For anyone who loves a good zombie movie, George Romero's name has become practically synonymous with the living dead. Therefore, it's no surprise that the new release ""The Crazies,"" a remake of Romeo's 1973 film by the same name, gives off the vibe of just another film infected by the zombie craze. Fortunately, it's not.
The film opens on a small Iowa town that has been disrupted by the unusual behavior of a few of its residents. Shortly after the incidents begin, sheriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant) and deputy Russell Clank (Joe Anderson) receive word that a plane may have crashed in the area. Convinced that there has to be a connection, the two officers take a boat onto the nearby river and find the wreckage hidden below the water's surface. Sheriff Dutton knows that the water from the river is connected to the town's water supply and is sure that whatever was on the plane is somehow the cause of the town residents' increasing insanity.
The majority of screen time is spent following Olyphant, Anderson, and Radha Mitchell, in the role of Dutton's wife Judy, as they attempt to escape the town from the crazies and the army that rolls in to exterminate anyone perceived as a potential plague-spreader. Despite the fact that the plight of the infected town is far from original, this film stays fresh by maintaining a quick pace and likeable characters. With a resume that includes films such as ""Pitch Black"" and ""Silent Hill,"" Mitchell does an excellent job in the lead female role and helps to carry the high level of tension that the film holds from beginning to end.
On the other hand, ""The Crazies"" is director Breck Eisner's first feature-length film, and in this case, it shows. Horror is not an easy genre to master. There are many points in the film where Eisner relies on cliché tactics to achieve a quick scare or save the characters from a particularly sticky situation. One instance of this is when Mitchell is taking one last, long look at a room in her home before leaving when the camera pans to reveal a crazy standing, ready to attack, behind her. Armed with a gun, the crazy forces her into a chair and ties her up. Stuck in a position with no way out, it would seem as though this time, not unlike the three other similar no-way-out situations that have previously happened, Mitchell has to be doomed. But luckily for her, Anderson spots the situation and shoots the crazy down at the last second, again.
Eisner provides so many surprise-scare moments and last-second takedowns that for some it may change the film from well-paced and suspenseful to gimmicky and predictable. It leaves you feeling as if Eisner isn't willing to trust in the power of suspense as a method for generating fear. Those who do not watch a lot of horror movies will probably be able to forgive these cheap scares and appreciate the film's overall tense mood. People who are fans of horror, though, may be disappointed and need not worry about seeing the film before it leaves theaters.
