Crazies (1973)

It is common place for movies, especially those that have achieved cult classic status, to be used for the often dreaded remake. One such film that has just undergone such treatment was the little gem from the undisputed king of the zombie genre, George Romero. His film, ‘The Crazies’ released in 1973 was just given the re-imagining treatment and the thing is in this case it worked. The 2010 edition was sufficiently different in focus and execution to allow it to be viewed as a completely different movie. This leaves us with a consideration of the original with very little overlapping the remake. Let’s face it, no one does a zombie flick like Romero and while this is not officially part of his ground breaking ‘Living Dead’ franchise but it does share many of the key elements that makes a Romero flick unique. That is to say there are plenty of creepy undead neighbors lumbering around but the story is allegorical, revealing some deeply pertinent social evil. Romero always liked giving his audience something to think about and perhaps discuss long after the lights in the theater went up and they returned to the normal world of the living. Like most of Romero’s flicks this one was made on a shoestring budget, an estimated $270,000. That wouldn’t cover the cost of coffee and pasty on a big blockbuster set but Romero certainly was extremely well versed in getting the most bang for his buck. Although this was his first official ‘union’ production Romero remained true to his established methodology and employed many of the local town’s folk of the shooting location, Evans City, Pennsylvania. This helped to give the movie his trade mark look and feel of cinema verite blended with the control of a well scripted production. In some ways this movie was exceeded by the remake but this film remains on its own level as an enduring classic.

Mr. Romero shared the screen writing credits for this one with relative newcomer, Paul McCollough. On the surface this flick is like many that have come before and certainly will follow looking at what would happen if a deadly epidemic hit a small town in the United States. Since Romero enjoys mixing social commentary along with his lumbering undead it is important to view this movie in its proper time and place. In 1973 the Vietnam War was still raging. The prevalent attitude especially among the youth was a deep seated distrust of the government and the military-industrial complex, a massive conspiracy that was ruling the world. This version of ‘The Crazies’ has to be seen and understood against this historical place in time in order to be fully appreciated. It wasn’t just Romero who felt it necessary to infuse social relevance into his work; most forms of entertainment from popular music and television followed suit. Most people view his collective body of works as just a never ending string of really low budget horror flicks but that was only the canvas that he used to present his larger work. He chronicled our cultured filtered through a bizarre vantage point in much the same way that a science fiction story about a robot can provide insight to our humanity.

Nothing really important ever seemed to happen in the small town of Evans City, Pennsylvania. Like so many communities around the nation this was a place where the neighbors mostly knew each other and each day was but a slight variation of all the others. Recently some of the folks around town have been acting strange, you could ever say crazy. One of the most notable occurrences is a local farmer setting fire to his own place. This gives a natural lead-in to the two central characters; David (W.G. McMillan), a former Green Beret and his girlfriend, a nurse at the local hospital, Judy (Lane Caroll). There is a touch of a romantic triangle with fellow fireman Clank (Harold Wayne Jones), who has been harboring a crush on Judy for awhile. That is just about a moot point since she is pregnant with David’s child. Unknown to the inhabitants of Evans City the military are preparing to enter the town dressed in suits proof against nuclear, biological or chemical dangers, men with guns coming into town are frightening enough but dressed in this fashion the terror mounts exponentially. These suits have become the visual manifestation of a very fundamental fear; infection. The soldiers dressed like this are a modern version of the cloaked grim reaper; the shrouded figure traditionally the harbinger of death. This movie is one of the most visually intriguing of Romero’s works. This was emphasized by his director of photography, S. William Hinzman who has been working with Romero since his freshman opus, ‘Night of the Living Dead’. This is a bifurcated story that switches focus between two main plot lines. The first is a survival movie has the dwindling number of uninfected citizens struggle to stay alive. They are caught between their crazed neighbors and the advancing military intent on containing the epidemic. The second story is the more insidious one featuring a failed government biological weapons program and the inevitable cover-up that ensued.

There are some powerful images and engrained taboos punctuating this film. During the Vietnam War one photograph that stunned the world was of a Buddhist monk protesting the war with self emollition. Here a local clergyman reacts in a similar fashion as his flock is rounded up by the military. One of the most universal taboos is displayed when one of the survivors becomes infected and rapes his teenage daughter. Romero has always relished pushing limits but this takes things to a new level. While the remake successfully strove to move more towards action this one held true to Romero’s extraordinary talent of Romero to take a meager budget and create something that will continue to entertain.

Posted 07/10/2010