glenn Morshower, shooting a rifle to make it weigh less, a cat fish story, a sacrifice, a truck filled with burned bodies, supply stealing, a very cool restaurant scene, wrench to the face, an underground fist fight with burning man gag, a massive explosion, and the ending to "Resident Evil: Apocalypse"

Best lines: "Go on, get out of here. Go have some fun," "Nice pitch, Scotty!," "Rory, are you drunk?," "Would you mind taking a look at Bill?," "She worries too much. I'm fine. Just a little tired," "Guns away until fall," "You're full of shit. He's full of shit!," "What the fuck?," "You know what? We're in trouble," "Christ almighty!," "Keep moving, please!," "Is this really happening?," "Did Peter call?," "I hope you're right, chief," "Ah, shit! It's booted!," "Russell, get out of the truck," "We are gonna get through this," "Scotty, don't be an asshole," "Is that what they told you, that if you took your mask off you were going to die?," "Any Crazies back there Babcock?," "This was gonna be your room," "This is the gun that killed your father," "Just making sure," "I'm not sick," "Everything is fucking moving!," "Judy, stop talking, okay?," "Hey, remember that monster cat fish I caught last summer?," "Boo fucking yeah!," and "Let's get the fuck out of here!"

The 411: "The Crazies" is a well made horror flick that, while being depressing as all hell, is definitely worth seeing. It's not as good or as "important" as the Romero original, but then very few horror movies are. What the heck does the ending mean, though? I don't get that part, the thing that shows up in the credits.

Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]