Pity the poor faceless government lackeys who have to clean up virus-stricken – and occasionally monster-stricken – townships. Imagine: You come in and risk your life to try and save as many people as possible, and then you have to make the really hard decisions that most of us never have to seriously consider, like whether it’s necessary to kill hundreds or even thousands of people “just in case.” And then Hollywood comes in, films it all, and all of sudden you’re the bad guy!
Breck Eisner’s The Crazies is the latest in a long line of movies that depict our government endangering the innocent (and possibly uninfected) few in order to protect the many but unlike most of the others it never really judges these guys too harshly. Everyone in The Crazies from faceless government agents to small-town heroes just does what they have to do to survive, and director Breck Eisner’s shocking sympathy towards all of his characters makes the film a breath of fresh air in a genre often mired in pessimism and apathy. Best of all, this approach makes the shocking acts of brutality and violence genuinely harrowing. The Crazies is that rare horror remake that is superior in every way to the original (which, in all fairness, wasn’t that good to begin with).
Timothy Olyphant does what he does best – play a normal guy with a hidden streak of badass – as the sheriff of Ogden Marsh, a small Midwestern town whose residents are suddenly afflicted by a horrible virus that turns them into homicidal maniacs. Actually, they are very suddenly afflicted. The Crazies wastes no time whatsoever getting its horror on, and yet it’s a credit to the filmmakers that the events never seem rushed, and almost all the characters are properly introduced and well-written. (Almost. Sorry, Danielle Panabaker.) Soon father turns against family, hunters start hunting the most dangerous game and Olyphant is forced to break a rather strongly enforced quarantine and risk his life to save his wife (Radha Mitchell), who has – he hopes – been inaccurately diagnosed as one of the “crazies.”
The Crazies has many of the earmarks of a standard zombie movie, but lacks the ambition inherent to the genre. Gone are the constant sieges and oh-so-meaningful images of brainless mobs in favor of lonely landscapes and meaningful silences punctuated by shocking set pieces, ranging from cool to funny to genuinely nightmarish. If the film ultimately feels too episodic, the talented cast – particularly Joe Anderson in a breakout role as Olyphant’s loyal deputy – is genuinely worth rooting for, and keeps the film involving throughout the slow patches. The Crazies is not a zombie movie, and judging it as such would be unfair. It is, however, a virus movie, and as with any virus movie the fear of infection and paranoia about the well-being of everyone around you runs rampant, but in The Crazies even the slightest bit of irrational behavior could earn you a bullet in the brain… “just in case.”
Eisner never really maximizes the potential of this idea – that the heroes are forced to make the same horrific moral choices as their supposed antagonists – focusing instead on more immediate concerns of imminent danger and, when he’s feeling melodramatic, the many futures lost to the horrific outbreak (not just the lives). While it feels like there are some squandered opportunities to elevate the material, the makers of The Crazies did not miss the opportunity to produce a horror film that really satisfies, which again is particularly impressive for a remake. Though not by any stretch of the imagination a brilliant film, The Crazies is everything it needs to be – gory, scary, involving and best of all, fun.
