The Crazies

The Crazies
by George A. Romero

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• CRAZIES, THE (DVD MOVIE)

Movie Reviews of The Crazies

Movie Review: Little Known but Excellent Romero Film
Summary: 5 Stars

"The Crazies," shows the deadly implications of a biological weapons accident on a small American town named Evans City, Pennsylvania. An army plane carrying a weapons grade virus known as Trixie crashes in a field outside of town. The military dispatches a team of specialists and cleaners to inspect the damage, and the technicians do their thing and declare the area safe for the residents. In typical paranoid, Vietnam era style, the military hides the potential dangers of the crash, but since no contamination took place the only results are a few wiped brows and some sighs of reassurance. Only a small circle of military high ups will ever realize how close America came to total destruction, for Trixie is a highly communicable virus with no known cure. What a relief!

You didn't think it would end there, did you? C'mon, this is a Romero film! As it turns out, a small quantity of Trixie did leak into the town's water supply. By the time the military realizes this actuality, some of the residents in town start showing signs of infection: a pasty complexion and a propensity to suddenly indulge in bloody violence. The army answers with a bunch of troops decked out in white detox suits armed with automatic weapons. The colonel in charge of the town quickly sets up a quarantine line around the town in an effort to stop the spread of Trixie, but try as he might, he simply lacks the necessary manpower and equipment to know for sure if his efforts are working. No one knows if Trixie moved beyond the borders of the town between the time of the crash to the first signs of infection. Since the army needs to keep the townspeople placated, they put a tight rein on any potentially damaging information. As long as the townspeople play like good little American citizens, everything will turn out for the best. As for Trixie, the army brings in a doctor who helped build the virus in the laboratory, and he starts working on a vaccination right away despite his pessimism about the communicability of the virus and the high probability that it did indeed escape the town's borders. His only hope is to find someone with immunity to the disease and thereby acquire the necessary immunological materials needed to fashion a cure.

Unfortunately for the army, one of the locals is a nurse at the doctor's office. She quickly learns what's going on and takes off to find her husband, a firefighter who is currently battling a blaze that resulted because a Trixie victim went on a rampage. The husband has a few questions himself before he ever meets up with his wife: why are there soldiers dressed in detox suits exchanging gunfire with a local? Why is it so tough to get any answers about what is going on in town? Eventually, husband and wife hook up with a few other locals and the group decides to make a break for the edge of town. The biggest problem with this plan is that several people in the group have Trixie and are slowly wasting away as the hours pass. Simultaneously, the town descends into anarchy, with soldiers and locals blazing away at each other with firearms and explosives. "The Crazies" concludes with the customary Romero ambiguity, as we wonder what will happen to the rest of the country if and when Trixie gets loose.

"The Crazies" is a low budget production that manages to put across a chilling scenario of "what if"? The soldiers do look ominous in those containment suits, and the performances of the cast are quite good considering the no name talent, with special mention going to Lynn Lowry, an amazingly sexy Sissy Spacek look alike who plays Kathy Bolan, a young lady infected with Trixie. Her death scene constitutes one of the more memorable, and upsetting, scenes in the film. A few good gun battles help move the film along, as does the occasional cutaway to officials in Washington, D.C. who consider dropping a nuclear bomb on the town if it looks like Trixie will spread. What really helps the DVD version of the film are the extras: a short interview with Lynn Lowry, a commentary track with Romero, trailers, tons of production stills from the movie, and an informative George Romero biography. "The Crazies" might well be low budget '70s fare, but it's never cheesy thanks to a claustrophobic atmosphere, capable performances, and a great plot.

Summary of The Crazies