The Crazies

A contemporary rendering of the George A. Romero original classic of the same name, “The Crazies” is a distressing and visually arresting thriller that ranks as one of the best modern horror remakes to date. This time directed by Breck Eisner, director of 2005’s “Sahara,” “the Crazies” follows a small Iowa town whose inhabitants begin conveying zombielike impressions and behaviors following toxic exposure brought on from a crashed government aircraft. With the town on the brink of complete breakdown the town’s sheriff (Timothy Olyphant), his wife the local doctor (Radna Mitchell) must make their way through the infinite madness that has been brought on by the town’s newest inhabitants, the crazies.

Style and substance, in my opinion is what makes horror films so significantly distinguishing and successful. Many audiences look as this genre as a sort of film filled with just simple stories and gore but they are so much more and “The Crazies” effectively does this. With political undertones which echo such historical occurrences, as the holocaust for example, “The Crazies” combines frightful imagery that’s both real but also divisive. Sure some might look at this as being lowbrow but as a whole this makes the film so much more than an unsophisticated zombie flick. This underlying nuance goes to great lengths to making “The Crazies” more engaging and refined than other films like it. This underlying subtext doesn’t come as a surprise whatsoever considering the film was in fact produced by Participant Media which has produced such politically charged films including “Good Night and Good Luck,” “Syriana,” “An Inconvenient Truth,” and “The Kite Runner.”

Written by Ray Wright and Scott Kosar, who penned such horror remakes as 2003’s “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and 2005’s “The Amityville Horror,” penned quite an amazing shocking and subversive rendering that is truly worth seeing. Their script, unyielding and severe, truly shows the mental and physical breakdown of a small civilization after it has been exaggerated by that of political control. Further brining this great script to life with great effort were those expectedly great performances by [Timothy] Olyphant and [Randa] Mitchell. Both celebrated performers further showcased the perfected talent in front and behind the camera of this contemporary horror classic.

Complete with a signature Johnny Cash tune, something that has become rather conditional in all George A. Romero remakes, “The Crazies” reels audiences into a sick and twisted existence that evokes facades to tangible events that occurred in real life.

“The Crazies” is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.