MOVIE REVIEW: The Crazies

The Crazies is based on the 1973 George A. Romero film of the same name & Romero is listed as an Executive Producer on this film.
Timothy Olyphant stars as David Dutton, a sheriff of a small town in Iowa. While at a local high school baseball game one of the townspeople shows up on the field with a shotgun acting dazed and zombie-like. The man was a recovered alcoholic so his behavior is chalked up to falling off the wagon until more bizarre & violent incidences occur that can’t be explained away. David’s wife Judy (Radha Mitchell) the local doctor, also starts noticing strange behavior in her patients.
David, his deputy Russell (Joe Anderson), and Judy team up to investigate the cause of what they suspect is an outbreak but quickly find themselves on the run from not only the Crazies but also from the military whose orders are to contain the outbreak by any means necessary.
The Crazies is very reminiscent of 28 Days Later (which was a far better movie). It never quite lives up to that movie but has some very tense moments and smarter than average characters.
Olyphant’s portrayal of David as an intelligent sheriff was refreshing. He figured things out right away, did what had to be done in tough circumstances.
Which leads me to what I didn’t like………..in the second half of the movie it started to lose steam and the typical horror movie clichés kicked in. These otherwise smart characters started doing very dumb things. Like separating – even though you were attacked earlier for doing the same thing! Like walking off in a dark parking ALL ALONE to see what’s in a cargo bin. Like giving your gun away to someone who is infected! The list goes on but you get the idea. I know we need some of this for tension but it was tough to take when these people were so smart just 15 minutes ago!
Having said that, it is still one of the better horror movies I’ve seen in awhile. A few BOO! moments, some gross out violence and a few cringing – cover your eyes – moments. Timothy Olyphant as David grounded the movie and really made you care about what happened to these people.

Rating: I would give it a 3 out 4. Worth seeing if you love horror movies.

But Hollywood…………..why can’t you make a really good, scary, smart horror movie?

Running Time: 1hr 41minutes
Rated: R (Violence, Profanity)
Cast: Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson, Danielle Panabaker
Director: Breck Eisner