Our film opens up to the smooth sounds of Bob Dylan’s ‘We’ll Meet Again’. This is a good start. A bit of Bob Dylan is always appreciated. But the film only gets better.. and better. Our main character is David Dutton (TIMOTHY OLYPHANT), the sheriff of a sleepy little mid-western American village called Ogden Marsh. His wife is pregnant, Spring has started, everything is looking good. Until alcoholic farmer Rory (MICK HICKMAN) wanders onto the baseball pitch with a shotgun in his hand. And when David confronts him, then it all goes belly up. A crashed plane in the nearby lake, a man who burns his house down with his family inside and the arrival of the military all lead to one thing – infection.

The film generally focuses on three main characters; Dutton, his wife Judy Dutton (RADHA MITCHELL) and Deputy Russell Clank (JOE ANDERSON) as they try and escape the quarantine that has been put on Ogden Marsh.
The film has been split into three parts. The Infection. The Survival. The Escape. and each part brings its own to the film, leaving two hours of breathless zombie flick that is up there with 28 Days and George A Romero’s earlier films.
Romero himself was producing this film so some of his style has rubbed off on this film but director Breck Eisner has brought his own style of zombie to this film. A zombie that you can help feel has sense. They are not mindless thigns running around. They sneak around. They use weapons. They are much more intimidating than your average zombie.

Some scenes will stay with you as you leave the cinema, The Car Wash Scene, The Mortuary Scene and the truly terrifying Pitch Fork scene (I need say no more). I feel the film hasnt got the publicity or the praise the it deserves and I will look forward to having it on DVD, so I can share it will all that come to stay. To spread the word of the fine film that you really should make an effort to see.

I never watched the original, so did not have any preconceptions about the film.
I am a massive horror/ zombie movie fan…although technically again like 28 days later (which is great if you have not seen it…) they are not zombies…
…to keep it short…great film and much much better than I thought it would be.
Dont want to give away anything on the film…but there are quite a few good scenes….!!!

My only advice whether they are zombies or not, always shoot them in the head…

It’s a rare remake which surpasses the original even if the original splits opinions as George Romero’s film does. And it’s with no surprise that I can tell you this version, while reasonably entertaining, doesn’t match the original.

In the sort of pleasant town that’s always in these films (one of those towns where everybody knows everybody else and it’s always sunny), people are behaving oddly. A man walks into a baseball game armed with a gun; a woman takes her husband to the doctor because he doesn’t seem quite right, and the sheriff knows something’s about to kick off. It does, and fast. Before you can say `this is a bit 28 Days Later, isn’t it?’ people are going bonkers and the bodies are piling up with some imaginative death scenes. The sheriff and a few others need to get out of town and the Crazies aren’t their only problem or threat.

It passes the time fairly well and Timothy Olyphant as the lead is a likeable character. Just don’t expect too much as this remake has nothing to say as the original did and isn’t helped by a weak ending that we’ve seen before. As remakes go, it’s better than 2004′s Dawn of the Dead (which isn’t saying much, I know), but it did leave me with a feeling of having it seen it before in better films.

i couldn’t wait to get my hands on this but was quite disappointed.
The original is not one of Romero’s greatest,so I was expecting a lot from this more modern remake – given the funds and special effects that were at their disposal. the acting is fine, but there’s nothing really scary, suspenseful, original or memorable in this movie. another predictable “end of the world” scenario. it doesn’t even touch 28 Days Later. Don’t waste your money buying it full price, wait til it hits the sales.

i loved this film when i found out that they were remaking could,nt wait to see,loads of bits that make you jump excellent from start to finished love these sort of films, 5stars can not wait to buy this to add to my others

I’m probably one of the few who really liked the original 1973 horror flick by George Romero, it wasn’t a masterpiece but I still thought it was brilliant. Now the remake wastes little time building up to the first outbreak of insanity and then chillingly portrays how the town’s social fabric is obliterated at break-neck speed. There is an abundance of suspenseful moments, inventive gore, and even some very black humor. However the film was predictable especially if you’ve seen the original, and the ending could have been better instead of using some bad cgi scenes. At a Little League game in Ogden Marsh, Iowa, a man wanders into the outfield carrying a shotgun. When the man raises the weapon, Sheriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant) shoots him dead. But the man wasn’t drunk, he’d just gone crazy. Dutton investigates further, with the help of his deputy Russell (Joe Anderson), and discovers that a plane carrying a deadly cargo has crashed into a nearby creek, thus poisoning the town’s drinking water. From there events quickly get out of hand, as anyone who drinks water from their taps becomes first listless and unresponsive, then starts mumbling and then completely unhinged. But that’s only the beginning of the nightmare for the town, which is then surrounded by a military force bent on containing the virus by any means necessary. What makes this remake a worthwhile viewing is the style injected by the cast and crew; scenes like my favorite involving a funeral home and one nasty bone saw and a fast paced action scene in a car wash were great but I felt like the film lost some steam at the second half of the film, still it was somewhat entertaining and fun. The Crazies is presented in 2.40:1 widescreen 1080p. This hi-def version of the film looks excellent and the soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround as well as PCM 5.1 Surround. Both tracks are very good and feature the requisite horror movie surround sounds. There are many extra features, first up is a full length commentary track by director Breck Eisner that is informative if a bit dry for casual moviegoers. Moving forward there is “Behind the Scenes with Breck Eisner” that is basically a promotional spot featuring interviews with various cast and crew members. Then we have “Paranormal Pandemics” which also includes interviews discussing the movie’s theme of disease. Next up is “The George A. Romero Template” which is a short 10 minute feature on Romero’s career (mostly featuring people like Don Coscarelli lavishing Romero with praise). And “Make-Up Mastermind: Rob Hall in Action” gives viewers an insight into some of the special effects from the film (including many of the practical effects done at Hall’s Almost Human studio). The Crazies wasn’t as good as the original (some might think otherwise) but it was technical superior and just as entertaining, so overall it wasn’t that bad and good enough to watch.

A small town in mid west America see’s it’s quiet and predictable way of life shattered when the locals begin to kill each other. At first the slaughter is slow but once the source of the ‘sickness’ is revealed and the army moves in to round everyone up all hell breaks loose and mayhem ensues.
Well sort of because once our heroes are on the run, (the sheriff, his pregnant doctor wife and the deputy), then strangely everything goes a bit quiet at just the moment you’d expect it all to kick off. There are still a few creepy moments and the odd jump but all in all about halfway through the characters begin to just wander about and not do very much or meet many of the local nutters.
Things pick up a bit towards the end but the end itself is a bit tired and the usual ‘oh look the credits have begun but theres still a bit of newsreel to tie it all up’ insert has been done to death and to far better effect, (the ‘Dawn of the dead’ remake especially),. You will also need to make a mental note of the town where it’s all happening otherwise the end itself may not mean a great deal.
The performances are fine, if not earth shattering, and the effects and makeup don’t let the side down either.
Picture quality is good and the sound is above average with a lively and far reaching sub channel workout and some nice rear effects too.
Extra’s are plentiful and pretty detailed and include a directors commentary, (an insomniacs dream), and a nod to producer George A. Romero.
The director of this has a few remakes lined-up and his past record of the likes of ‘The invisible man’ & ‘Sahara’ may not seem to give much hope of anything other than a box ticking exercise but in truth this is not rubbish, has it’s own style and provides a few jumps along the way. The consistently downbeat tone is never compromised and while the dialogue is little more than a filler to any action or tension it avoids cliche and helps paint believable characters.
Not a classic for sure but very watchable and far from being a waste of time.

DON’T READ THE OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS

I saw the original years ago and wasn’t much impressed. I think I turned off before the end. This is much better. I watched it with few preconceptions and was pleasantly surprised (and occassionally unpleasantly surprised when the crazies leapt out of the corner of shot).

The film starts with town sheriff Timothy Olyphant watching a baseball game and surprised by a gun toting local walking onto the pitch seemingly intent on gunning down the team. The incident doesn’t make much sense and leaves him in a state of shock. Soon other locals begin to act out of character and bodeis start to pile up. We are introduced to several locals in the knowledge that some will form a cadre of survivors intent on escape. What I liked about this a lot (and it is why I say don’t read the official synopsis) is that whilst ity was obvious that Olyphant was the hero who would be coming along with him was never that obvious. I guessed one of his three companions before they formed their group.

Almost as soon as Olyphant has discovered the source of the contagion the town is placed under quarantine and within the cordon sanitaire anarchy ensues. The crazies have overrun the town and the reguilar army are slowly closing in exterminating the infected and moving the remainder into internment facilities. Olyphant returns to the town to rescue who he can and sees the true horror of what has taken over before trying to break through the cordon with the few survivors he can gather.

Is it a zombie film? Yes, though I can see why some might claim otherwise. The “zombies” are contaminated humans not reanimated dead. They are more like the rage sufferers of 28 days later than the zombies of Night of the living dead but they’re not even very close to that. The zombies are driven insane and are largely instinctual in their actions. Most (though not all are essentially homicidal) but they retain much of their old personality so the hunters we meet early on in the film start hunting the town’s other residents. The film does seem to suggest that the infected become more zombie like the longer they have been ill and we certainly see one character slowly descending into insanity. (There’s a nice element in that the residents were contaminated by the water supply so anyone could in theory have been infected and not yet know it which leads to some good paranoid exchanegs between protagonists.)

The addition of a murderous military adds a lot to the film. I think in the original the release of the toxin was an experiment. This time it’s a cock-up but the need to contain the contagion is very clear. As one military character says “What would you prefer a global pandemic?” The respirator clad soldiers are suitably inhuman but rather cleverly there are moments when we see them unmasked (literally and metaphorically) and they are as confused and terrified as everyone else. They are certainly not heartless killing machines.

I enjoyed this film a lot. I don’t think it’s going to hit many people’s top ten film lists and I am not convinced that it would be bear repeated viewings but as a good movie for a late night in a good choice.

Lets just clear up that point, this is not a zombie film, no one dies and is reanimated. This is more akin to the brilliant ’28 days later’ where a biological weapon has turned the occupants of a small town into raging psychos by contaminating the water supply after a plane carrying it crashed into the local swamp. Not everyone becomes psychotic either as demonstrated by the old lady riding a bmx bike round town which I believe is a homage to the original. It might have lightened the film a little to have more harmless crazies in town. I haven’t seen the original version but given the excellent production qualities of this one I find it hard to believe this lacks anything as a remake. Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell as the two lead characters if not A list are certainly recognisable. The film has a good balance of horror, action and tension and was entertaining. It is presented in widescreen letter box format and has a capable dolby 5.1 soundtrack.

In 1968, with the original Night of the Living Dead, George A. Romero practically invented the zombie film as we know it today. Shambling legions of rotting corpses were soon to become the most defining characteristic of his iconic career in cinema: a career that continues even as we speak – though with an insipid modern trilogy that pales into insignificance next to the original zombie triumvirate, the spark of ingenuity that made Romero’s early movies so remarkable has, I fear, come and gone. But long before the likes of Survival, Diary and Land of the Dead – before even Dawn and Day redefined the genre the zombie allfather came to make his bread and butter – George A. Romero wrote and directed a little-known standalone horror film called The Crazies.

The Crazies touched on many of the same themes that would preoccupy Romero for decades to come: contagion, isolation, the struggle for survival, the erosion of morality in the wake of society’s collapse. A small town is brought to the brink when a military craft containing an experimental bioweapon crash-lands in the area. The virus kills all those that come into contact with it before reanimating their corpses with a single purpose: homicide. David and Judy, a brave young couple once proud to call Evans City their home, narrowly escape the contagion only to find the odds on their survival slim at best, because the military has arrived, and they aim to contain the virus – at all costs.

It was a neat premise at the time, though hardly original even then, but between some God-awful acting and symbolism so obvious as to insult an inattentive brick wall, The Crazies was, at best, a decent movie; a good movie, potentially, shackled by budgetary constraints (to say the least) and a flimsy, unfocused script. People tend to look back on it rather more fondly than it deserves, I think, perhaps because of the later achievements of its cult director… but I digress.

The Crazies remake, helmed by Breck Eisner, shifts the action from Pennsylvania to Iowa and makes a sheriff and a deputy out of the fire marshals of the original, neither of which differences are of much import at the end of the day. Otherwise, it’s a faithful, though not at all slavish updating of the 1973 film. And you know what? Incredibly, it works. When news broke that The Crazies was to be remade, I, along with no shortage of other commentators, fell to declaiming Hollywood for its dire lack of inspiration; some went so far as to say its fascination with classic horror had reached the bottom of the barrel, though I’d assert that George A. Romero, even at his worst, is a far cry from the bottom of the barrel.

Needless to say, I didn’t have high hopes for The Crazies remake, and when the greatest claim to fame of its director was Sahara – that infinitely forgettable cash-in on the success of The Mummy – why indeed would I? But Breck Eisner equips himself surprisingly well herein: he exercises more restraint than I’d have imagined possible in a film of this nature, and restraint is a rare and precious commodity in horror these days, given the genre’s contemporary tendency to overindulge in all its nastiest, most shocking aspects. While The Crazies still has a few grim moments – unbidden, a horrific set-piece involving a maniac with a garden fork comes to mind – they’re all the more effective because they’re not par for the course. Eisner has little time for extreme, pseudo-pornographic close-ups of guts and suffering. There’s nothing truly distinctive about his efforts in the big chair, but it’s nonetheless a cut above the directionless derivative we so often see passed off as filmmaking in the remake-dominated genre these days.

The script is similarly sufficient. Timothy Olyphant, who gained notice in the foul-mouthed and much-missed HBO Western Deadwood, and Rahda Mitchell, who I fear will never eclipse her role in the darkly fantastic cult thriller Pitch Black, lead the cast. Neither bring their A-game to The Crazies, but then, for yet another B-movie remake, why would they? Nor are their roles particularly interesting; David and Judy are rarely anything more than two-dimensional archetypes, well-meaning rabbits caught in the abominable military’s headlights. That said, even unremarkable acting is a step above the awful gurning of the original film, and what the script lacks in character, it more than makes up for in tension, in purposefulness: the action here is substantially more gripping than in Romero’s first iteration, the narrative pacier overall and the denouement, though it’s interrupted by a curious calm, ultimately proves satisfying.

The Crazies isn’t a great film – you hardly need rush out and buy the DVD right this second – but it’s a fine way to spend an hour and a half; it takes a fine idea sullied by superficial limitations 40 years ago and does it justice at last. Slick and refined, The Crazies is among the very best of the films of this seemingly never-ending wave of mostly horrific horror remakes, and though it doesn’t quite eclipse Watchmen director Zack Snyder’s retooled Dawn of the Dead, it comes surprisingly close to equaling its effectiveness. Colourful, if not crazy, and shocking, if not scary, Breck Eisner’s remake is – wait for it – the best thing to happen to a George A. Romero film in years.