The Crazies is set in a small Pennsylvanian town called Evans City. The film starts with with a man having killed his wife setting fire to his house for no apparent reason. Major Ryder (Harry Spillman) of the United States Army and his men have arrived in Evans City after a recent plane crash. The plane crashed into a river that supplies the town's water, on-board the plane was a man made virus called Trixie. The military believe that the residents of Evans City may be infected with a disease that turns the sufferer into a crazie, people who commit random acts of violence & are generally unpleasant to be around. Major Ryder takes over the local Doctors, Dr. Brookmyer (Will Disney), surgery and prepares his plan of action. His men form a perimeter around Evans City, no one gets in or out. His men are then ordered to round all the residents up and take them to the high school. Soon an even more high ranking officer Colonel Peckhem (Lloyd Hollar) arrives to take charge, as well as Dr. Watts (Richard France) who was part of the team who originally developed Trixie to try and find a cure for the disease. The military think they have the situation under control but five people have escaped their round-up, Dr. Bookmyer's nurse named Judy (Lane Carroll) & her fireman husband David (Will MacMillan) & his workmate Clank (Harold Wayne Jones), Artie (Richard Liberty) & his daughter Kathy Bolman (Lynn Lowry) & Frank Winson (Norman Chase) most of whom are convinced that they would be better off as far from Evans City as possible. Will they make it out & are they infected? Can Colonel Peckham keep the situation quiet, prevent the disease from spreading outside Evans City and resolve the crisis before unthinkably drastic action is taken?
Written & directed by George A. Romero I really disliked this poor excuse for a film. The script by Romero is about as dull and slow as you can imagine. The film itself is too long and just plain boring, although I did like the last 10 or 15 minutes & the downbeat ending. The Crazies also has a lot of similarities with Romero's infinitely superior Dawn of the Dead (1978), the female lead being pregnant, a fight against inhuman faceless enemies (all the soldiers wear gas masks), the lone survivors who question whether they should stay or leave & a degeneration into petty squabbling and in-fighting. All the characters are very unlikable too, both military and civilian. The fact that the acting is poor throughout doesn't help things either. The violence & gore is non-existent, there are some gunshot wounds, that's it. Overall the film is very rough on a technical level and becomes a real chore to watch. I had heard very good things about the Crazies, but I just can't see anything in it even remotely enjoyable. Maybe I was expecting too much but having Romero's name on the credits as director gave me high expectations that weren't met. Anyone familiar with Romero's other horror like Dawn of the Dead, Creepsow (1982), Martin (1977), Day of the Dead (1985) & expect something similar then prepare to be very disappointed. Proceed with caution.
Written & directed by George A. Romero I really disliked this poor excuse for a film. The script by Romero is about as dull and slow as you can imagine. The film itself is too long and just plain boring, although I did like the last 10 or 15 minutes & the downbeat ending. The Crazies also has a lot of similarities with Romero's infinitely superior Dawn of the Dead (1978), the female lead being pregnant, a fight against inhuman faceless enemies (all the soldiers wear gas masks), the lone survivors who question whether they should stay or leave & a degeneration into petty squabbling and in-fighting. All the characters are very unlikable too, both military and civilian. The fact that the acting is poor throughout doesn't help things either. The violence & gore is non-existent, there are some gunshot wounds, that's it. Overall the film is very rough on a technical level and becomes a real chore to watch. I had heard very good things about the Crazies, but I just can't see anything in it even remotely enjoyable. Maybe I was expecting too much but having Romero's name on the credits as director gave me high expectations that weren't met. Anyone familiar with Romero's other horror like Dawn of the Dead, Creepsow (1982), Martin (1977), Day of the Dead (1985) & expect something similar then prepare to be very disappointed. Proceed with caution.