Rating of
2/4
"The Crazies" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 12/16/11
A small town finds itself under seige from the military when its water supply is contaminated by a biological weapon that turns its inhabitants into psychopathic killers. The Crazies is a remake of a (rather bad) George Romero film from the 1970s that had a promising concept but failed in its execution. This updated version follows the formula of other Romero remakes by upgrading the visuals and production value while at the same time gutting the story of any satirical or sociological aspects leaving a competent but rather generic horror film that barely explores its underlying concepts, instead relying on by the number horror film "scares" and gore. The characters are the usual B-movie stereotypes which don't offend in any way, but at the same time make little impact on the imagination and as a result are very difficult to care about. The big twist in the tale that I patiently waited to lumber over the horizon arrived on cue, but was done with so little cinematic impact (a line of computer text, if you can believe it) that it had completely the opposite of the desired effect and felt like a total damp squib. Not terrible by any means but both 28 Days Later films told a tale that was pretty much identical, and did it with far more flair and imagination.
