The Crazies (15)

Alison Rowat's Review

Something is stirring in the tiny midwestern town of Ogden Marsh, and it’s not the wheat swaying gently across the prairie.

Set over two days, Breck Eisner’s remake of George A Romero’s 1973 original is a slick enough, does-the-business affair. Plenty of gore and moments to make you jump as the town’s sheriff (Timothy Olyphant) and his doctor wife (Radha Mitchell) attempt to make sense of the aftermath of a plane crash near the town.

Besides the full on, citizen-on-citizen violence, the image of the military takes a serious beating.

Paul Greenwood's Review

George Romero’s not especially well remembered 1973 horror The Crazies is the latest to hit the remake treadmill, proving once again that it you have to revisit a movie, it’s a good idea not to do one of the classics.

In a small and peaceful Midwest town, Timothy Olyphant’s sheriff and his doctor wife (Radha Mitchell) find themselves at the centre of events when the locals start exhibiting psychotic tendencies.

Soon the entire town is fighting for survival, but be it a virus, government conspiracy or good old-fashioned zombification, it’s not necessarily the crazies that should be feared the most.

Though maybe guilty of setting up the same stalk and hide situation a couple too many times, The Crazies is tense and well paced and it helps immensely that our guide on the journey is the outstanding Olyphant.

With no daft teens, no frantic editing, and a minimum of people doing very stupid things just to get us where the plot demands, this is slick, accomplished horror for grown-ups.