The Crazies...9 out of 10.

The Crazies opened last Friday night. And after seeing the previews, Sean and I had already agreed to catch the movie opening night. After all, it was right up our movie going alley. It had people turning into monsters (the psychological kind, not actual, you know, monsters). It had loads of blood and violence. Woo-to-the-hoo!! What I did not know was that it was a remake of the 1973 George Romero film of the same name. WTH?! How did I miss a Romero film? What kind of fan am I?? I can tell you what kind of cake Stephen King had for his 11th birthday*, but I completely missed an entire film by George Romero?! Oh! The Shame!!

Having not seen the original, I can't compare the two. But what I can say is that the remake most likely did the original film justice. It was very good. And definitely had the feel of George Romero's films about it. While not a zombie film, it had a lot of the same feeling.

I think currently, films like these are even scarier given the recent swine flu panic. Everyone is more germ conscious these days. We avoid obviously ill people like the plague and carry hand sanitizer with us. And even if we didn't you can find it mounted on the wall in most restrooms. Our society has become much more aware of the possible spread of contagion. This film completely hits that nerve. Add to that our fear of government control and isolation and you have one scary as shit movie.

The movie centers on a small town in Iowa. Just your average everyday town until someone (patient zero in this case) walks onto a baseball field during a high school game with a shotgun. Soon, he's not the only one displaying odd behavior. The contagion spreads quickly and we quickly find out that it's the military's fault! Total shocker, huh? Okay, not really. C'mon, I didn't say the movie wasn't predictable. Soon our main characters, the town sheriff, his pregnant wife (who's also the town doctor), her teenage receptionist, and the deputy are fighting for their lives. Both against the infected, and the military, who have swooped down to contain the problem. Very soon, most of the people from the town are dead, the vehicles disabled and our four characters are completely cut off from the rest of the world. Getting to safety becomes their only goal. Unfortunately for them, they have to avoid not only the infected, but the military too.

Fortunately for us, that makes for one good story. The plot was fully fleshed out, if somewhat predictable. The acting was good. Timothy Olyphant, who seemed like a newcomer to me (until I found out he'd been in Stop Loss, The Perfect Getaway, and Catch and Release), is very good in his role of town sheriff torn between his duty to his badge and his friendship with the townspeople. Radha Mitchell, as his wife is also good. You may remember her from Surrogates, Silent Hill or Pitch Black.

All in all, 9 out of 10 from Sean and I.

♥Spot

*I don't really know what kind of cake he had. Geez! I'm not some crazy stalker.