The Crazies (2010)

Raekwon

Okay it's a crap title and hardly an original concept......inhabitants of a small town in America become infected by some sort of virus that turns them into zombies..........but this remake of the 1973 George A. Romero movie of the same name has me intrigued for some reason.

I saw the trailer before The Wolfman and I found it quite disturbing, maybe it was the use of the song Mad World that mad it even more chilling then it actually is, but I have to admit that I'm looking forward to this movie even though it more then likely will be pants.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEMZwQulT1Q

paddy kerins

why is it that in these films the phone lines are always down, well actually thats understandable but mobile phones? did they devlop the ability to fly and take out the satellites? anyway the song made it seem more distressing than it actually will be

cashville

Saw the trailer a while back and it caught my eye, hopefully this will be a good remake (didn't know it was one).... the story couldn't be more unoriginal though! Not sure why but I like Timothy Olyphont.

Basq

Yep, Timothy Olyphant is great. Ever since his performance in 'The Girl Next Door' (the comedy.. not the other one), he just continues to impress!

He did go down in my estimations a fair bit when I read Kevin Smith's experience with him while filming 'Catch & Release'... but Kevin did basically say the guy can be real trial to work with while others time can be an absolute pro. He's fairly volatile apparently!

Anyways.. looking forward to this too, although I've the distinct feeling I'll be disappointed.

Raekwon

paddy kerins wrote: »

why is it that in these films the phone lines are always down, well actually thats understandable but mobile phones? did they devlop the ability to fly and take out the satellites?

No the zombies don't cut off the phone lines, the US military cut them off so they can stop people contacting other towns, quarantine then, then kill them.

paddy kerins wrote: »

anyway the song made it seem more distressing than it actually will be

Yeah the song fits very well into that trailer..........but I think that this movie will be the run of the mill zombie fair that we are well and truly used to by now.

Otis Driftwood

Not holding any hope whatsoever for this one.

mike65

The 1973 film was ultra cheap, almost semi-pro and is a bumpy viewing experience. I bet this remake jettisons the left wing/anti state political undertow completely.

paddy kerins

Raekwon wrote: »

No the zombies don't cut off the phone lines, the US military cut them off so they can stop people contacting other towns, quarantine then, then kill them.

yeah guess that makes sense. dont want to start mass panic. Human sacrifice. Dogs and cats living together. Mass hysteria!

senordingdong

I really think this looks great....it could just be the trailer/song/Timothy Olyphant selling it well...but we're long overdue for a good zombie movie.

Raekwon

mike65 wrote:

The 1973 film was ultra cheap, almost semi-pro and is a bumpy viewing experience. I bet this remake jettisons the left wing/anti state political undertow completely.

I found a trailer of the 1973 movie.............it looks absolutely brutal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5baVDcjv5-E

Slightly off topic but has anyone else noticed the trend of former Aussie soap-opera actresses Radha Mitchell (Pitch Black, Silent Hill, Rogue, The Crazies) & Melissa George (The Amityville Horror, WΔZ, 30 Days of Night, Triangle) carving out a niche for themselves in the horror genre?

senordingdong

Horror genre needs disposable actors?

Not impressed that the original version was by Romero...just makes him look more and more like a one trick wonder.

Raekwon

senordingdong wrote: »

Not impressed that the original version was by Romero...just makes him look more and more like a one trick wonder.

Well in fairness to Romero "The Crazies" was only his third film and came on the back of "There's Always Vanilla" which was a romantic comedy :eek: But I do get what your saying, he will always be synonymous with zombie movies, but then again he basically invented the genre.

senordingdong

I know he invented it. Then he milked it....and then milked it some more.

Raekwon

senordingdong wrote: »

I know he invented it. Then he milked it....and then milked it some more.

.....and alittle bit more too because he is writing, directing & producing "Diamond Dead" next year. It's getting overly repetitive at this stage.

Frisbee

Saw the trailer for this a while back and for some inexplicable reason I really can't wait to see it...

qwertplaywert

Why does the trailer remind me of Slither, only without the comedy?
Olyphant in the Nathan Fillion role can hardly be a bad thing !

senordingdong

Raekwon wrote: »

.....and alittle bit more too because he is writing, directing & producing "Diamond Dead" next year. It's getting overly repetitive at this stage.

I know what you mean...and now with another good looking zombie remake coming out, I find out that he made the original....give it a rest George.

spooky donkey

ah thats just his thing leave him alone.
Im looking forward to this.... Only down side is it seems they show the end of the movie in the trailer..... I hate trailers.......

Nichololas

Have the originals and remakes of pretty much all his films, so I'm looking forward to this. Yyyuup. :cool:

Might start a zombie film discussion thread this weekend if I get the time to write one up.

edit: *unashamed (trashy) zombie film fan here*

Hank Scorpio

A reinvention loosely based upon the George Romero classic of the same name, The Crazies is about the inhabitants of a small Kansas town suddenly plagued by insanity and then death after a... A reinvention loosely based upon the George Romero classic of the same name, The Crazies is about the inhabitants of a small Kansas town suddenly plagued by insanity and then death after a mysterious toxin contaminates their water supply

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEMZwQulT1Q

Looking forward to this, aint been a good zombie type horror flick for ages

Searched for forum and could find another thread on this

Raekwon

nuxxx wrote: »

Searched for forum and could find another thread on this

You didn't search that hard in fairness

Essien

Looking forward to seeing this, I love Zombie flicks, no matter how rediculous they are:D, this does look cool though

Raekwon

This is opening tomorrow so will definitely catch it over the weekend at some stage...........looking forward to it

They went abit OTT with the poster campaign it seems.......

paddyismaddy

it looks alright hope to catch it at weekend

Galvasean

So, they go crazy first and turn into murderers, THEN zombies?
I'd imagine the murderers would be scarier.
I'll probably go see it.. Big Z head that I am.

Otis Driftwood

Despite my usual aversion to remakes of any sort Im kinda curious to see this.Ive heard not bad things about it so am hoping for a pleasent surprise.Hopefully will get to see it at the weekend.Like Galvasean,Im a zombie dork.

Nichololas

Watched the original last night, thought it was pretty good, actually. If you like hard sci-fi like The Andromeda Strain (the original, not the naff remake) or zombie films you'll probably like it, as it's pretty much slap bang in the middle between Andromeda Strain and Dawn of the Dead.

I somehow doubt the remake will be as overtly anti-state, but its commentary on the Vietnam War could be easily updated to make parallels with Iraq.. Ah who am I kidding this will be a flashy action 'zombie' film.

me-skywalker

Essien wrote: »

Looking forward to seeing this, I love Zombie flicks, no matter how ridiculous they are:D, this does look cool though

haha yea me and my cousin both looked at each other and said looked pretty cool.. still the usual story escape horror but still its got enough to hold my interest.... Zombies

pixelburp

I was under the impression the "Crazies" weren't zombies - ie, undead flesh eaters - but still-live people acting like homicidal maniacs.

Galvasean

pixelburp wrote: »

I was under the impression the "Crazies" weren't zombies - ie, undead flesh eaters - but still-live people acting like homicidal maniacs.

Well from the trailer they look like homicidal maniacs... who end up looking like zombies?
Anyone whose seen the original want to clear this up?

left_behind

The Crazies
The reviews aint bad. They usually wouldnt go for a film like this

Basq

Normally, the AV Club reviews are closer to my own personal taste, and they gave it a C+ and gave it a fairly average review!

But they did give the superb 'A Prophet' an A- (out this week in the US).

Liam O

Went to see this and while it's fairly predictable it is still a very enjoyable movie with plenty of gore and a fair few scares. Very interesting indictment on the American government/army too. Would be interesting to see what would happen if a situation arose in real life like the one in this movie.

also for anyone who has seen it

why didn't the main guy get infected when he basically shared blood with a crazy when he stabbed that women in the neck? seemed a pretty big plot hole as I can't imagine many virus' that aren't passed from blood

senordingdong

Galvasean wrote: »

Well from the trailer they look like homicidal maniacs... who end up looking like zombies?
Anyone whose seen the original want to clear this up?

...28 Days earlier?

Kess73

Galvasean wrote: »

Well from the trailer they look like homicidal maniacs... who end up looking like zombies?
Anyone whose seen the original want to clear this up?

They are different than from the original. As is the film. It is a loose remake rather than a faithful one.


It is as close to the original film as the remake of Dawn Of The Dead was to the original DOTD.


As for the infections, well without giving away too much, let's say that in the new one there are a lot of differences in the results of being infected and what happens to those people over the course of the infection.


Other than the social commentary and the ending in the first, I think the new film beats the original in pretty much every department.



I don't know if you have seen the film Carriers with Chris Pine in it. But it is a lot of similarities with the new version of The Crazies.

Nichololas

Galvasean wrote: »

Well from the trailer they look like homicidal maniacs... who end up looking like zombies?
Anyone whose seen the original want to clear this up?

In the original they just go crazy, no change in appearance, and not all of them are homicidal.

chin_grin

Liam O wrote: »

Went to see this and while it's fairly predictable it is still a very enjoyable movie with plenty of gore and a fair few scares. Very interesting indictment on the American government/army too. Would be interesting to see what would happen if a situation arose in real life like the one in this movie.

also for anyone who has seen it

why didn't the main guy get infected when he basically shared blood with a crazy when he stabbed that women in the neck? seemed a pretty big plot hole as I can't imagine many virus' that aren't passed from blood

I see your spoiler and raise you:

Remember the bit at the end. When the satellite is going 'Execute Quarantine Procedures'. So one of them has it! And also a major opener for any sequel.

But yeah I was pleasantly surprised. I mean I go all gooey for zombies, so I'm a tad biased.

Thought it was well paced there weren't too many of the run-of-the-mill shocks and the tension was well built where it deserved to be.

My only nit pick with it was the ending. I was expecting (almost wishing) it

faded to black when the countdown went to zero.

But yeah deffo worth a watch!

Otis Driftwood

Saw this yesterday and I have to say I was sorely disappointed. Boring,cliched,I didnt give a crap about the characters - they were all the movie stereotype one dimensional "small town country folk".
With movies like this obviously you arent going to get oscar worthy performances or scripting but at least something like My Bloody Valentine (08) had some pretty decent gore scenes in it which rescued it from being a total disaster,The Crazies sadly,doesnt.

chin_grin

nedtheshed wrote: »

Saw this yesterday and I have to say I was sorely disappointed. Boring,cliched,I didnt give a crap about the characters - they were all the movie stereotype one dimensional "small town country folk".
With movies like this obviously you arent going to get oscar worthy performances or scripting but at least something like My Bloody Valentine (08) had some pretty decent gore scenes in it which rescued it from being a total disaster,The Crazies sadly,doesnt.

Don't need to be gory just to be good! :pac:

The relationship between the

four "survivors" near the end was very well done as you kept second guessing as to who was infected.

Otis Driftwood

Oh Im aware of that,my favourite horror of all time has little or no gore.

I have a checklist in terms of horror movies.It can be either super creepy and have little no gore - Halloween,Ringu,The Orphanage etc or it can be gory/violent with no scares/tension- Braindead,Fetus,The Guinea Pig movies.

Rarely both criteria can come together perfectly - Inside,but IMO The Crazies had neither gore nor tension.It was just a flashy re-hash that looks similar to an awful lot of the recent apocolyptic movies.

Raekwon

Just back from seeing it, I did go in with low expectations (but deepdown really wanting it top be good) and I have to say I enjoyed it. I do have to disagree with nedtheshed though because there was a couple of scenes that were built purely on tension, even if they were predictable or were shown in the trailer, they still had the audience tense and for me that really added to the overall experience.

The only real issue I had with this movie was the trailer. They pretty much show nearly every key scene in the trailer and even thought they are mostly shown out of context, they do ruin the movie slightly (well it did for me anyway).

Still, worth a watch none the less IMO.

hitlersson666

Saw this on sunday!!!! i loved it so did my sister (my mother did not lol) and im really surprised with how great it was but

Why did they want to make everyone a killer? what had the goverment to gain by testing it on there own people and why did they continue it after ??
oh and the whole pregnant woman in a atomic explosion/car crash then going ''im ok'' lol

Raekwon

hitlersson666 wrote: »

Why did they want to make everyone a killer? what had the goverment to gain by testing it on there own people and why did they continue it after ??

When they questioned the government official, who's van they had just flipped off the road, he explained that a plane with a biological weapon payload that was bound for an incinerator in Texas accidentally crash landed and contaminated the towns water supply. So they didn't test it on their own people, it was an accident that they desperately wanted to cover up hence the mass genocide then nuking of the town

hitlersson666

ah ha i see thanks very much!

senordingdong

Saw it today and quite liked it.
Typical small town meets zombie infection affair, with some good tjumps, twists and spins on it.

The only niggling bits for me were that the opening title sequence bore too much resemblance to 28 days/weeks.
And....that the trailer gave away wayyyyy too much of this movie.
I really hate it when that happens but there were very few scares left in this movie after seeing the trailer.
Also, I felt the 'bio weapon caused an infection' thing came into play way too early.
I think zombie movies can be better when there is less explanation for what is going on.

Liam O

chin_grin wrote: »

I see your spoiler and raise you:

Remember the bit at the end. When the satellite is going 'Execute Quarantine Procedures'. So one of them has it! And also a major opener for any sequel.

My only nit pick with it was the ending. I was expecting (almost wishing) it

faded to black when the countdown went to zero.

that seemed to be the logical ending point, seems to work for the Coen brothers anyway

pixelburp

I think I hid all spoilers, but just in case, be careful :P

I saw the movie tonight. It must be admitted that I have never seen the original Romero movie in full, so I can't legitimately compare the two. So to analyse the remake on its own terms, I enjoyed it & thought it was a tidy little beast.

First things first though: it's not a zombie movie. Sure, there may be a lot of blood-dappled, murderous folks trying to tear you a new blow hole, but it's made clear enough these people are not the undead. They're just normal towns-people gone wild. "Crazy" if you will. Oh ho ho ho.

On the subject of the insanity virus & a minus against the movie is that the degeneration of the town is quite sudden & we're not really given time to let it sink in or sneak up on us. There was scope to stretch out a creeping sense that the town was slowly doo-lally. A good example of this tension is the 1970s "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" remake, where a creeping dread builds, of things being not quite right, until we realise it's all too late. Here, after one night the town falls apart & the army are stomping about being equally anti-social. Maybe we just needed a little more time to breath and take in the situation, rather than immediately follow the survivors.

(On that, it's also clearly a movie that wouldn't have got much official help from the US armed forces. In many ways, they're the monsters in this flick (as hackneyed as that might sound).

Having said that, I liked how our little group of survivors had their own wits & sanity rattled throughout the movie, so you were never quite sure who was sane & who was infected. Bonus points are given for the start, where

on a number of occasions the leads are just about to sip some water / coffee, when they're suddenly distracted. Nice touch to keep the suspense up.

More bonus points for not being guilty of something which is a hobby horse of mine: excessive gore. The blood was kept to a (relative) minimum & there was little in the way of guts flying about, bar two intense scenes (

The pitchfork scene & the one in the nursery

). I suppose that's the upside of not having a cast of zombies shambling about.

The ending was decent, downbeat, though standard fare for these type of movies (

Our heroes finally escape the town ... ohwaitaminute the army see them!

); though I suppose given the fairly respectable marketing campaign, a sequel is being eyed up.

unreggd

I liked it

Blatantly ripped off the storyline of Resident Evil, and even copied some scenes from the first film

Anyways..........

About the ending:

I thought the scan implied the virus was already in the next city, and they were basically walking into the same disaster. If it was about them they woulda just been sniped

I don't think there will be a sequel. Yes, its left kinda open, but it'd just be the same thing over again

Did anyone see the extra clip in the middle of the credits? I had a feelin there was one, but didnt stay for it! boo

chin_grin

unreggd wrote: »

I liked it

Blatantly ripped off the storyline of Resident Evil, and even copied some scenes from the first film

Anyways..........

About the ending:

I thought the scan implied the virus was already in the next city, and they were basically walking into the same disaster. If it was about them they woulda just been sniped

I don't think there will be a sequel. Yes, its left kinda open, but it'd just be the same thing over again

Did anyone see the extra clip in the middle of the credits? I had a feelin there was one, but didnt stay for it! boo

You know that this is a remake of a George A Romero (him of those x of the Dead films') movie from 1973?

I think you're right about the sequel. It left it wide open, but I don't think I'd like one!

Feckitnanyways, I hate when I leave missing anything. Will have to see it again so!