For the
sake of not having to write the same intro a million
different ways throughout the rest of time, just know that
this column avoids the overly long and sometimes dull
process of full film reviews and instead opts to break
things down based on what I thought going in, what happened
while I was there and what I learned at the end of it all.
Thanks for reading!
The
Breakdown - The Crazies
The Impression:
Hit or miss. Could be another flop in a long line of truly
shitty horror remakes, or it could be a tense, well shot bit
of nail-biting that pays true homage to the zombie-master
himself, George Romero.
The Reality:
A great, great, great horror film. Hell, a great film in
general. When the denizens of Ogden Marsh start going,
well, fucking crazy, David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant), his
wife Judy (Radha Mitchell), and their wiry deputy Randall
(Joe Anderson) have to fight through townspeople-gone-nuts,
a trigger happy military presence, and trio of psychotic
hillbillies. It's a lot to bite off, and director Breck
Eisner absolutely nails it. This isn't a cash-grab rehash
of Sir Romero's beloved classic, no no, this is a smart,
beautiful bit of horror that plays to the talents of all on
hand.
Eisner does two things fantasically well: one, he makes you
care about the character. If I don't care about the
characters, I don't care when those characters are put at
risk. But the cast assembled here manage to exude
likability amongst the gory proceedings at hand. When they
start to fear that the sickness might be getting them, I was
worried, scared even that I'd have to watch these characters
kill themselves or each other. Eisner also nails the true
point of a film called The Crazies: this isn't just
about people-turned-zombies, this is about the insanity that
lurks at the very core of all of us. In intense situations
(such as your friends and neighbors literally turning on you
with homicidal rage) we'd all act a little crazy. Thus, when
Dutton explodes in a car at his wife, you have to think: has
he gone mad? Or is he just reacting to the stress at hand?
Eisner plays on this throughout the entire film, building a
level of intensity that had me closing my eyes at times to
try and squeeze it out.
On top of that the gore is fantastic. From moment one,
Eisner makes sure we know that he plays for keeps and Jesus
if I've ever seen a pitchfork used so effectively, I don't
know when.
My only worry about this film is that the ending (big and
bold and perfectly realized) leaves room for a bigger,
crazier The Crazies and I don't think the concept
they have at mind would work at all. This is a small town
picture that relies on the stereotypical ideals of a small
town. If you know all your neighbors, it's that much worse
when they start sewing each others eyes shut.
The Lesson:
If anyone was worried that the director of Sahara was
sticking his fingers in to the Flash Gordon/Brood
pies, you shouldn't. This is a clear, concentrated
genre-film and I'm actually excited to see what Breck Eisner
does next.
Noah Sanders is the blog/news editor at Light In The
Attic and a contributor at Sound On The Sound and
the KEXP blog. He also has his own
Criterion-based film site, Criterion Quest.
If you'd like to contact Noah in regards to his
writings here at Side One: Track One then please do
so
here.
- Noah Sanders
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