The Crazies: Review

I think that the real problem I had with the film The Crazies lay in the hype. Reviews praised the film as being the new resurgence of the horror genre. The Crazies is a zombie-film that is not a zombie-film; and in that it loses its novelty. I have always been a zombie-film fanatic. George A. Romero is one of my personal film heroes and I have trekked to the Toronto International Film Festival twice to see world premiere’s of his work. I was very excited to see The Crazies and while it was not a complete disappointment, I can’t say that I hated it.

When making a zombie-esque film there needs to be something to captivate and engage the audience; something unique that the audience has yet to see in this type of film; that is where The Crazies failed. Upon departing the theatre my girlfriend turned to me and said: ‘We’ve seen this movie before... that Grindhouse film... Planet Terror. And upon further thought I realized she was right... the Government unleashes a biotoxin which turns people into creatures of rage, and the Government tries to fix their mistake through lethal force.

So what was The Crazies good for? Well, some of the action itself was alright; nothing too original – the most original kill being where a man get stabbed through the hand and then slides his hand all the way up the knife to go on and stab a woman in the throat using the knife still stuck in hand. The plot, while simple for a horror film was straightforward and easy to follow only providing one continuity error that I noticed. The Sheriff, played by Timothy Olyphant, turns off the city’s water supply, making it impossible to turn back on, only to find himself stuck in a carwash trap two days later... where’d the water come from? But other than that one moment the plot was decently played out.

The acting was actually brilliant; something you don’t normally get with zombie-esque films. Part of the love for zombie films revolves around the campy overacting; yet Olyphant and Radha, as the dynamic duo were brilliant on screen with a chemistry that felt very real. Reviewers talk a lot about Olyphant’s portrayal in The Crazies to rival his portrayal in Deadwood, and while I have yet to watch Deadwood if that is the case I truly look forward to the show.

My problem with the film comes back to the lack of originality; sure it is a remake of a Romero classic, and classified in the zombie/horror genre (although repeatedly marketed as ‘not another zombie film’) but one can see every bump, jump and twist 5 miles away (which ironically is how far the main characters have to walk at one point) you can obviously guess that while they made the 5 mile trek they experienced serious delays in the process. If only this film was able to provide an ending that didn’t go along with the typical zombie movie ending and bumps, jumps and twists that actually turned out to be a surprise. The lack of originality actually made the film start off much more slowly than need-be; as the first 30 minutes felt extremely gruelling and final runtime felt much longer than it actually was.

Despite the criticisms the movie is genuinely terrifying at moments; including moments where I almost leapt out of my seat. The film while not perfect still has its enjoyable moments and this is definitely Breck Eisner’s best directorial work, one can only hope that his next work Flash Gordon is better than this.

2.5 out of 5 stars