La Nuit des fous vivants

George Romero's legend as a genre filmmaker is secure; his repertoire is less sure, as his movies can be hit or miss. I admit I started watching 'The crazies' with expectations of something different than what we actually get. However, while the narrative starts slowly, it nonetheless ends up being duly engaging. What begins as a disordered effort to contain an outbreak gradually spirals out into a deepening crisis, and the spotlight on a handful of recalcitrant townspeople humanizes the course of events and a strong overarching theme of distrust in the military. The premise is disquieting, the story as it transpires is often unsettling, and in the midst of all the chaos, what scenes of violence we get are acutely jarring. The sense of horror here is broadly more thematic and conceptual than concrete, but even at that, this is a reasonably worthwhile classic.

The detail in the production design is somewhat impressive considering especially that this was only Romero's fourth film, a few short years after 'Night of the living dead.' The vehicles, props, and costume design presumably ate a fair portion of the budget, joined in that spread by special effects including blood. In general there's not much to speak of in terms of dialogue or characters, but the scene writing is pretty swell. And though never wholly captivating, or engaging to the extent we'd hope, the overall narrative is fairly solid.

Moments that could be emphasized with gravity or emotional weight are passed over with the same detached observer's eye that otherwise captures the unfolding events. With this in mind, the assembled cast get to explore their parts mostly only in instances of worsening infection - but they all inhabit their roles well to tell the story. And this rather summarizes 'The crazies' as a whole: the storytelling and film-making are fine, demonstrating Romero's practiced hand in the genre - and that's about it. Nothing about the movie is bad, but nor is anything exceptional to the point of demanding praise. It's modestly gripping, but not necessarily satisfying; entertaining, but not outright stimulating.

One shouldn't necessarily go out of their way to find this, but it's sufficiently deserving of consideration as to be worth watching if you come across it. As a horror film, and as a George Romero picture, 'The crazies' isn't the most essential slice of cinema, but it's a good time all the same.

Though as a lifelong resident of the greater Pittsburgh area, the idea of anything noteworthy coming out of Evans City, like a classic movie, is still a laugh.

A plane crashes near Pittsburgh carrying a bacteriological weapon called "Trixie". It gets into a nearby town's water supply causing it's citizen to go crazy, some of them homicidal maniacs. Some of the town's residents try to escape through a cordon around the town set up by the Army and shooting between the residents and soldiers (who go around wearing white contamination suits) and blood spurts ensue. That pretty much sums up the plot.

There's really no gore in this Romero film, but we do see plenty of gun battles that look cheap and amateurish. The only memorable character is Dr. Watts, played by Richard France, who's overacting is so bad that I actually liked his time on the screen. You can see he's trying real hard.

The Blue Underground anamorphic DVD looks nice and it contains a short interview with co-star Lynn Lowry who explains some of her experiences on the film as well as her failed film career. Also a decent commentary track by George Romero who wishes he could have done more with it if he had a bigger budget.

As long as one doesn't compare it to Romero's other films like the DEAD trilogy or MARTIN (1977), then it's better than most 70s low budget efforts in that cheap, charming way. I think it's worth a look.

6 out of 10

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After the success of his classic Night of the Living Dead (1968), horror master George Romero followed up with this low-budget thriller.

Airplane crashes outside of a small Pennsylvania town and unleashes a bio chemical substance that turns the locals into murderous psychotics. The government steps in, but only makes things worse... far worse.

George Romero's films have long been known for their violence, disturbing nature, and social commentary and this early film is no exception. The Crazies has exciting action wrapped all in a thought-provoking and unsettlingly believable story. There's plenty of moments of gore and a number of scenes that are quite horrific (burning preacher anyone?). Romero's direction is nicely done, providing tense atmosphere and using the rural locations of Pennyslvania well.

Cast-wise some of the performances of this film seem a bit forced, but the performers do manage to hold it together. Harold Wayne Jones, Will MacMillian, and Lloyd Hollar are the best stand-outs.

While The Crazies is often forgotten among the horror films of the 70's, it's a good film from a great director. A must for Romero fans.

*** out of ****

In Evans City, a plane crashes on the hill releasing for six days in the water the bacteriological weapon Trixie that affects only human beings. The army under the command of Colonel Peckemseals (Lloyd Hollar) seals off the town to contain the virus and there is no antidote for the victims that are doomed to die or become incurably mad. The pregnant nurse Judy (Lane Carroll), her husband David (W.G. McMillan), their friend Clank (Harold Wayne Jones), their new acquaintance Artie (Richard Liberty) and his daughter Kathy (Lynn Lowry) tries to cross the border of the town, but the escapees are hunted by the army. Meanwhile, the scientist Dr. Ralston Watts (Richard France) researches blood samples trying to find the cure for the disease.

"The Crazies" is a tale of paranoia and madness in a period when the world was afraid of a bacteriological war. The plot is based on a total stupidity from the authorities that send the army to contain the virus in a small town but does not provide any explanation to the population, invading real estates and breaking in homes. The lead scientist is another stupid character. Surprisingly this year it was released a remake of this average film. Last time I saw this film was on 04 July 2000. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Exército do Extermínio" ("The Extermination Army")

I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs. Revisited it recently.

Small town residents go berserk after a viral epidemic engulfs em n military law is enabled to control the town's border, place people in quarantine n shoot the 'crazies'. While scientists work hard to learn the pathogen n search for a cure, two ex army men turned fire fighters along with three other civilians fight their way out to obtain the information n evade the quarantine.

The film moves at a good pace n surprisingly without it containing any zombies, it has sufficient tension n suspense. The chaos n fear shown is pretty relevant in today's covid 19 pandemic.