The Crazies (2010)

About the inhabitants of a small Iowa town suddenly plagued by insanity and then death after a mysterious toxin contaminates their water supply.

Director:

Breck Eisner

Writers:

Scott Kosar (screenplay), Ray Wright (screenplay),

Stars:

Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson

6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Timothy Olyphant	...	David
Radha Mitchell	...	Judy
Joe Anderson	...	Deputy Russell Clank
Danielle Panabaker	...	Becca
Christie Lynn Smith	...	Deardra Farnum
Brett Rickaby	...	Bill Farnum
Preston Bailey	...	Nicholas Farnum
John Aylward	...	Mayor Hobbs
Joe Reegan	...	Pvt. Billy Babcock
Glenn Morshower	...	Intelligence Officer
Larry Cedar	...	Ben Sandborn
Gregory Sporleder	...	Travis Quinn
Mike Hickman	...	Rory Hamill
Lisa K. Wyatt	...	Peggy Hamill
Justin Welborn	...	Curt Hammil

Storyline

As a toxin begins to turn the residents of Ogden Marsh, Iowa into violent psychopaths, sheriff David Dutton tries to make sense of the situation while he, his wife, and two other unaffected townspeople band together in a fight for survival.

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Plot Keywords:

sheriff | deputy | iowa | army | dead pilot | 

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Taglines:

Help Us

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for bloody violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [France]

Country:

USA United Arab Emirates

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 February 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

El día del apocalipsis

Filming Locations:

Cordele, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,194,207 (UK) (26 February 2010)

Gross:

$39,103,378 (USA) (14 May 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Overture Films, Participant Media, Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film opens with the song "We'll Meet Again," as performed by Johnny Cash. The song is from the same album that provided "The Man Comes Around," which opened another remake of a George A. Romero film, Dawn of the Dead. The album is "American IV", the last full album Cash released before his death. "The Man Comes Around" and "We'll Meet Again" are the opening and closing tracks, respectively.

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Goofs

The sheriff shuts off the water to the town including drinking water and the water used for crops, but the water in the car wash still works.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Becca Darling: Um, Dr. Dutton, my aunt's in town.
Judy Dutton: Um hmm...
Becca Darling: And she's sick too.
Judy Dutton: Phew, I'm going to need you to stay late tonight. You know, you should probably text your aunt - Scotty - and tell him you can't make it to the baseball game tonight.

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Crazy Credits

A scene concerning the fate of Ogden Marsh appears during the closing credits.

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Connections

Referenced in Midnight Movie Review: The Crazies (2011)

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Soundtracks

"We'll Meet Again"
Written by Ross Parker and Hugh Charles
Performed by Johnny Cash
Courtesy of American Recordings and The Island Def Jam Music Group
Under License from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Nothing new here, but so good that it mostly makes up for that

In the last several years we've seen more than a dozen movies about people becoming infected by a virus who then turn on and kill those around them. '28 Days Later' is one of the most popular and also one of the best. Sure the concept was nothing new, but the film was made with enough style and had such strong talent involved that it ended better than just another by-the-numbers outbreak movie. It was a hit and unsurprisingly was followed by a slew of clones, many of which are not really worth your time. One of the earliest examples of this is the 1973 film 'The Crazies' by George Romero, which too spawned a few imitations. Well now with all these popular titles getting remade someone decided this film too was ready for the redux treatment, and though it features little to nothing audiences haven't already seen, it, like '28 Days Later,' is a film made with care and the result is a great time at the movies.

Pros: Though the characters are pretty thin, the actors give strong performances and add some depth to their roles. A pretty good score that keeps one on edge. Perfectly paced, starting slow and then letting loose the rest of the time. Gorgeous photography and country scenery. Some good scary moments. Also some pretty suspenseful sequences. Faithful enough to the original to please fans, while standing on it's own enough that it's not a simple rehash. Some humor here and there to keep things from getting deadly serious.

Cons: If you've seen one virus outbreak movie you've seen them all. Pretty predictable. Doesn't really give us a chance to breath once the pace picks up. Plot wears thin after the characters and premise are established.

Final thoughts: Movie buffs complain that there aren't enough original movies being made in Hollywood, and they're right. And I'm not saying that we shouldn't keep pushing for that, but I don't think we should dismiss every film simply because of it's lack of originality. If it's made by people with a lot of talent who always work hard to try and make a good film then it could be worth seeing. This one here is one heck of a good time at the movies, better than most remakes really. Give it a whirl.

My rating: 4/5