George A. Romero’s name has become synonymous with zombies, so it comes as no surprise that, in this era of fondness for both the undead and remakes, his canon of work is being mined.  Zack Snyder’s 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead is one of the better of the recent zombie movies and helped usher in the era of the modern, fast-moving zombie.  Now, director Breck Eisner is remaking Romero’s 1973 flick The Crazies, and while it is no Dawn of the Dead, it is sure to delight fans of the genre.

Firstly, The Crazies isn’t actually a zombie movie.  The maniacs killing and maiming their way through the small town of Ogden Marsh, Iowa, didn’t die and come back to life.  Instead, infected by a manmade virus, they have gone mad-dog crazy with apparently only one thought left: kill.  The origin of the virus is no secret.  The virus was being transported in a plane that crashed into the town’s river, infecting the water supply and causing the military to quarantine the entire town.  This makes The Crazies sort of a cross between Dawn of the Dead and Outbreak.

Stuck in the middle of the craziness are the local sheriff and his doctor wife who attempt to avoid both the remaining, rabid townsfolk and the aggressive military determined to stop the spread of the virus by any means necessary.  The survivors are headed to nearby Cedar Rapids, but will they be safe there?

The craziness has been moved from the small Pennsylvania town of the original film to this small farming community in Iowa which provides an excellent setting for the mayhem.  Blades and other sharp objects are plentiful in this small town, setting up some frightening shots of impending doom and dismemberment.  Eisner does a good job, however, of using these shots to focus the audience’s anticipation, often only to distract us from the real scare.

There are a couple of really good jumps in this movie, but unlike a lot of recent “scary” movies, The Crazies does not rely solely on cheap shocks.  There is also a level of suspense throughout the film that, if not unbearable, is at least genuine.  Although there is a general idea of where this movie is headed, it is not completely predictable.  This level of suspense can partly be attributed to the film’s terrifically creepy cinematography.

As the sheriff and his wife, Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell serve the story well and are worth rooting for.  Olyphant has proven to be an effective lead for so-called “B” movies, as with last year’s underrated A Perfect Getaway.

The Crazies is not going to be a landmark horror thriller, but I found little that I didn’t like about it.  Sure, there are a few scares that are obvious, but many others that aren’t.  There are also a couple of intense sequences that I really liked, such as a sequence at a car wash that was so much more effective than the one in last year’s The Final Destination.  Also, the movie ends exactly as it should.  All in all, I suspect fans of these kinds of movies are not going to be disappointed.

The Crazies is rated R for “bloody violence and language.”  Yes, there are blood and guts a-plenty in this thriller, so if that’s not your thing then stay away.

Courtesy of a local publicist, Jeff attended a promotional screening of The Crazies.