The Crazies

This movie did not disappoint, I was happy to see some sort of virus go through a town that for once, did not make people zombies. The action starts within the first couple of minutes and continues throughout the entire movie until the last minute which was great. I was also happy to see that this movie had a realistic amount of blood in it, so when somebody gets stabbed with a pitchfork there isn't an exaggerated fountain of blood spouting from the wounds, unlike with movies such as the Saw and Final Destination series. Don't get me wrong I love gore, but I wasn't focused on that with the movie. I haven't been able to find a movie that would make me jump since I saw Quarantine when that first came out in theaters, I was ecstatic that this movie was able to make me jump, of course that fact that all the lights were off and the volume was at its max helped as well, can't watch a horror with low sound :) I must admit that the cause for the virus was a little iffy and non too creative, but it worked for me. I definitely recommend at least watching it.

This movie.....THIS MOVIE is the reason I want to be a filmmaker. I want to make badass movies people won't forget. I was pretty pumped to see this movie because I'm a big zombie, apocalypse, virus, or crazy people movie lover. This movie falls under that category. This movie is about a small town in Iowa i believe called Ogden Marsh. The movie starts out with a bang which I love. I love to get pulled into a movie right away and if you've seen the trailer you know the baseball seen in which I am talking about. Basically all the people in the town start going crazy because of a special reason I will not reveal :), SO GO SEE IT! Anyway the thing makes the people become really quiet and the little they do talk is very repetitive and random, kinda like in The Happening where someone is talking about how they are inside a room and they can see a tree outside the wind.....all the sudden they start talking about math problems and saying it over and over (if you've seen The Happening you ALSO know what seen I'm referring to.) After the catatonic stage they go into a homicidal stage but still in la la land. Then you have the final stage of "CRAZY!!!!" We got crazy husbands, a crazy mortician, and some rednecks. I really wish I could go into more detail with this but I know anything else I say will reveal some of the plot which is to amazing to spoil. So the special effects, gore, and acting weren't over done at all. This movie was the perfect horror film in todays shitty horror flicks which are all mainly cheesy or gorror films. OR all of our favorite the Cheesy, Gorror, Teen Sex horror film. I mean I'm a guy, tits are nice, but it was nice they switched it up here and pulled off a very memorable and great movie. And you gotta love the presence Timothy Olyphant brings to the screen. I'm really happy to see him coming into the spotlight a little more. I definitely put him on my list of "Unknown Stars," right next to Kevin Durand. Anyways I'm gunna wrap this up the movie is simple a 9.5/10. I would give it a 10/10 but its a horror film and there are some of those moment when you know what's going to happen. So the only loss of points was .5 based on some predictability. I highly advise you see this movie if you like the zombie, apocalypse, virus category and/or you want to jump approximately 25 times. It's for sure one of those jumpy movies where you feel like you just want to look away so you aren't embarrassed from getting scared every 10 mins lol.

GO SEE THIS! :D

I have a terrific idea for a horrifying movie. Imagine: A movie comprised almost entirely of bland and tedious dialogue that gets so caught up in trying to convey a message that the actual content of the movie itself becomes a complete afterthought! Oh wait, I just watched that movie, it was called The Crazies. George A.Romero has created some excellent movies in his time. He has also created some very bad ones, and this is the category that The Crazies falls into.

The crash of a plane carrying a harmful biochemical toxin leaves a small rural town's water supply tainted with the virus. The prognosis for those infected suggests only two grim outcomes: Death, or irreversible insanity. The government sends in the army to quarantine the town which erupts into a full scale war between the soldiers and the residents who aren't willing to conform to the governements plans for them.

The Crazies is a very blunt commentary on not trusting your government and the power of the common man. That's all fine and good, but when it's diluted with so much needless and plodding dialogue, that message takes off like a lead balloon. This is about 100 minutes long, but if you trimmed all the fat from it, there would probably only be about a half and hour of actual story. But let's suppose that you're a fan of Romero's Living Dead series and simply want to check out The Crazies to see some good action and gore (And who would blame you?). Save for a handful of short shootout scenes between the soldiers and the civilians, you won't find much to write home about here.

Overall The Crazies was one of the dullest and ultimately pointless movies I've watched in quite a while. I urge you, do not let the Romero fanboys pull the wool over your eyes this time, even by B-movie standards this is pretty bad stuff. Pass on this one for sure.

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.

I received this as a graduation present on May 31st, 2008 and I finally finished it last night. For a George A. Romero, it was pretty good, but some parts are really boring. A virus named Trixie has spread through a town, so the military try to quarantine the town. Most of the civilians begin to go crazy and start killing each other and the military A man even tries to rape his smokin' hot daughter! I love the gore scenes. It seemed like a grindhouse film. I'd probably recommend THE CRAZIES!!!

This movie was not what I expect from a Romero flick. Not alot of the blood and gore that is his staple. The story itself isn't that exciting and neither are the actors really. I will buy all the Romero movies due to my love of most of his work. If you are just a fan of the "Dead" series you should pass this movie up. There is no comparison between "The Crazies" and the Dead movies!! Not even in the same league.

With the announcement that George Romero is planning on a 2009 remake, I decided to watch the original 1973 version of "The Crazies". Not only was I incredibly disappointed, but it's so bad that I had a hard time believing it came from the great mind of Romero.

A plane carrying a bio-weapon codenamed "Trixie" accidentally releases the cargo on the unsuspecting town of Evan's City, Pennsylvania. It turns out the side-affects of this weapon are certain insanity, a nearly guaranteed fatality, and indescribably bad acting. The government is in a wild frenzy trying to quarantine the town and contain the virus.

There really isn't a lot to like about "The Crazies". The actors are poor at best, with two of the main characters looking like shaved versions of the Geico cavemen. In tune with their appearances, the lines are delivered in abrupt Cro-Magnon like grunts and meaningless monosyllabic blasts. The drama is nonexistent as they meander about the town with three other characters who are clearly using the opportunity to audition as the undead for Romero's next zombie flick. They must evade the institution of martial law, the inevitable spread of the virus, and seemingly overzealous Army occupation.

The other half of the movie is a jumbled, incohesive mess, as a nondescript member of the military argues with an incompetent scientist - who insists on screaming EVERY LINE - about the need for inoculations and voice recognition over CB radio, as non-connected scenes and stock footage provide the antithesis of what a script and acting should look like, not to mention the atrociously incomplete ending.

It's boring, bland, and somewhat irritable, and there is no doubt that the remake is slotted to right past wrongs. I trust Romero will make amends.