THE CRAZIES (2010 - Cert 15)

Remakes are a bit en vogue at the moment in the world of cinema. It seems as though there is a bit of a drought in the imagination department as studios are taking the safe option of remaking fondly remembered films from the 80's and before, plus in some cases rebooting 'franchises' that aren't exactly dead (Spiderman, I am indeed looking at you). Horror is the genre that has been the victim more than others in this epidemic with all sorts of flicks being 're-imagined' (ruined), A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Last House on the Left, I Spit in Your Grave, The Amityville Horror and Dawn of the Dead. I could go on, but I wanted to stop that list at a George A Romero one because last year this generation got their hands on another of his classics, although not a zombie flick this time. On this occasion, it's his pop at the American Military via a nasty virus called Trixie that turns the infected into killers. Not like the Rage virus, but in a way that you don't really know who is infected. Who do you trust?

Mr Romero is on exec producer duties here, giving his blessing to director Breck Eisner, the only thing of note that he's done previously being Sahara. Scott Kosar, seasoned pro of horror remakes having already written The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Amityville Horror, is drafted into bring the tale into the 21st Century. The first thing to note is that it is a very different beast and isn't a full on remake. The comical tone of the original has been completely lost and it's clear that the focus on this version is very much to thrill, chill and scare. They've kept the small town America location, and persisted with the origins of the virus and the military reaction, but it is all done very much as you would expect, straight-faced with no hint of the satire of Romero. 

If you can get past the fact that they are remaking a film with such a comical and critical undercurrent, without the comedy and the undercurrent, or haven't seen the original at all, then this film does exactly what it sets out to do, namely, thrill, chill and scare. It does all of those in abundance. There is something undoubtedly creepy about your neighbours turning into bloodthirsty, ruthless killers, but looking exactly the same as they did before. Paranoia and tensions are ramped up as any odd behaviour can be construed as symptoms of infection. In terms of scare set-pieces Eisner does do well with some good little scares. The best scene involves our heroes being under attack in a car wash. Doesn't sound particularly much, but there it plays out in a wonderfully chaotic way as outside of the windows all we see is movement, unsure where the attack is going to come from. There's some good action as well, ticking all of the relevant boxes that you would expect with aplomb. I do wonder what would have happened had Romero had the budgets that are chucked around today, people are often critical of the dated, ramshackle look of his early films. But imagine if that criticism was taken away....?

In order for horror to work, we must feel a connection to the characters involved, otherwise they just become fodder that we are waiting to get picked off. In this instance we follow the reliable Timothy Olyphant as the sheriff and Radha Mitchell as his Doctor wife as they try to escape the town and the madness left behind. Both are good, Olyphant, although the hero and alpha-male, still retains an everyman quality and remains believable throughout. Mitchell is slightly less interesting but only because much of her role involves getting into trouble for Olyphant to save her, but she does well with it nonetheless. It's also nice to see Englishman Joe Anderson in something like this, and doing it very well, as the deputy along for the ride. 

As the film rolls on, it starts to become critical of American Military policy and the doctrine of Shoot now, explain later. It was inevitable that it was going to do this as it was such a fundamental part of the original, but it's done with all the subtlety of a baseball bat. Whereas with the original The Crazies, you didn't know whether to laugh or be shocked, with this one it becomes an incidental plot element, not a statement. It's not necessarily a bad thing, this type of film banging a political drum may just not have fit well either. 

It's perfectly fine, worth a watch, and does raise the pulse rates a few times, but if you want to watch a horror film about a virus turning people into killers, then you may as well watch the 1973 version because it's the more superior, all be it dated, film.