The Crazies
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Movie Reviews of The Crazies
Movie Review: Things Fall Apart
Summary: 4 Stars
George Romero's non-'Dead' films are, as a whole, under appreciated, but probably none of them is in more dire need of greater recognition than 'The Crazies'. It's not a perfect film, by any means, but it's well done, considering the budgetary restraints, and ranks as perhaps his bleakest and most ambitious film, and is an interesting bridge between his inital masterpiece `Night of the Living Dead' and the later ones `Martin' and `Dawn of the Dead'. (The equally obscure `Season of the Witch' is also found in this era. It's a heavily flawed film, but better than you might think.)
The film involves the unintended contamination of Evans City with an experimental bio-weapon named Trixie. Needless to say, the virus causes the victims to go insane, though this can mean a lot of things ranging from homicidal rage to suicide to sheer goofiness. The military is called in to keep things contained, but the situation is clearly out of hand. 'The Crazies' is particularly ambitious because it shows the tragedy from a variety of angles: We primarily identify with a lone group of towns people who just wanna get the hell out of there, but we also get to know the central military command of the operation, the leadership on the ground, the scientists who both created the virus and are trying to now find a sort of cure, all while seeing plenty of conflict between the ill-informed soldiers and the other towns people, both crazy and normal. The film is particularly interesting in that it has no real villains. The military people are not overwhelmingly scrupulous in their conduct, but they are rarely truly malevolent either. (And the head of the operation proves to be one of the most likable characters in the film.) Furthermore, though they largely botch the operation, they aren't really portrayed as especially incompetent either. It's just a bad, bad situation, and a lotta people are gonna end up dead no matter how you go about it. (This, in the end, actually makes the film more bleak, as it seems likely that things would've gone very badly no matter what anyone did.) Conversely, though we more naturally identify with the civilians, they are partially to blame for the extreme difficulty of the situation as they are so utterly defensive and untrusting. Thru all this a major theme from `Night of the Living Dead' recurs: lack of and inability to communicate, which leads to virtual war between the military and the remaining civilians.
This movie was really made on the cheap, but it's sufficiently competent from a technical standpoint. The acting isn't fantastic, but as far as the low-budget 70's horror goes, it ain't bad. It's also ahead of its time, with lots of frantic, rapid fire editing, though it never becomes irritating and incoherent, as modern films so often do. The film has quite a few action scenes, and they're often pretty primitive but effective in their way. These scenes are more about violence and destruction rather than excitement, so they don't really need to work in the way that these kind of scenes traditionally do. As is typical of early Romero, he pulls no punches and defies traditional rules of what you can and can't do in a movie. (To wit: In the opening scene of the film a little girl pulls down the sheets on a bed to discover the blood stained corpse of her mother, and it's all downhill from their, culminating in some really rather inappropriate behavior between father and daughter in a scene late in the film.) This sorta thing works especially well because it never feels self-conscious. Romero doesn't seem to be aware of what would or would not be considered appropriate, nor does he seem to be being actively transgressive. He's just showing it the way it happened. (Compare this to `Outbreak' which some accuse of being a knockoff. Notice all the lame Hollywood crap in that movie and the hilariously EVIL government dude. I dunno whether or not that movie ripped `The Crazies' off, but I do know that it totally sucked. By the way, they are currently planning on remaking `The Crazies'. Many people are opposed to this, but I'm glad. First of all, it'll allow this movie to get greater exposure, as it is really quite obscure right now, and it's apparently gonna be directed by the obviously talented Brad Anderson, so it has a good chance of turning out well, provided that they are reasonably faithful to the tone and themes of the original. Which, of course, they may not.)
The film has an odd soundtrack, largely marching snare drums and `When Johnny Comes Marching Home', no doubt inspired by `Dr. Strangelove'. While thematically appropriate, the music does get a little tiresome after a while. Still, not to big of a deal.
The Blue Underground DVD is pretty nice. The transfer looks a lot better than you'll usually get for a film of this sort, and the commentary track was rather entertaining and interesting, as it typically is from Romero films. Anyway, I like this movie. Check it out.
Grade: B+
Movie Review: Not Romero's best, but still excellent and underrated
Summary: 4 Stars
THE CRAZIES
**** Out of 5
Release Date- March 16th, 1973
Running Time- 103-Minutes
Rating- R
Screenplay- Paul McCollough & George A. Romero
Director- George A. Romero
Starring- Will MacMillan, Harold Wayne Jones, Lane Carroll, Lloyd Hollar, Lynn Lowry, Richard Liberty
Released in 1973 this was the 4th movie made by legendary filmmaker George A. Romero; best known for his zombie flicks there is actually a lot more to Romero than zombie flicks even if that is his legacy. The Crazies isn't really a zombie movie since the characters aren't walking corpses, but rather infected, but The Crazies does sort of have the formula that is seen in zombie flicks. The plot deals with a virus accidentally released in a small Pennsylvania town and the people infected go Crazy hence the title the Crazies and you can clearly see the influence here on 28 Days Later and The Crazies seems like it might have been inspired by I Drink Your Blood since both movies follow the same basic idea and both have the super cutie Lynn Lowry.
The Crazies despite being directed by Romero and has built up a following it's not really well known, but than again it almost seems as if any Romero flick that isn't a zombie movie besides Creepshow isn't very well known, which is quite sad since again there is a lot more to Romero than zombie movies. The Crazies is a strong movie in the career of George Romero and deserves more credit than it gets.
The screenplay by Paul McCollough & George A. Romero was solid, but a bit flawed as well. Like most of Romero's movies I found the lead characters to be well developed and mostly likeable. Of the 3 main characters Judy played by Lane Carroll is the least developed, but she's still likeable. But I thought the characters were mostly solid, but the plot is slightly uneven and could have used a bit more work to it. While there is a lot of action The Crazies is also high on talk and some of the dialogue can get repetitive at times. But as a whole despite these flaws I thought the script was pretty good overall.
As director George Romero delivers a solid flick that can be a little sluggish in its pacing and is some what hindered by its low budget. But Romero got his start it low budget flicks and is able to work well with the limited money the movie had. Romero is able to deliver some good suspense and solid action scenes, but when it's heavy in dialogue it can lack a bit. Like I said the script is good, but not everything works and in those scenes is when the pacing can lag at times. But even with Romero keeps the pace moving and delivers a lot of excitement.
The Crazies is loved by some Romero fans and disliked by others and I can understand why some people might not like this, but overall despite any problems I thought it was a solid flick. The movie hits the ground running and dives right into the plot, which can sometimes hurt a film, but other times helps and in the case of the Crazies I think it works well since it adds to the confusion the characters are going through, but it slows down a bit and allows the characters to do a little more.
Like I said earlier I always thought Romero was able to create really great characters and while the characters in The Crazies may not be the strongest ones he's created I do think they were interesting. I liked David played by Will MacMillan and Clank played by Harold Wayne Jones was my favorite in the movie. The characters again may not be Romero's best, but I still found them likeable and interesting and was rooting for them to survive.
Overall The Crazies is a heavily flawed movie, but it's still a solid movie and much underrated movie in the legendary career of George Romero.
Movie Review: The Crazies
Summary: 4 Stars
Sometimes I wonder if George Romero could be one of those mainstream directors who can operate in Hollywood like Wes Craven. Romero's best films are most definitely his older fare while trying to adapt to this formula in the modern age after Land of the Dead has resulted in the disappointing but well thought out Diary of the Dead, and what is supposedly his worse recieved movie Survival of the Dead. Sure He's made movies like Creepshow and Monkeyshines in the eighties but for my money his best movies were made in the seventies, films like Martin and The Crazies.
Looking back at it The Crazies might not seem the best of his movies. You really don't have anything like Zombies, or vampires to see as the horror and most people unaccustomed to the film might end up calling it a cheaper version of Outbreak. But in a way with Romero's political streak in view with not so subtle allegory and metaphor, in my opinion its one of his more interesting films. The idea of a virus, something unseen that can attack anyone without a mask or knife is good use of preying on a more realistic fear. The fact that it turns its victims into mindless crazy psychopaths is an interesting idea for what could be considered villains. But then the army shows up trying to secure an already volatile situation created by them (the virus is a man made bioweapon unleashed when a plane crashes)and starts shooting citizens who've gone mad then you really have no true villains, just people reacting to their circumstances. These scenes are interspersed with Romero's criticsm showing government who keep debating on dropping a nuke on the town, or a doctor not given the equipment and cooperation He needs to find a cure for the virus.
The movie unlike some of Romero's more famous films has a more harder feel to it and to me thats one of its charms in a way. Theres not a whole lot of gore on display so the characters and their situations take more precedence over more horrific things. Its not the greatest film ever but I like the independent feel it exhudes even when the story is a bit heavy handed.
The DVD itself from Blue Underground is well produced. There is a Blu-Ray on the way before the remake hits in February which seems to have the identical features. For a low budget movie the DVD itself does have excellent picture and sound, and the features are good for such a small unheard of picture. I have nothing against the remake as it does look entertaining, but before it hits do yourself a favor and check out the original.
Movie Review: A good addition to a complete Romero collection
Summary: 4 Stars
What a shame that we don't have more of a culture of independent filmmaking in this country. "The Crazies" is not "Citizen Kane", but Romero completists will appreciate this fine presentation. You won't find the script and production values of "The Andromeda Strain", but if you enjoy out-of-control virus thrillers, then this film is a good choice. It's an odd bridge between the bleak horror of "Night of the Living Dead" and the apocalyptic farce of "Dawn of the Dead".
As expected, many classic Romero themes begin to formulate in this early film. The replacement of one society by another, with the "new" society simply expressing exaggerated characteristics of the "old". We see a bureaucratized, inefficient government that ends of doing far more harm than good. And of course we see the usual two-dimensional negative depiction of military characters. (This has always been a weakness in Romero's word - we know the government is bad, why underscore that point with a bad cliche).
Like almost all of his work, Romero filmed this in the Pittsburgh area largely with local talent. The acting is hit-and-miss...but Romero takes some interesting risks, especially in light of its age. In terms of directing, writing, and cinematography, Romero accomplished a great deal with very limited resources. There are some images you won't forget...an insane grandmother killing a soldier with knitting needles is more disturbing than it sounds, for example.
I run hot and cold towards Romero's films. He's had some excellent success, and some profound failures - but in general, there should be more filmakers like him. I'd much rather see something as risk-taking as "The Crazies" than normal Hollywood fare. The extras on this DVD are first-rate. We're treated to a director's commentary, an interview with a period actress, trailers, and some clips from other period works.
Movie Review: Interesting thriller from George Romero!
Summary: 4 Stars
A deadly government made virus called "Code: Trixie" has just been unleashed into a Pennslyvania town called "Evan's City" as it contaminates some people as the effects are either death or insanity that leads them to kill people. However the local army and scientists are working on a cure as they must give vaccines to some of the non-infected people of the town. A few people such as a Vietnam vet with his pregnant wife secretly have to flee the virus and the deadly infected folk.
Interesting Sci-fi action horror thriller from the creator of "Night of the Living Dead" and "Dawn of the Dead" George A. Romero that has his trademark brand of social satire mixed with horror elements and there are good themes about biological warfare including the effects of what it could do to people. Cult actress Lynn Lowrey, Richard France (Dawn of the Dead 1978) and Richard Liberty (Day of the Dead) co-star in this chilling action packed movie of paranoia and militant fear.
The DVD has good picture and sound quality with that nice remastering that "Blue Underground" always does to cult movies! A good audio commentary by George Romero is here with some nice extras like an interview with legendary Lynn Lowrey, poster-and-still gallery, George Romero bio, TV Spots and Trailers.
Also recommended: "Outbreak", " 28 Days Later", "Rabid", "The Brood", " Dawn of the Dead (1978 and 2004)", "Night of the Living Dead ( 1968 and 1990)", "Day of the Dead", "Resident Evil", " Scanners", " I Drink Your Blood", " The Hills Have Eyes", " Night of the Comet", " Return of the Living Dead 3", " Nightmare City ( a.k.a. City of the Walking Dead)", " Cannibal Apocalypse", "Akira", " The Omega Man".