You'd be hard-pressed to find a serious horror fan who doesn't have a soft spot for George Romero. Say what you like about production value (and occasionally amateurish acting), but since 1968's Night of the Living Dead, Romero has often made thought-provoking and boundary-pushing horror (although the last few Living Dead films seem to be by rote). His surprisingly socially-conscious films tend to be stripped-down, gritty and personal accounts of ordinary individuals attempting to communicate and survive in extraordinary situations when the whole world has gone to hell.
Romero's films still stand up, and are simply not in need of a remake. That said, 1973's The Crazies could have done with a bit more money and a more experienced cast, so I was interested to see what director Ray Wright and remake specialist Scott Kosar would do with it. The verdict: a fun flick, good cast, some good suspense and a few worthy scares, but it just doesn't live up to the charm of its predecessor. The social commentary (subtle and backhanded though it may be) has been stripped away and replaced with action movie cliches, like Schwarzenegger-style badass lines and last-minute rescues so unlikely as to make you wonder if the protagonists are psychic...or can see through walls.
That's not to say that there is no saving grace, here. Timothy Olyphant is a likeable enough hero, and his cohorts are entertaining enough, as well. While the Hollywood blockbuster machine has had its way with the dialogue and some of the action scenes, it is refreshing to see actors who don't look like they just came out of the makeup trailer. Early on, I was pleased to see that the movie hadn't forgotten its roots, as Lynn Lowry, queen of the 1973 Crazies, showed up in a nod to her loopy character in the original.
However, once the movie gets rolling, some other defining elements are conspicuously absent. One of the questions Romero appears to pose in the original is, "how crazy is crazy?" There are times (at least, in the beginning) that it's difficult to tell the difference between the infected and the merely eccentric. Even later, one gets the impression that these people didn't have to be pushed all that far to reach unconscionable depths of violence and depravity. This new version presents the infected as merely sentient zombies, obviously so changed that they can barely be thought of as the people they once were; the original shows us their slow and frighteningly easy slide into madness that was closer at hand than anyone had realized.
Romero's gritty vision, too, is eliminated and replaced with mere action-movie violence. Anyone familiar with the original will grimace and squirm at the thought of Lynn Lowry's creepy scene with her father - suffice it to say, although it's not gory, it's still not something you'll see in many mainstream Hollywood scare flicks.
The anti-authoritarian stance that runs through most of Romero's films survives here, but only in a superficial way. Where this story shows the government and its military as a blunt instrument - a brutal, faceless, iron fist - the original makes us wonder which ones are the true crazies: the infected or the authorities.
Of course, a horror flick needn't be thought-provoking, but it is a shame to see a relatively thoughtful film dumbed-down for a remake. The Crazies is fun and worth watching - just make sure you go in expecting more Michael Bay and less George Romero.
VP
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