I know what you’re thinking: you just talked about The Crazies… and you’re not wrong… but now we’re talking about the remake!
Today we’re covering…
The Crazies!
Movie Details:
- Release Date: 2010
- “Run”time: 1 hour 41 minutes
- Where to watch it: Streaming
- Directed by: Breck Eisner
- Written by: Scott Kosar, Ray Wright, and George A. Romero
- Starring:
- Timothy Olyphant
- Radha Mitchell
- Joe Anderson
Synopsis: The small farming community of Ogden Marsh has a run-in with their own Crazies inducing pandemic…
Open Stab Wounds (out of 10): 9
Review: Kevin had the pleasure yesterday of writing about the original The Crazies (1973). Today I get the pleasure of writing about the superior film of the two. Yes, I’m kind of playing my bias here early. The writers (Scott Kosar and Ray Wright) took George A. Romero’s wonderful idea of a crazy “Trixie” virus infecting an entire town, made it less a fever dream (no sickness pun intended) and more of an intelligible story. My preference boils down to how much more coherent and cohesive this film is compared to the original. Even the opening scene does a good job of introducing an idyllic town and its friendly cast of characters before it devolves into horror.
Ok, bias acknowledged, let’s talk about the film!
Kevin told you what the original Crazies was about already, so that helps me streamline this a bit. One of the major upgrades in this remake is the addition of Radha Mitchell and particularly Timothy Olyphant. He is an actor that elevates everything he’s in and for The Crazies, his character forms as the anchor point throughout the chaos. Some of his simple reactions bring such a high level of verisimilitude to the character. One such example is when he’s trying to start a car, and everyone is yelling at him to hurry up. He turns around, lifts his ignition turning hand, says, “I…” then turns to keep trying. That single moment of pure exasperation is massively effective. Not only does it show his resolve to take care of his wife, but it’s a great juxtaposition against the infected others, whose minimal stress turn them into murderers.
Speaking of murderers, the titular Crazies do plenty of effective gore and cringe-inducing moments over the course of the film’s runtime. Their unhinged and vacant stares are very creepy. Plus, the senselessness of their violence is scary too.
But let’s talk about the real villain: The U.S. government! It’s back in this remake and they suck. They’re effective, mostly faceless, villains that cause all the events in the film. Sure, the Crazies, are the ones stabbing people with pitchforks and burning their families alive… but nuking an entire town is a bit much. There can be a parallel to COVID when talking about this movie, but I hesitate to relate them too closely; people still think that COVID is a government conspiracy. If we relate them too readily, we risk viewing this movie as justification for saying, “yeah, see! The government will always kill us! COVID VACCINES ARE KILLING US”.
The Crazies is up there in my top 5 remakes of all time, I think. It’s in an exclusive club with Dawn of the Dead (2004) and The Thing (1982). It does what remakes and song covers should do: take the source material, distill its themes, and create something that is recognizable but new. The Crazies (2010) may not be the All Along the Watchtowers of remakes, but it’s several steps above Weezer’s cover of Africa.
Kevin Says: He agrees with me for the most part. He didn’t tell me he disagreed, so everything I said he probably says too
Open Stab Wounds (out of 10): 7.5
Thanks for reading and watching along with us! Be sure to keep up with all 31 days of our Halloween Horror Film coverage!
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