The Crazies 2010

There are some pretty simple ingredients to include when you want to create the perfect recipe to cook up a successful movie.  A great screenplay is obviously a key ingredient to build upon, but casting the right actors can make even a substandard screenplay come to life.  When I say the "right actors" I don't automatically mean, Brad Pitt - of course that couldn't hurt! No, I'm being serious. Brad Pitt is one actor I could enjoy watching his performance in almost any movie. I do, however, enjoy films that take the lesser known path and cast faces we have never seen or rarely seen before. An obscure actor or an 'unknown' bright and shining star is, more often not, so underused when it comes to casting these mainstream movies.. A well-known actor can drive people to the seats of the theater, so I get it. Instant and easy marketing. Yay! We all know that it works very effectively. That's what happened with me regarding The Crazies 2010 remake. I openly admit that Timothy Olyphant is the force that pulled me in. Olyphant is a phenomenal actor and his name attachment drew me in like a zombie to braaaains. I mean, who doesn't love Olyphant!? What makes The Crazies so remarkable is that it combines both recognizable faces and unfamiliar faces. The two lead actors/characters were the only faces I recognized in this movie, so as for prerequisites - the creators decided to go with both and created a nice mix.

It goes without saying that the other key ingredient was already laid out, but it was in the remakes favor, because the original, in all its low-budget glory,  just doesn't hold up very well after all these years.. It's just - well - not very good.  

So, when you properly select these two key ingredients, the rest should "whip" together quite easily, and result in a great movie. That's exactly what happened with this remake. Perfecto!

The film begins by paying nice homage to the original, but they did manage to spice things up a bit and the script delivery and visuals are amazing. It was homage, not a  mere duplication or exact replica; if that makes sense. The opening act shows flashbacks from two days prior and sets the audience up for the progression of the story the filmmaker is about to present to you. Once the story comes back to present day, we immediately witness the terrifying aftermath of William's "crazy" and frankly, while horrific in nature, I loved Eisner's vision and how it played out.  

From there, we witness Sheriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant) as he quickly assesses that something is wrong and it's not superficial in nature. His wife, Judy (Radha Mitchell), plays the town doctor and she, too, knows through one of her patients [*ahem* let us refer back to William], that something very unusual and unsettling is happening amongst the inhabitants of Ogden Marsh.

Almost everything about this movie exemplifies my idea of a film that is executed so magnificently that it is far superior to its original.  The suspense in this movie builds gradually and all of the events that unfold (centered around the same story as the original) are presented so well that they give the audience a much better visual interpretation of the underlying messages. This remake has a similar anti-military message to the original, but I found it much more effective by not being the primary point of view from which the story is told. I liked it better by focusing less on the behind-the-scenes military operations and more on the relentless military force out on the ground in the community. It is absolutely frightening how quickly the military presence overcame the citizens in this town. The fact that the mayor of Ogden Marsh refused to cooperate with Sheriff Dutton, goes to show how important it is for our local leaders to work together and find a middle ground - BUT when one has their own self-interest in mind - well, you can forget about it.

The idea of big government overtaking a small town and not first communicating the information with the Sheriff is the most eerie and disturbing thing imaginable to me. It's frightening because this plot is not that far-fetched. The scene in the picture above is when its revealed to the mayor but the sheriff that the town is getting sick from its water supply.  A military plane (below) that was en route to Texas crashed into the lake and a biological agent Codename: "Trixie" has poisoned or contaminated the towns water supply. The crash went unnoticed by locals, as it was in a desolate area, and it wasn't until several members of the community began to show symptoms that the sheriff further decided to investigate and during that investigation he locates the plane. The overhead shot of Sheriff Dutton and his Deputy (Joe Anderson) was one of the most chilling scenes in this entire movie. There is something about the depths of hazy water that makes my anxiety almost unbearable. 

Over the years I have become a sucker for apocalyptic horror; especially a storyline where our government is involved. I have seen so many horror movies in my life that I am at a point that nothing really frightens me anymore. But an entity (our government) that has the power of our U.S. military backing it up could certainly lead to a takeover that we are powerless to - so yeah, it really scares me..

With that said, apocalyptic horror combined with my enjoyment of zombies makes me a happy little ghoul - when its done well. Another lesser known fact about me: I was relatively late getting on board the zombie train, but when the Dawn of the Dead remake was released and I got my hands on the Shaun of the Dead DVD - it was game on! Movies like World War Z tickle me in the right spots, because it combines zombies and government aided apocalypses - obviously this affects me in a very bad way. What the government did to Brad Pitt's family in World War Z still scares and completely appalls me - to this day. 

I honestly give it to Breck Eisner ... he really knew how to set the tone and atmosphere to prove this film belongs in the beloved horror genre. Maxime Alexander showcased his talent through his lens. His cinematography was absolutely gorgeous, yet through these beautiful shots it delivered the dark and ominous tone for these characters.

One last thing besides my verdict ...Be sure to watchful the way through the end credits - there is some footage that will likely make you agree with me about the possibility of a sequel.

I am giving this two severed bloody thumbs up my friends!