The Crazies-Movie Review
The Crazies is a George Romero movie. Yes, that George Romero, no, not one of those movies. It’s a different movie, about a different disease that turns the population into mad killers. But instead of zombies, they’re CRAZIES! Watch out for those crazies! But yeah it’s actually a pretty fun and engaging movie. This is considered to be one of Romero’s middle tier works but I came away from this being impressed at the caliber of Romero’s filmmaking and genuinely think this is a film of a quality. What or which quality(s)? Let’s find out.
What’s it about you wonder? What other narratives are poking around inside the mind of the man who gave us the Night Of The Living Dead? Well picture this: there’s a virus that drives people crazy and it’s spreading through a small town in Ohio and these people get so crazy they try to kill other people. Kind of like zombies. But since these are just normal people, they can use guns and weapons and talk. These differences actually make a huge difference in how this premise plays out. The aerial transmission method of the virus means it’s not as clearcut as a zombie bite, so anyone could have it if they even come in contact with an infected person. And this disease, whose warning sighs are delirium and mood swings, can be hard to differentiate from normal emotional responses early on. And the infected show no visible signs other than doing crazy shit.
Our story begins on a farm in Evans City, Ohio, where a crazed father kills his wife and burns down his house, burning his two children. David (Will McMillan) and Clank (Harold Wayne Jones), two firefighters and Vietnam War vets, are called out to the fire. David’s pregnant girlfriend Judy (Lane Carroll), a nurse, ends up going to the office of Dr. Brockmyre, where the two children are. She is greeted there by armed men with gas masks and protective suits. Brockmyre gives her a mystery shot (which turns out to be a potential vaccine for the virus) and then sends her off with more of the mystery shots. We then learn, through government officials, primarily Colonel Peckham and Dr. Watts. Dr. Watts, it so turns out, actually invented tfhe virus, which is called Trixie. Yes, it’s a government created biological weapon. Of course it is.
Things quickly degrade into chaos as the armed masked men in hazmat suits descend upon the small community, taking in everyone they find and quarantining them in the high school gymnasium. But of course, the virus is already here and people are beginning to feel it’s affects. Shootouts with the local rednecks (now deranged from Trixie) and the town becomes a warzone. Judy ends up linking back up with David and Clank, but they are almost captured the army and lose the shots in the process. They end up hiding out at a country club with Artie (David Liberty) and his daughter Kathy, who is played by former Playboy Bunny Lynn Lowry. Kathy is already beginning to show signs of being infected and Clank especially picks up on this.
As they sit and stew on what’s going on, from the military invasion to Kathy’s loopiness, the military is waging a war on the populace of Evans City. What was once a disciplined military sweep turns into a rockfight as the Crazies begin killing the soldiers in surprising numbers. There becomes concern about the situation from the government interests, who are prepared to nuke the town if need be.
This isn’t a book report, and I’m not gonna spoil the rest of it, but needless to say, there’s a lot going on and it moves quickly. I know Romero was never Shakespeare, but he can write a pretty tight script and this one is no exception. The action and tension just builds and moves and there’s an element of moral haziness here that makes it unclear who the good guys and bad guys are and if there are any. In some ways this is akin to a disaster film, where a situation gradually unfolds into something catastrophic. It’s unnerving but also keeps you locked in. Frankly, at times, the creepiness and uncanny valley effect surrounding the Crazies can be scarier than Romero’s zombies.
And, like classic Romero, it’s just the right amount of kitschy. Yes, there’s some elements of camp and melodrama in there, but at the same time, he moves through the story with enough seriousness and artistry that the tension builds off rather than lessens. The world of this film s crazy, but only crazy enough to feel surreal, rather than unreal. The mass violence, the men in hazmat suits, the psycho-babble of the crazies- it’s a more mentally taxing than the Us vs. Them of zombies.
And these Crazies, by holding onto a semblance of their humanities, can undertake actions that morally feel much darker and horrifying than a plain old zombie. There is an incest rape scene in this movie!!!* What was I saying? Oh yes, how the Crazies are well executed. The way Romero does it, it almost looks like a class war of sorts, with the rural agrarians and rough necks being the primary combatants, though there is a pretty scary scene involving a granny with a sewing needle. And this is all sort of shown as hero-free B plot, pure undiluted action and horror where anyone on screen can be killed at any point. It contrasts well with the slow burning, character grounded A plot about the group at the country club.
This movie looks great too. The set design and cinematography is excellent in some parts and it shows the craft of Romero, something I think is underrated in his films. Evans City feels very real and the threats that lurk there also feel grounded in plausible developments. The incompotence of the military, the brawler feel of the Military Vs. Redneck street war, the poor decision making and dogmatic fear from our main characters- it all fits together in a narrative that feels much stronger than your traditional horror film.
The action here too is great. Romero is very creative with some of these sequences and he also gives us a steady drip feed of these great action scenes with the military storyline. The faceless nature of much of the violence only adds to the looming dread and anxiety of the situation. You are seeing society disintegrate right before your eyes, but unlike in Night Of The Living Dead, where there may have been division, here it is simply madness.
I think that overall, this is a very strong horror film, especially for the late 70s. It’s well shot, tonally complex but consistent and is chock full of good action scenes and tense encounters. It’s not a masterpiece by any means, but it’s sturdy filmmaking from one of the masters. For what it sounds like- “Zombies With A Twist”, it’s actually great execution of the concept. The Crazies are not as famous as the Zombie, but they definitely don’t feel like a placeholder villain. The narrative and it’s deployment impressed me too and I found myself liking Romero’s characters in this film and their story threads more than in some of his later work. There’s development and movement from start to finish with this people and it feels earned. The pacing is great too- it’s not a long movie, but it feels dense and like a better told story than his prior work in some facets. But the scares and the tension? Still peak Romero. This movie is crazy, hell, it’s The Crazies. Watcher beware.
