The Crazies -- Review

Have you ever reached your breaking point?  Been pushed beyond the limit and just gone crazy?  I know that lack of sleep causes a paranoia that could drive a person mad especially under strenuous situations.  What's the longest you've gone without sleep?  When I was younger a group of friends and I challenged each other to see how long we could go without sleep.  We lasted 3 days, but we had totally lost it by the time we crashed. How long do you think you'd last before going crazy? Have you ever tested the theory?  Now granted that is not exactly relevant to the film, but I wonder what each person's breaking point is.  The Crazies is a remake to the 1973 George A. Romero film and it will definitely push you right up to the edge as you follow 4 characters from escaping an illness that drives people crazy.

The Crazies was one of the few recent horror films that legitimately had me jumping in my seat.  The filming was gritty and dirty and added to the elements in a way that HD cannot touch.  For me the coarse picture with the filmed on 35mm film heightened my senses and allowed me to fall right into director Breck Eisner's hands by throwing in my face the fact that this film would not be a "nice clean" film.  I loved that not only were we given a taste of the crazies and their illness but elements were also left to our imagination by not showing us everything.

Granted, for as much as I enjoyed the thrill and suspense of this film, it almost felt like the beginning dragged just a little after a quick glimps of what was in store for us during the opening credits and then beginning the story.  The timeline only cover about 3 days, so with a running time of 101 minutes it roughly spent 30 minutes showing us the events that occurred in the small Iowa town.  With that I feel that we did not need as much time spent walking through fields, and would have preferred a little more information or interaction during the initial containment period rather than vomiting just enough information in to our laps at the end of the film.  Aside from timing, my only other complain is with the choice in ending.  I do not want to give away anything but I will say that it was a nice attempt but as the batter was swung I wanted the ball to get hit out of the park, but Eisner just happened to tip the ball back over home plate. 

In the end, after taking everything into consideration, I truly enjoyed Breck Eisner's The Crazies.  It was a success when it comes to remakes.  It definitely held its own in the world of horror and aside from the few fouls, this film gave me everything I went in looking for.  It scared me when I wanted to be scared and left me wanting just enough to go back for another round.  I give The Crazies a 3.5 out of 5 stars and with one of my favorite actors, Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood and Hitman) I could not take my eyes off the screen.