The Crazies Year: 1973 Director: George A. Romero Written by: George A. Romero Threat: Biological Weapon Weapon of Choice: Knitting Needle Based upon: none Color/B&W/3D: Colour Language: English Country of Origin: USA IMDb page:

Other movies in this series:
None

The tyranist's thoughts
This is another flick that I talked Rish into watching even though he didn't really want to. But he's a big Romero fan, bigger than me anyway, and it seemed a shame that we hadn't watched this one.
A biological weapon gets deployed near a small town and everyone goes batshit. Seriously. That's the whole plot.
This was pretty intense and very exhausting. These days they'd make an entire TV series out of this idea just to do it justice. Back then Romero just made a movie that literally does not stop at all for the entire time. It just keeps going, and going, and going.
To tell the truth, it kept going with such intensity that I lost the ability to stay involved. I think that after a while my brain just shut the movie out as a source of way too much stimulation.
In a lot of ways this movie is just the opposite of Night of the Living Dead. Where that one relied on paranoia and claustrophobia, this one seems to rely on constant peril and a great deal of flight.
I didn't really like it much. It was too much for me. The casual violence, the constant flight, the alien presence (the army in biohazard suits), it just all combined to be an interesting idea that didn't really work for me in the end.
In fact, I think I'd rather see it as a TV series. Not like 24 (which I have to admit I've never seen), but more like those apocalyptic shows like Invasion. Of course, Fox would cancel it after two episodes and I'd still be deeply unsatisfied.
Geh.
If you are a Romero completist, you might want to see this, otherwise, there probably isn't a reason to take the time. Well, maybe if you are an action junkie, this might curb your craving for a while. But the rest of you should definitely stay away.
Posted: February 19, 2007

Rish's Reviews
Tyranist is right, it was strange we hadn't seen this one, and I don't know why I have avoided it (and Martin) for as long as I have. After all, George A. Romero hasn't made a tremendous amount of films. I do believe, though, that he is our--whoops, I guess he isn't. Sorry.
Wow, this was a thoughtful little film. It felt just like Romero's Living Dead films, only with a contagion instead of . . . well, living death. You could see the political and social commentaries that are in all of his works, and it would have taken just a nudge to turn this into his followup to Night of the Living Dead, or the inspiration for Dawn.
Oh, and Richard Liberty from Day of the Dead appeared, much to my delight.
The Crazies was surprisingly good and surprisingly interesting. I mean, really, the worst thing about this movie was its low budget. I hate remakes, but I do wonder what you could do with this story with a broader canvas and a bigger budget. Or rather, what G.A. Romero could do with those things.
Tyranist and I often mention (to each other and in our reviews) that a film gets made with only x amount of story, but the filmmakers stretched it to fit y. It happens quite a bit. This may be the first example of a film that had three to four hours of story that was squished to fit two hours.
I liked it a lot more than my friend did, and that's rare, but then, I've always liked Romero more, so maybe that explains it.
I'd Recommend It To: It's not going to appeal to everyone, and it barely qualifies as a horror film (in fact, it's probably only due to who directed it and a couple of its qualities that we deemed it suitable for this website), but there's some thought and technique at work here, and it's another compelling example of what Romero was able to accomplish with practically no budget or time.
Posted: May 21, 2007

Total Skulls: 16

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?