A 'Crazy' remake
Ian Clemente
Issue date: 3/4/10 Section: Arts and Entertainment
In all honesty, when reviewing films, I am not looking for perfection every time I pay for a ticket stub and popcorn. While seeing great cinema is a pleasure, it means just as much to me if the people putting together the movie are trying their best to make a good product. After a month of consistent underachieving and frustration, who would have thought that the best overall effort of February would come from a remake of an overshadowed George Romero film from the 1970s?
In all aspects, "The Crazies" is the cure for every unoriginal Hollywood horror film that's emerged in recent years as it actually works off the original source to make a better product. Our primary focus is turned to Sherriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant), his deputy Russell (Joe Anderson), his wife Dr. Judy (Radha Mitchell), and her assistant Becca. Settled happily in a small Iowa town, they notice their friends and families starting to turn into zombified monsters - and here, the zombies do not merely become undead but actually have a desire for committing gruesome murders (let me just say that whistling now freaks me out a bit).
Basically, the plot revolves around them finding a way to escape their town. So, it is similar to like the Cloverfield flick except the camerawork is much more stable, and we have two types of monsters to deal with. Not only are there mutated humans, but also a suspicious government (surprised?) who is trying to contain it.
So in that sense, there really is nothing too new here, but because director Breck Eisner chose to take out the superfluous scenes with military figures (which bogged down Romero's original), we are given a much greater opportunity to connect with the characters being pursued. And unlike in other horror films, competent acting is provided in ample loads here. Sadly-underrated Olyphant and Mitchell show a subtlety and realism in their interactions that feels genuine, while Anderson's gruff demeanor manages to invoke feelings of invigoration, laughter, and pity at different points in the film.
So, even though the special effects are amazing and the kills (and jump-scares) are usually quite creative, it feels like Eisner was inspired most to tell an original story here instead of merely trying to milk every box office dollar out of an audience's nostalgia for an already-used concept. Thus, rather than merely being a great remake, it stands out as a pretty darn good film on its own.
I give this 4 pitchforks out of 5 and highly recommend seeing it with a large group at midnight.
In all aspects, "The Crazies" is the cure for every unoriginal Hollywood horror film that's emerged in recent years as it actually works off the original source to make a better product. Our primary focus is turned to Sherriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant), his deputy Russell (Joe Anderson), his wife Dr. Judy (Radha Mitchell), and her assistant Becca. Settled happily in a small Iowa town, they notice their friends and families starting to turn into zombified monsters - and here, the zombies do not merely become undead but actually have a desire for committing gruesome murders (let me just say that whistling now freaks me out a bit).
Basically, the plot revolves around them finding a way to escape their town. So, it is similar to like the Cloverfield flick except the camerawork is much more stable, and we have two types of monsters to deal with. Not only are there mutated humans, but also a suspicious government (surprised?) who is trying to contain it.
So in that sense, there really is nothing too new here, but because director Breck Eisner chose to take out the superfluous scenes with military figures (which bogged down Romero's original), we are given a much greater opportunity to connect with the characters being pursued. And unlike in other horror films, competent acting is provided in ample loads here. Sadly-underrated Olyphant and Mitchell show a subtlety and realism in their interactions that feels genuine, while Anderson's gruff demeanor manages to invoke feelings of invigoration, laughter, and pity at different points in the film.
So, even though the special effects are amazing and the kills (and jump-scares) are usually quite creative, it feels like Eisner was inspired most to tell an original story here instead of merely trying to milk every box office dollar out of an audience's nostalgia for an already-used concept. Thus, rather than merely being a great remake, it stands out as a pretty darn good film on its own.
I give this 4 pitchforks out of 5 and highly recommend seeing it with a large group at midnight.
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