DVD Reviews

The Crazies – DVD Review

By Frankie Dees Jun 28, 2010, 16:41 GMT

In this terrifying glimpse into the “American Dream” gone wrong, an unexplainable phenomenon has taken over the citizens of Ogden Marsh. One by one the townsfolk are falling victim to an unknown toxin and are turning sadistically violent. People who days ago lived quiet, unremarkable lives are now depraved, blood-thirsty killers. While Sheriff Dutton (Timothy Olyphant) and his pregnant wife, Judy (Radha Mitchell), try to make sense of the escalating ...more

In a decent enough horror remake of George Romero’s lesser known ‘The Crazies,’ the film never quite reaches the goals set by the great trailers, but horror fans should walk away relatively satisfied.

The film was one of the more inspired pics to remake as Romero’s ’73 film has a great conceit that was (unlike his dead trilogy) only handled so-so.

Breck Eisner (this being his first pic since the fun but commercially lackluster ‘Sahara’) obviously saw an opportunity there and for the most part fashions a more interesting pic - although I could have done with less military shenanigans in both.

‘The Crazies’ lives up to its title right from the start with strong opening sequence finding a farmer, ostensibly drunk, walking onto the field of a small-town Iowa high school baseball game with a rifle.

Although Sheriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant) knows the farmer, he’s forced to put him down when the farmer raises his rifle with a look in his eyes that can only mean one thing. He means to kill.

Bizarre behavior, but the Sheriff and Deputy Russell Clank (Joe Anderson) assume it’s alcohol related until blood tests come back that report he was not on drugs. After more strange behavior, they check out a lead on a plane crash and discover an unreported crash in a nearby lake where the town gets their water supply.

They assume correctly that some sort of biological warfare chemicals has polluted the water and has made the various townfolk ‘crazy.’

Soon after, a faceless, nameless military swoops in with a clearly malignant intent to quarantine the town at any costs - which separates the Sheriff from his doc wife Judy (Radha Mitchell).

The military corrals her with the sick where she gets strapped down and contained with the Sheriff having no choice but to infiltrate and avoid both the military and the infected to rescue her.

Never quite approaching the ferocity and verve of similar pics like ‘28 Weeks Later’ or ‘Dawn of the Dead’, The Crazies starts strong and stays consistently tense but doesn’t have that one jaw-dropping sequence to make it really stand out.

The sequence where the money shot from the trailer and DVD cover take its cues (crazy with a pitchfork) is good but could have been better. More fun is a carwash scene that might prompt you to take a second look through the soap next time.

Timothy Olyphant is always dependable and headlines effectively as a small-town sheriff that isn’t your usual buffoon Barney Fife character. Radha Mitchell isn’t given much to do but is well cast with Olyphant. The only other notable role is the Deputy played by Joe Anderson.

The film is presented with a 2.35 anamorphic widescreen transfer and 5.1 Dolby Digital aud track. Special Features start off with a feature-length aud commentary from director Breck Eisner (son of famed agent and one-time Disney Studios chief Michael Eisner) who makes for a breezy and entertaining listen.

‘Behind the Scenes with Breck Eisner’ is the usual cast and crew interviews and how they relate to the director. ‘Paranormal Pandemics’ is another featurette with cast and crew interviews and some talk about the special make-up f/x.

‘The George A. Romero Template’ talks about the Romero legacy. ‘Make-up Mastermind: Rob Hall in Action’ checks out make-up guru Rob Hall and his work. ‘The Crazies Motion Comic: Episode One’ and ‘Episode Two’ is kind of cool and runs a half hour and sort of serves as a lead up to the feature.

‘Visual Effects in Motion’ is a quick look at the minor CGI used in the film. ‘Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery’ and Teaser/Theatrical Trailers round out the plentiful extras.

The film falls prey to conventional jump scares a little too much and the film never establishes that killer sequence to mark it to memory, but ultimately ‘The Crazies’ is well-crafted. It provides some tense moments and fun gore along with some generous special features. Recommended for the right crowd.