When I first heard about “The Crazies,” I wasn’t sure what to think. I couldn’t decipher if it was going to be a post-apocalyptic horror movie or “Deliverance II.” Little did I know it was going to be a dash of both. It turns out, if you combine “28 Days Later” with the Corn Belt and throw in a dash of “The X-Files” for good measure, you’d get the general plot of “The Crazies.”
Based off the classic 1973 version made by the great George A. Romero, “The Crazies” stars Timothy Olyphant, who plays Sheriff David Dutton in the small town of Ogden Marsh, Iowa. Dutton and his pregnant wife, Judy, played by the marvelous Radha Mitchell, are smack-dab in the middle of a government conspiracy, which is impending on their rural hometown ethics.
The movie begins with Judy filing some paperwork at her medical office while David attends the local high school baseball game with his deputy and half of the town. Unbeknownst to him, a local “ex-town-drunk turned sober” wanders onto the field with a loaded shotgun. As Sheriff Dutton walks to center field to confront the man, he threatens to use force, causing Dutton to shoot the man. This erupts in a town-wide scandal involving the sheriff.
As the days pass, Dutton makes the remark that the man was drunk. This is an absurd notion because he has been sober and proud for two years. When the autopsy returns with an alcohol-free blood sample, Dutton becomes curious. A few nights later, a local farmer kills his family in a blaze without knowing what he’s done. Dutton’s curiosity is piqued again.
The next day, Dutton and his deputy are called out to a crash in the middle of the marsh near their town. After some thought, Dutton realizes that it is the water that is turning people crazy. Getting no support from the mayor, Dutton turns to vandalism to cut the town of their water supply.
However, the reports don’t stop.
The government surprises the whole town when the army begins showing up to the town and quarantining people. After a few exchanges of verbal obscenities, the army takes Dutton’s wife away for quarantine and sends him packing to a secure location at a truck stop just outside of town. However, he doesn’t stay there for long.
Meanwhile, back at the camp for people who may or may not be sick with the virus, a group of crazies break down the barricade, making a complete riot between the three factions: crazies, people going to be a crazy and the military.
Cut back to Dutton and his plan for survival, which is to get the hell out of the town, but first he has to hit ground zero to get his wife. Basically, the rest of the movie is Sheriff All-American hero dodging bullets and insane people with his wife and his deputy. I don’t want to reveal more than that, but trust me – it gets pretty intense.
That being said, however, I feel as if it missed the mark of the classic. Romero is the classic horror guru and should only be matched by someone of equal or greater value. I’m sorry, Breck Eisner, but you’ve missed that mark. It wasn’t a bad movie by any means, but they toned down the violence and proceeded to invest in only a handful of actual suspenseful moments. “The Crazies” did have some pretty gory scenes, but they were few and far between. After a while, the movie felt very formulaic. There was a scene with the crazies, then the military, then the crazies again and so on. Knowing my share of apocalyptic government conspiracy plot lines, I pretty much knew how it was going to end from the beginning. However, that didn’t make the end any worse.
I recommend that you see the movie, especially if you get a kick out of the horror genre. Although it’s not the best movie out there, it still provides the audience with just enough entertainment for a delightful flick and just enough government cover-up to leave Fox Mulder saying, “Whoa.”