Friday, October 01, 2010

The Crazies


(2010) ****

Slow zombies attack because they're hungry. Fast zombies attack because they're pissed. The infected in The Crazies remember what it is they're pissed about.

Unlike zombies, these infected still possess reason and logic. Unlike humans, the infected no longer possess caring, or self-control. So, unfortunately, what pisses them off doesn't have to be much. And their retaliations can be pretty severe -- not in the try-to-bite-your-face-off kind of way. It's just stunning overreaction, and psychopathic lack of remorse.


It's a crashed plane that started the whole mess. The plane landed in a bog near the town of Ogden Marsh, Iowa, and the stuff it was carrying has leaked into the town's water supply. Those closest to the town's water supply are already pretty far gone by the time we see them. We wind up seeing the infected at different stages and the earlier symptoms can be as mild as dreamy dementia. But as the infection progresses, the infected become prone to unexpected outbursts of temper. Most of our unease comes from not being able to read the intentions of people as their illness sets in.

The Crazies plays around with this theme of curious intentions in a variety of ways. For instance, when the military arrives to intervene, it's only clear that they're there to halt the spread of the infection. It isn't clear whether their presence is supposed to be menacing, or if it just appears that way. We don't hear them say much, and there's a lot of mystery in that silence

Later, when everything in town goes to hell in a handcart (and i'm not spoiling much by telling you that's where it goes -- the first 30 seconds of the movie are a flashforward to the town after the mayhem has hit its peak) it's hard to tell which of the anonymous figures wildly patrolling the town are uninfected citizens fighting for their lives, and which are fully infected citizens looking for fresh ass to kick.

Okay, obviously this one's up to no good.

Events in The Crazies unfold with a great sense of timing. You could argue that that's more a necessity in horror films than a bonus. Where, for instance, would your average slasher movie be without the Hand That Appears Out Of Nowhere (or for that matter, the Knife Wound, or Cat, or Complete Innocent Bystander That Appear Out Of Nowhere)? But there are gradations of cleverness and style when it comes to how events are timed, and in both categories, the Crazies rates pretty high.

But the best, most lasting images in horror are the ones we get to sit with for more than a split second. The jolt-shot gets a start out of us, gets our heart racing. But it's always the Thing We Wish We Hadn't Seen that we take to with us to our nightmares when the movie's over. The best horror directors understand that we remember best, not what we find shocking, but what we find appalling. And once again, The Crazies rates pretty high here.


The Crazies is a remake of a George Romero flick from the seventies. I've never seen the original, and I've been told to avoid it. I'll happily comply. The 2010 version is directed by Breck Eisner (son of former Disney CEO Michael Eisner). It's tough to get a bead on him, because so far, his only other really high profile movie is Sahara which I found about as enjoyable as a bird crapping on my head. He's slated to remake Flash Gordon and Escape From New York, both of which have the potential to be actually awesome, so long as Eisner brings what he brought to the Crazies. If good directing is good decision making, there's reason to believe he's improving as he goes along.

Always nice to lead off Thon with a good one.

10 comments:

50PageMcGee said...

I spent the earlier part of the evening teaching a GMAT class about sentence correction. Writing "The Crazies is..." over and over again made my head hurt a little.

DKC said...

I'm actually not going to read this because it's in my queue. Happy to see the four star rating though!!

Whoot! Horrorthon!

JPX said...

What an excellent review, it flows really nicely! I have this in my pile of movies to watch and now I'm even more psyched for it. Thanks for tackling the summary so I can piggy-back your work as JSP and Whirlygirl are known to do...

"so far, his only other really high profile movie is Sahara which I found about as enjoyable as a bird crapping on my head." HAHAHA

Whirlygirl said...

Sounds great! I'm going to check this out too. Though, I'll wait until JPX posts, and DCD, so I can piggy-back everyone's reviews. Yay!

Octopunk said...

Damn. There goes my lead.

Catfreeek said...

Outstanding review, I've seen both versions and would say avoiding the original is solid advice. Tony & I watched this one over the summer and loved it as well. Love that there are 2 solid reviews right off the bat. Well done 50P :)

Octopunk said...

Oh, and also:

WEST COAST ROOLZ H-THON!!!

At least for most of the day.

AC said...

octo: laugh while you can, monkey boy!
east coast haz catfreeek AND jpx.

Octopunk said...

AC: Buckaroo Banzai! You made me laugh.

Johnny Sweatpants said...

Kickass review! Your first two paragraphs sum up everything that I love about The Crazies. I watched it a week before Horrorthon (I was, how shall you say, "horror constipated" and then suddenly had to "go"). I'm not going to review it but I will add my 2 cents. I love the concept and the idea of the heroes having to deal with both the crazies and the military. But like the original I wanted to see more of the crazies going nutso. The opening scene is fantastic and I wished it continued in that direction. I think my biggest problem was that the characters were one dimensional and I cared more about what was going to happen than the protagonists themselves.

Malevolent

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