A remake of George Romero’s 1973 film, The Crazies, Timothy Olyphant (Hitman) plays Dave Dutton, a sheriff in a small town that has become infected by a virus causing the citizens to start killing each other. Dave finds out that this was probably due to the water supply being tainted by the government’s accidental chemical spill. He and his doctor wife Judy (Radha Mitchell) and two friends are soon chased by the crazies (the infected) as well as the military who are trying to eradicate all the infected (and possibly the uninfected).
Now, I have not seen the original, so I can’t say whether this film is a better film than that one or whether it's wise even to use the earlier film as a standard to gauge any film. I will say that I'll review it as I always do (as it should be) based on my personal experience. With that said, I'll first say I do enjoy sci-fi horror much more than fantasy horror or slashers--they often usually have some underlying theme somewhere. With this film, there are certainly themes regarding the dangers of the "big brother" government coverups.
This film, in essence, is a zombie film, although they aren't technically zombies. Much like 28 Days Later, they are like viral zombies (because it involves a virus), generally--they're still people, but not quite themselves. What makes them dangerous is that they want to kill normal people. Unfortunately, we’re not told in detail exactly how this virus works that makes them want to kill. Does it make people aggressive and rabid like 28 Days Later? Not really-- many of these guys seem rather calculated and well, slow, most of the time. For me, them being "crazy" didn't seem like a strong enough reason. After all, these aren't cannibals like zombies that has a hunger nor a built-in need to assimilate the population, like pod people. These guys generally just want to kill. If new people do get infected by the virus, it's mostly by accident, not because these guys bite. Regular zombies are scarier than these "crazies" because they play with our fears of the animalistic, killer nature. These guys, however, while they do use tools, just don't elicit that feeling of urgent threat that zombies give.
On the other hand, one may argue that the real enemy is the government. Not only do the protagonists have to deal with the crazies, they have to deal with the military trying to kill them. This aspect makes the film feel more like a thriller than a horror film.
I felt director Breck Eisner’s approach to this film was quite by-the-numbers. There aren't anything I haven't seen before and I found many scenes to be mostly predictable (if you've seen films of this ilk). I did, though, enjoy the tense set up at the beginning involving the sheriff’s stand-off with a so-called “town drunk." Mostly, I felt rest of the film relied too much on jump scenes punctuated by loud tunes, an overused gimmick seen in many modern B-movie horror flicks. There's plenty of close-up shots and shaky camera. With that said, there are some fun scenes, such as the car-wash scene and the ending--they were somewhat different. I wished the film worked more on the feeling of atmosphere. For the squeamish, there are plenty of gore and many corpses in this film.
Timothy Olyphant as the sheriff remains consistently likeable, despite the fact that he doesn’t have any deep moments that push him beyond the usual confines of the genre. Radha Mitchell (Surrogates) comes off very natural and sympathetic as his pregnant wife. True, the dialogue could’ve done more with her (especially since she’s a doctor and a doctor in a horror flick could be used to great effect, I would think), but she works well with what she’s given. The character interactions are usually fun and Joe Anderson as the deputy add much needed humor and some danger.
Overall, while I was entertained, many scenes felt a little repetitive and excitement or actual creepiness factor wasn’t particularly high for me. Whether it's more a homage or simply lack of innovation, the movie felt quite by-the-numbers in its execution. I suppose it didn't help that the "crazies" felt like toned-down zombies to me. Interesting ending, though. I give The Crazies ** ½ out of **** stars.
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