The Crazies (1973)
Danielle Panabaker, Harold Wayne Jones, Harry Spillman, Joe Anderson, Justin Welborn ... (see more) , Lane Carroll , Lloyd Hollar , Lynn Lowry , Preston Bailey , Radha Mitchell , Richard France , Richard Liberty , Timothy Olyphant , Will Disney , Will MacMillan
George Romero's The Crazies involves a biochemical warfare virus code-named Trixie that gets into the water supply of Evans City, Pennsylvania. It has two equally unpleasant effects, either killing its victims outright or driving them hopelessly insane. The military descends on the town like a plagu... (read more) George Romero's The Crazies involves a biochemical warfare virus code-named Trixie that gets into the water supply of Evans City, Pennsylvania. It has two equally unpleasant effects, either killing its victims outright or driving them hopelessly insane. The military descends on the town like a plague of locusts, quarantining the area and dragging the frightened citizens from their homes to be corralled at the local high school while the powers that be figure out what to do. Human interest revolves around firefighting Nam vet David and his pregnant wife Judy, who try to escape the quarantine, the virus, and the militant redneck locals whom Romero portrays as even more fearsome than the soldiers. There's also an infected father and daughter, played by Richard Liberty (Day of the Dead) and pretty Lynn Lowry (Shivers), who gives the film's best performance as an innocent waif who mourns the passing of her own sanity.~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
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R, 1 hr. 43 min.
Directed by:
Breck Eisner,
George A. Romero
Release Date: Jan 01, 1973
DVD Release Date: Apr 29, 2003
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The first movie from Romero I go to after his dead films. It's a little weaker effort, but his social commentary is on full force here. The only thing I can see people complain about is it's leisurely pacing. I like it. Once again, the event taking p... (read more) The first movie from Romero I go to after his dead films. It's a little weaker effort, but his social commentary is on full force here. The only thing I can see people complain about is it's leisurely pacing. I like it. Once again, the event taking place isn't the main focus. Sure there is a virus outbreak and people are crazy, but the military are just shooting people, and robbing them. They are just as bad. It's a hard movie to explain, but if you know Romero, then you know how his films are.
Not as crazy nor as nihilistic as you would expect from a Romero film with such a title, but still a nice social commentary as usual.
Really there's not much to this movie... here's hoping the remake is a tad better.
Vastly disappointing "Night of the Living Dead" followup; Romero wouldn't come back to his A-Game until "Martin", so we have this halfassed effort that consists mostly of men in white Haz-Mat suits getting gunned down by Pennsylvanian yokels. The sce... (read more) Vastly disappointing "Night of the Living Dead" followup; Romero wouldn't come back to his A-Game until "Martin", so we have this halfassed effort that consists mostly of men in white Haz-Mat suits getting gunned down by Pennsylvanian yokels. The scene with the old lady is great, though.
George A. Romero's THE CRAZIES is like mixing DR. STRANGELOVE and DAWN OF THE DEAD all together. It has the same sense of humor and storytelling as STRANGELOVE, and the same atmosphere and social comments as DAWN. The only thing I had a problem wit... (read more) George A. Romero's THE CRAZIES is like mixing DR. STRANGELOVE and DAWN OF THE DEAD all together. It has the same sense of humor and storytelling as STRANGELOVE, and the same atmosphere and social comments as DAWN. The only thing I had a problem with was the length. It runs for an hour and forty something minutes, when it could have easily been a brisk eighty something. The film has a very quick editing style, going from one scene to the next, but when it does that, the middle part seems to be fluff. It already planted the story and the characters in the first 30 minutes, and the rest of it until the last 20 minutes feels a little pushed. Still, a signature Romero tale with enough gore and laughs to please.
You know what really sucks? Evan's City really hasn't changed much since. They got a new bridge and new sign announcing themselves as the home of NFL Quarterback Jim Kelly. Oh, and the people are still ugly and crazy and try to murder you.
Boy, is this an awful movie. The Dutch Boy-like blood looks so fake that it becomes a distraction, and the acting wouldn't even survive community theater. Not to mention that the film's central theme - government: bad, humanity: good - is so heavy-... (read more) Boy, is this an awful movie. The Dutch Boy-like blood looks so fake that it becomes a distraction, and the acting wouldn't even survive community theater. Not to mention that the film's central theme - government: bad, humanity: good - is so heavy-handed it's insulting. It all feels long and garishly boring.
Pretty interesting film about a biological weapon gone wrong. Not as good as Night Of The Living Dead, but a fun Romero film.
One of Romero's better non-zombie films. That's probably because it almost is a zombie movie. I know this heavily influenced Stephen King's writing of The Stand. A small town is quarantined when a biological weapon accidentally gets loose and affects... (read more) One of Romero's better non-zombie films. That's probably because it almost is a zombie movie. I know this heavily influenced Stephen King's writing of The Stand. A small town is quarantined when a biological weapon accidentally gets loose and affects the local townspeople. The military comes in and tries to stop the virus from spreading and kill a lot of people. Also inspired Stephen King's "Cell" where a cell phone virus drives everyone insane who is currently on a phone. That man owes a lot to George Romero. This movie is being remade next year.
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