The town of Ogden Marsh is so darn All American it would make Norman Rockwell blush – and scramble for a paint brush.
The setting for “The Crazies,” a remake of the low-budget George A. Romero thriller, gives extra heft to the horror to come.
It’s one thing to see a gaggle of pretty teens get gored by a serial killer. But watching the folks, as Bill O’Reilly might say, see their bucolic town turn into a nightmare is another tragedy altogether.
The fun begins as the camera pans over the Iowa town, Johnny Cash’s “We’ll Meet Again” playing in the background.
Timothy Olyphant stars as Sheriff David Dutton, a rugged lawman spending an early spring afternoon at the ballpark. The town drunk, supposedly sober of late, shuffles onto the field with a shotgun.
David is forced to kill him in self defense. It’s the tip off that something is very, very wrong in Ogden Marsh.
The eeevil military has let a toxin loose in the town, one that turns law-abiding citizens into, well, crazies. And now the military is using all of its might to contain the problem.
“The Crazies” hits the accelerator in the opening scene, and director Breck Eisner (“Sahara”) feels no compunction to take his foot off the gas.
Eisner keeps his camera movements fluid, adding to the sense of terror without being showy. He directs several dizzying sequences, including a raucous battle set in a car wash that won’t be soon forgotten.
Olyphant gives credibility and a soul to his heroic sheriff, while the lovely Radha Mitchell isn’t given much to do as his doctor wife.
But it’s co-star Joe Anderson, playing Ogden Marsh’s faithful deputy, who provides some scene-stealing humanity.
“I’m no world beater, but I have plans,” Anderson’s character says as their small world is turned upside down. It’s a beautiful line that shows the filmmakers treat its heroes with respect.
“The Crazies” is far from flawless. A few cheap scares could have been clipped out with no loss of tension, and the military component is frustratingly inconsistent. Sometimes, the powers that be can find David and co. anywhere they run, at other times they’re the Keystone Kops in Hazmat suits.
The film’s promised social commentary never brings the narrative to a halt. Those who distrust the military and/or the government can read into this worst case scenario all they wish. The rest of us will be giddy with a roller coaster of a horror film.
(Photo: Timothy Olyphant plays a small town sheriff trying to save his neighbors after a virus hits the water supply in “The Crazies.” Overture Films)
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Kind of looking forward to it now. I didn’t care much for the original (rather boring after the first half), but this weekend I review either this or “Wolfman,” so the choice seems clear.
Dodge the silver bullet, James, for your own well being