CELLULOID BURNING

The Crazies is Outbreak (1995) meets 28 Days Later (2002), but based on a 1973 George Romero film.

I’m pretty ambivalent when it comes to modern remakes of classic horror films. On one hand, a great deal of them feel like cheap and soulless cash-ins and, on the other, some honestly try to honor the films that preceded them. Some are ungainly mixtures of both. The 2004 remake of another George Romero vehicle, Dawn of the Dead, is the perfect example of this. It feels cheap, dreary, and charmless compared to the 1978 original, but its first 15 minutes are remarkably intense. Occasionally, a remake will blow the original out of the water like John Carpenter’s 1982 re-imagining of the sci-fi film The Thing.

I can’t speak of how this remake compares to the original 1973 film, but it stands well enough on its own merits. The Crazies deals with a top-secret military plane crash that contaminates the water supply of small farming town. The infection that spreads turns ordinary people into murderous psychos willing and eager to exterminate their loved ones. The Crazies portrays the frightening scenario of a complete collapse of society in a small and ordinary part of America, and the government’s failure to address it.

George Romero is (in)famous for placing themes in his horror films that confront current social issues. For example, his hugely influential zombie classic Night of the Living Dead (1968) dealt explicitly with issues of race by being one of the first American horror films to have an African-American protagonist (not to mention its devastating ending!). In this respect, I feel that The Crazies remake attempts to honor its forebears. For example, there are images of unarmed civilians being interred and ruthlessly mowed down by American military forces along with scenes of a young soldier doubting his mission. Even with these scenes, The Crazies does not intent to make itself a “message” movie. We are free to connect the dots ourselves concerning any societal subtext. I honestly appreciate this type of horror film that respects the intelligence of its audience in this manner while touching upon bigger issues.

Besides a certain degree of thematic complexity, what this film has in spades is suspense. There were points in this film were I was literally squirming in my seat, not because of violence or gore (it is violent by the way), but because of the tense atmosphere the film creates. It is remarkable for the fact that it does not overly rely on cheap “jump” scares to thrill its viewers. On a related note, I will never view an automatic car wash the same way because of this film.

All in all, The Crazies was a much better film than I was expecting and certainly worth your money if you are in the mood for something suspenseful and terrifying.