The Crazies (1973)

Director:

George A. Romero

Writers:

Paul McCollough (screenplay)
George A. Romero (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 March 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Thriller | Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

All hell is about to break loose.

Plot:

The military attempts to contain a manmade combat virus that causes death and permanent insanity in those infected, as it overtakes a small Pennsylvania town.

Plot Keywords:

Pennsylvania | Murder | Virus | Military | Shot In The Stomach

Cast

Lane Carroll	...	Judy
Will MacMillan	...	David (as W.G. McMillan)
Harold Wayne Jones	...	Clank
Lloyd Hollar	...	Col. Peckem
Lynn Lowry	...	Kathy
Richard Liberty	...	Artie
Richard France	...	Dr. Watts
Harry Spillman	...	Maj. Ryder
Will Disney	...	Dr. Brookmyre
Edith Bell	...	Lab. Technician
Bill Thunhurst	...	Brubaker (as W.L. Thunhurst Jr.)
Leland Starnes	...	Shelby
A.C. McDonald	...	Gen. Bowen (as A.C. MacDonald)
Robert J. McCully	...	Hawks
Robert Karlowsky	...	Sheriff Cooper

Also Known As:

Code Name: Trixie
The Mad People

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:16 (re-rating) (2005) | Iceland:16 | Finland:(Banned) (cut) | Finland:K-16 (cut) | Australia:M | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Evans City, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Pittsburgh Films

Trivia:

No Hollywood stunt men were used in The Crazies. Local firemen and licensed fireworks professionals handled all of the action sequences, including the creation and employment of blood squibs.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: During the scene at the fire, a Sherrif's Deputy remarks there are road blocks on the on ramps to Interstate-80. I-80 is over fifty miles north of Evans Mills and would be far out side the perimeter the army set up.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Exhumed (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Heaven Help Us

a movie in desperate need of MORE craziness

Like Romero's "Day of the Dead," this is another marathon of carnage and excess talk, filled with scattered themes (martial law, role of the military, bureaucracy, disease, etc.). It's high-concept stuff, granted, but the budget is low and the script is unfocused. Like the attorney general's definition of "terrorism," the effects of the virus in "The Crazies" is just as vague (abnormal behavior that varies from person to person), but the unpredictability gets tedious after a while. The reason David Cronenberg's similarly-themed "Shivers" worked so well is because the parasites had a specific function (to replace a dead organ) and side-effect (they transform people into sex maniacs), and were confined to one specific location (an apartment complex). "The Crazies" is ambitious, but the unengaging performances and heavy-handed symbolism (tattered American flags, toy soldiers stepped on by real soldiers) renders it a mediocre oddity on Romero's resume.

5/10