The Crazies (2010 film)

The Crazies
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Breck Eisner
Produced by Michael Aguilar
Dean Georgaris
Rob Cowan
Screenplay by Scott Kosar
Ray Wright
Based on The Crazies by
George A. Romero
Starring Timothy Olyphant
Radha Mitchell
Joe Anderson
Danielle Panabaker
Music by Mark Isham
Cinematography Maxime Alexandre
Edited by Billy Fox
Production
company
Distributed by Overture Films
Release date
  • February 26, 2010 (2010-02-26)
Running time
 101 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $20 million[1]
Box office $55 million[1]

The Crazies is a 2010 American science fiction horror film directed by Breck Eisner, with a screenplay by Scott Kosar and Ray Wright. The film is a remake of the 1973 film of the same name by George A. Romero, who is an executive producer of the remake. The original film follows two stories, one about the civilians and soldiers in the town and the other following politicians and military leaders away from the town. The remake focuses on a family that lives in the town and has to survive the outbreak.

The Crazies stars Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell. The film takes place in the fictional town of Ogden Marsh, Pierce County, Iowa, "friendliest place on Earth," whose town water supply is accidentally infected with the "Trixie" virus. After an incubation period of 48 hours, this virus gradually transforms the mental state of the infected into that of cold, calculating, depraved, bloodthirsty killers, who then prey on family and neighbors alike. The film was released on February 26, 2010 to positive reviews from critics, and was a modest box office success.

Plot

In the town of Ogden Marsh, Iowa, local sheriff David Dutten is enjoying a baseball game when it is interrupted by resident Rory entering the outfield with a shotgun. David attempts to dissuade him, but is forced to kill him when he raises his weapon. David's wife Judy, the community doctor, has begun to notice another resident exhibiting bizarre behavior, including lifeless and repetitive speech. The next night, a local farmer locks his wife and son inside their farmhouse and burns it down before mowing his lawn.

Following the discovery of a pilot's body in a swamp, David and his deputy Russell Clank investigate the area. They discover a military aircraft that crashed into the river a few days before. Suspecting a link between the contaminated water and the residents' bizarre behavior, David lobbies the mayor to shut off the town's drinking water supply but is denied. He does so anyway, knowing it may cost him his job.

Soon after, all communication services are lost in town and soldiers arrive to quarantine all residents at a high school. Everyone is examined for symptoms of infection; Judy does not pass the examination due to elevated temperature because of her pregnancy and is separated from David. David escapes quarantine and returns to his office, encountering Russell. The pair head for the school to free Judy. At the school, infected townspeople breach the perimeter, and the military personnel evacuate, abandoning the civilians. Judy wakes up strapped to a gurney alongside several others, and a school director enters and begins killing quarantined people. David and Russell arrive and kill the director, freeing her and Becca, Judy's assistant.

Unable to find a working vehicle, the four make their way out of town on foot. They encounter Becca's boyfriend Scotty at his farm. Soldiers raid the farm, shoot Scotty and his mother, and burn their bodies. David et al subdue a soldier and learn that the military has been ordered to shoot all civilians. The group repairs a patrol car in David's garage and are ambushed in David's house by Rory's infected wife Peggy and son Curt. Peggy stabs David in the hand before he kills her, and Russell shoots Curt through a window. Russell shoots the pair's corpses multiple times, disturbing Judy. On the road, they are spotted by an attack helicopter and drive into a car wash for cover. Employees at the car wash attack the car and drag Becca out by the neck with a hose, presumably breaking her neck and killing her. When the rest of the group leaves the car to help her, the helicopter destroys the car.

While walking down the road, the group spots a black SUV speeding toward them, which Russell disables with a police spike strip. The driver, a government employee, reveals that the cargo plane contained a Rhabdoviridae prototype and biological weapon called Trixie. It was en route to Texas to be destroyed when the plane crashed. Enraged, Russell shoots him and threatens the Duttens. David confronts him about his behavior, and Russell realizes he is infected. David disarms him and he begs to continue with them. At a military roadblock, Russell distracts the soldiers and is killed, allowing the Duttens to sneak past.

David and Judy arrive at a truck stop to search for a vehicle, discovering that the military has also executed those who were evacuated. After killing more infected, they escape in a semi-truck. As they drive away, a massive explosion destroys Ogden Marsh and the subsequent shock wave rolls their vehicle. The Duttens exit and begin walking towards Cedar Rapids. A view from a military satellite highlights the couple and then the city, and the words "Initiate containment protocol" appear, signifying a new containment task.

In a mid-credits scene, a Cedar Rapids newscaster reports on the explosion in Ogden Marsh. He says a perimeter has been set and civilians are not being allowed into the area. An infected individual appears on camera before the signal is lost, implying that more people became infected in Cedar Rapids, possibly via the water Judy drank at the Truck Stop.

Cast

Production

Much of the film was shot in central Georgia, and Lenox, Iowa, with settings including the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Priester's Pecans in Perry, Georgia, the Fountain Car Wash in Macon, Georgia, areas in Dublin, Georgia, Peach County High School in Fort Valley, Georgia, and areas of Cordele, Georgia (the truck stop used during filming is an old TravelCenters of America site).[2] The film was produced and distributed by Overture Films.[3] The special effects were created by Robert Green Hall.[4] Actress Lynn Lowry, a star from the original film, makes a cameo in the remake billed as "Woman on Bike".

Makeup

The final stage of the Trixie disease took three hours in the make-up chair to complete.

The makeup for the film was designed by Almost Human Studios, who also did makeup for other horror films such as Quarantine, Frankenfish and Prom Night. Director Breck Eisner's first visions of what the infected would look like were zombies. He and the makeup crew made many molds and sketches of what the infected should look like, with deformities and skin hanging off and so forth. Eventually, he grew tired of the "zombie" look which he believed to be too cliché and decided to go for a more realistic "go under the skin," in which the blood vessels would appear to be bursting forth and face and neck muscles and tendons tight and wrought. Eisner described this look as "hyper alive."

The director's one and only rule for the makeup design was that they would have to research in medical books and consult medical professionals for the design of the infected. Lead make-up artist Rob Hall said "If we were to pitch something to Breck, about, if you know, one side of his face should look like this, Breck would immediately want to know what disease it came from, and what version of reality it could be implemented into Trixie. But the most important thing was to make sure it felt real. Make it feel like you could get it, too." The basis of the makeup the crew used was mainly rabies, tetanus and Stevens–Johnson syndrome.

Each "Crazy" design had about 21 separate pieces that took over three hours to apply for the final effect seen in the film. Robert stated the final effect in the film seen was not just the makeup, but the lighting, camera angles, and post-production effects were the main factor. The main theme for the design was "stress." He stated he wanted the "Crazies" to look stressed out. The veins and eyes were the main focus of the design. The contact lenses covered the actors' entire eyes and required eyedrops every five minutes to prevent permanent eye damage.[5]

Release

The film premiered on February 24, 2010 in Los Angeles[6] and received a wide release in the North America on February 26, 2010.[7] The Canadian DVD and Blu-ray Disc were released June 29, 2010.[8] The DVD and Blu-ray Disc + Digital Copy combo pack was released in the North America on June 29, 2010 and in the UK on July 19.[9]

Critical reception

On review aggravator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an overall approval rating of 71% based on 148 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Tense, nicely shot, and uncommonly intelligent, The Crazies is a horror remake that, unusually, works."[10] On Metacritic, which assigns a rating to reviews, the film has an average score of 55 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[11] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale.[12]

Michael Phillips of The Chicago Tribune awarded the film 3½ stars of 4 commenting that he "greatly prefer this cleverly sustained and efficiently relentless remake to the '73 edition. It is lean and simple."[13] Eric M. Armstrong of The Moving Arts Film Journal wrote that "The Crazies is a solid B-movie and one of the few remakes that actually surpasses the original."[14] Ty Burr of The Boston Globe gave the film 3/4 stars touting the film as "extremely solid stuff – about as good as you could hope from a B-movie retread."[15] Variety film critic Dennis Harvey also praised the film, writing "While not a slam dunk, this revamp by helmer Breck Eisner (of the enjoyable but underperforming Sahara) emerges an above-average genre piece that's equal parts horror-meller and doomsday action thriller.[16]

However, Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly graded the film a C, writing, "I don't care how this premise has been dressed up, we've seen it a jillion times before."[17] Mike Hale of The New York Times wrote a mixed review stating "The filmmakers seem so determined to make a serious, respectable horror movie that they have only the bare minimum of fun."[18] Amy Biancolli, writing for San Francisco Chronicle, wrote that the remake "boasts less of the plot and fewer characters than the original, but the hairdos are spiffier and the special effects have graduated from cheapo stage blood to the extravagant gross-outs that horror audiences now routinely expect."[19]

Box office

The film opened at #3 behind Cop Out and Shutter Island with $16,067,552.[20] By May 2010, the film has grossed an estimated $50 million worldwide.[1]

Nominations

YearAwardCategoryResult
2011 People's Choice Awards Favorite Horror Movie Nominated

Merchandise

On February 23, 2010, an iPhone app, Beware the Infected, was released.[21]

Comic book

On February 17, 2010, iTunes released a graphic novel adaptation of the film.[22] A comic book was also released chronicling how the virus was spread. It went on for four issues.

Browser game

On February 24, 2010, Starz Digital Media released a Facebook game based on the film.[23]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Crazies (2010)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2010-07-20.
  2. ↑ ‘Crazies’ remake filming under way in Perry Archived 2009-05-04 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ "Exclusive: Rob Hall Talks Effects on Remake of The Crazies". DreadCentral.
  4. ↑ "Exclusive photo: THE CRAZIES love Fango!". Fangoria. Archived from the original on 2009-10-25.
  5. ↑ The Crazies DVD Special Feature(s): "Paranormal Pandemics," "Rob Hall make-up featurette," "Behind-the-scenes with Breck Esiner"
  6. ↑ "Massive Image Gallery: The LA Crazies Premiere". DreadCentral.
  7. ↑ "The Crazies (2010)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
  8. ↑ "The Crazies Hit Canadian DVD and Blu-ray in June". DreadCentral.
  9. ↑ The Crazies (US - DVD R1|BD RA) in News > Releases at DVDActive
  10. ↑ "The Crazies (2010)". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
  11. ↑ "The Crazies reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
  12. ↑ "Kicking & Screaming – CinemaScore". CinemaScore. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  13. ↑ Phillips, Michael (2010-02-25). "'The Crazies': Remake bests the master". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  14. ↑ Armstrong, Eric M. (2010-03-10). "'The Crazies (2010)'". The Moving Arts Film Journal.
  15. ↑ Burr, Ty (2010-02-26). "'The Crazies' movie review". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  16. ↑ Harvey, Dennis (February 25, 2010). "The Crazies Review – Read Variety's Analysis of the Film, The Crazies". Variety. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
  17. ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (2010-02-25). "The Crazies". EW. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  18. ↑ Hale, Mike (2010-02-26). "Movie Review – The Crazies". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  19. ↑ Biancolli, Amy (2010-02-26). "Review: 'The Crazies'". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  20. ↑ "Weekend Box Office Results for February 26–28, 2010". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  21. ↑ The Crazies By Petrol Advertising
  22. ↑ "Trailer for 'The Crazies' Motion Comic Book". BloodyDisgusting.
  23. ↑ "The Crazies Comic, iPhone App, and Facebook Games Are Here". DreadCentral.
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