How George A. Romero’s Overrated Sci-Fi Overshadowed The Living Dead Franchise
Posted by Brian Myers | Published
Director and screenwriter George A. Romero has long been considered the god of the modern zombie film. The late filmmaker certainly earned that moniker, with his first feature Night of the Living Dead forever changing Hollywood’s perception of what these immortal beings are. In the decades following his 1968 opus, Romero continued the “Living Dead” saga with five more films. Remakes and throwbacks from other filmmakers followed, each paying homage to the original master to varying degrees.
But somewhere between the film that launched his career and its sequel in 1977 Dawn of the Dead lies a largely forgotten sci-fi horror film that deserves its due. Far from the success enjoyed by any of Romero’s films, the 1973 film The Crazies definitely one worth checking out.
Sci-Fi Horror Slaughter
The film opens in a farmhouse where a family of four lives. When the two children are playing, the father enters the frame, destroys everything in his path with the crowbar. As a little girl rushes to her mother’s bedside for help, she finds something exciting. A woman was beaten to death in her sleep.
My father then lit kerosene and threw it all over the house and set it on fire. The two children escaped with severe burns and are being treated at a local clinic. When nurse Judy arrives to help the town doctor, she is greeted by a group of men in full HAZMAT gear who are busy setting up and distributing equipment. As Judy tries to understand what’s going on, she overhears a heated conversation between Dr. Brookmyre and the military officer who appeared to be taking over the clinic.
Major Ryder revealed that a deadly bio-weapon, called “Trixie,” was accidentally released from a water supply a few days ago when the military plane carrying it crashed near Evans City, PA. This chemical infects those exposed to it with a highly contagious disease that causes homicidal insanity in those who survive the initial exposure.
With a mandated news blackout and government quarantine shutting down society, the townspeople are cut off from the rest of the world. Handing out gas masks and white protective gear, the soldiers went from house to house to collect the residents, bringing them into the school gymnasium. Anyone who tries to run is shot on sight.
More Layers Than Your Average Romero Film
The Crazies brings three types of horror on screen to the audience. At first, the idea of insanity from an unknown disease is the fear viewers are forced to think about when the farmer is driven mad during the opening of the film. Realistic horror then begins to unfold as soldiers are shown entering homes and killing civilians. Finally, the dangers of mob thinking scare you. The civilians escaping capture (some infected, of course) began to revolt and kill the soldiers. Although an understandable reaction, it is this very thought that leads to the terrible fate of the city and perhaps the whole of humanity.
The Crazies it packs in a lot of cool scenes, making it perfect for a Romero film. In a chain of events, a farmer starts shooting at soldiers from his window as his wife attacks another with knitting needles. These acts of horrific violence play out while the couple’s young daughter plays the piano, seemingly oblivious to the carnage unfolding in front of her.
In one incident, a priest with the virus is shown running to his church carrying a can of petrol. As he shouts a prayer, he pours oil on himself and lights a fire.
The film heats up quickly (no pun intended), with jarring action from the opening frames and all. Like many of Romero’s other films, the real horror in the The Crazies that is the person to whom he brings himself. The director can bring to life a real man vs. a man without zombie makeup or amazing special effects, giving the audience a good sense of how these situations can really play out.
Thought for a New Generation
Following Romero’s success The Land of the Dead in the early 2000s, Paramount Pictures began remaking his neglected masterpiece. After early negotiations concluded, the project was picked up by the defunct Starz Network vehicle Overture Films in 2008. On a shoestring budget of $20M, director Breck Eisner reimagined Romero’s early 70s feature into a 101-minute horror for the big screen.
Timothy Olyphant (Fixed, Once upon a time in Hollywood) stars as the Sheriff of the rural community of Ogden Marsh, Iowa. Although the remake includes a bioweapon being released from the city’s waters by a military plane crash, that’s where most of the similarities are to the original ending. It’s still a solid watch as always.
You can stream the first version of The Crazies free with Tubi. The big-budget remake is currently available on the Roku Channel.
