George A. Romero’s original The Crazies is no classic. In fact, it doesn’t even come near a good amount of his work. How does Breck Eisner’s remake compare? Quite favorably. The 1973 film was a strict B-movie. This remake rises above that standard.
The story takes place in a small quiet town in Iowa where everything seems surreally perfect. That is until a toxin pollutes the town’s water supply and starts to make people a little… crazy. After things start to get a little awry, the military invades. They shield off the town and try to contain the virus. In all this chaos, there’s sheriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant) and his wife Judy (Rhada Mitchell). They’re a simple couple expecting their first baby. Now, they’ve been thrust into fighting rage-fueled infected people looking to kill. They’re mission is to escape the quarantined area and get out of the state before they get killed either by the military or the infected. They band together with Deputy Russell Clank (Joe Anderson) and Becca Darling (Danielle Panabaker), a teen who works for Judy.
The Crazies is more or less a handful of situations tied together in a loosely manor. It’s very episodic and at times doesn’t flow as well as it should. It meanders a bit, but still succeeds tremendously despite that. It doesn’t defy conventions but nor does it fall into them constantly. The set up of people getting infected and acting a little odd kicks into gear rather early on. It’s not too drawn out of an intro but also isn’t rushed. Everything about the town and characters is established in a convincing and compelling way. After that, it becomes a sort of an anti-road trip film, in which are heroes are without a car and surrounded by crazies and the brutal force of the military. Luckily, Olyphant and Mitchell are likable and interesting enough to make it all the more engaging. If they weren’t, this would be 100 minutes of hoping that they’d get killed off during every moment of peril- but you care enough for them. They feel like a genuine couple, bickering in moments of confusion and always questioning things. They’re both convincing and turn in solid performances.
A major benefit of the story: the setting. Unlike most films similar to this, it’s doesn’t take place in a big city. It’s in a small town where you’re left with very little places to hide and you’re out in the open. This adds to the already successful tone of a paranoia. Characters are always questioning what’s around the corner and who is and isn’t infected. It’s similar to John Carpenter’s The Thing in the way in handles that element. Thankfully, during all this madness, everyone acts believable and makes wise decisions- unlike most horror films. There’s never a moment where you want to slap these characters in the face for stupidity.
As for the military, Eisner does a smart job at conveying them as a footnote. They’re a mysterious and simple force, similar to the infected. There’s never a major shootout with them and there’s never a big showdown with a horde of the infected. In fact, there’s no bombastic set pieces at all. It’s all quite simplistic. There’s a good amount of encounters and fights, but they’re never overblown.
Years ago, Eisner’s directorial debut Sahara was unfairly mangled. For what it was, it was a fun adventure film. This follow-up, on the other hand, is a substantial improvement. Eisner’s obviously a competent director and it shows here. Plenty of sequences are wonderfully executed, from an excellent POV shot of Judy being pulled away on a gurney to a perfectly executed car wash sequence. He never relies too heavily on gimmicky jump scares and even throws in a few unexpected deaths- one in particular that should go down as an iconic kill.
Eisner also happens to nail the tone down perfectly. It never becomes more serious than it needs to be, but it also never comes off as too cheesy or silly. The only part that it may fall into is the latter category thanks to a moment close to the end, that I will not spoil. But it’s the biggest effects-driven scene in the film and the only moment where you feel pulled out of the movie. It loses sight of the simplistic nature of the story.
The past two months have been odd. January and February are notorious dumping grounds, and yet we’ve had plenty of films ranging from good to even great. The Crazies is another notable addition to that contradiction. Eisner has delivered a rare type of remake. He improves upon the shortcomings of the original and has delivered a superior film. This isn’t a Platinum Dunes (poor) quality remake, but an actual solid horror film that’s entertaining, competently-made, and even at times, funny.