OneMetal.com REVIEW:
The Crazies

Breck Eisner’s name occupies only a handful of film credits and claims even fewer directorial spots. The Crazies, a remake of the George Romero 1973 original, accelerates the rookie filmmaker into a potentially household name.

Welcome to Ogden March, where the Iowan fields reap plenty and infected water turns the kindly townsfolk into violent psychopaths who like to hum a creepy tune. Sheriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant) and his pregnant wife, Judy (Radha Mitchell), escape government quarantine and regroup with Deputy Russell Clank (Joe Anderson) and the teenage Becca Darling (Danielle Panabaker). They fend off “crazies” and elude gas mask-donning soldiers while piecing together the rampant disease’s origins and nailing down an escape route. But not everyone ducks the infection … or the accompanying paranoia.

Sheriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant)

The Crazies (from Overture Films) wins the audience with the first scenes, in which Johnny Cash’s “We’ll Meet Again” paints a mellow, rather amusing parallel against the imminent destruction. The film tiptoes on the edge of excess and never slips. Traditional horror tactics renew themselves with generously planted memorable scenes, and humor zig-zags through suspense as any scares impressively dance over the potholes of frequent genre cliches.

Instead of succumbing to popular but disappointing temptations, The Crazies gains momentum through subtle but powerful visual techniques. Eisner perfects each shot, creating intriguing effects through blurred or focused images or by heightening sounds. Even the most ubiquitous objects and occurrences switch into overdrive, becoming a terrifying and utterly mesmerizing force.

Of course, the film’s gore element will please fans, but those with uneasy stomachs won’t be sickened, either. The cast redeem themselves many times over, and even minor characters shine, but Joe Anderson arguably steals the limelight. The plot hits few bumps regardless of the small town terrain. Although one could consider the ending a cheat, you’ll find the audience easily bribed. Falling shy of two hours, the movie’s entirety flows so well that viewers can easily forgive any concluding bruises.

Russell Clank (Joe Anderson) likes shooting things.

On the other hand, the film shoulders a couple mishaps that bugged me through its duration. The characters bear almost supernatural perception, and their canine ability to catch the tiniest inch of movement or detect the faintest light or noise mistakenly contribute to the story’s propulsion. After the first two or three times the characters, busy with conversation, espy trouble before it actually creeps up on them, the trick grows somewhat preposterous. Unfortunately, Eisner also disappoints by allowing his otherwise astutely engineered prison and marriage motifs to crumble into doomsday fallout dust. Although the marriage symbolism does wade through the attractively structured movie, it reaches the grand finish without achieving any real crescendo of meaning. The love doesn’t always snap into the film’s groove, but somehow it’s digestible.

Bottom Line

Breck Eisner hits a home run with his remake of Romero's The Crazies, a gusty undertaking that largely succeeds. The film excels in the theater and charismatically invites the audience to come back for more of that small town hospitality.