The Crazies

Starring:Lane Carroll, Will MacMillan, Harold Wayne Jones, Lloyd Hollar, Lynn Lowry, Richard Liberty, Richard France, Harry Spillman, Will Disney, Edith Bell, Bill Thunhurst, Leland Starnes, A.C. McDonald, Robert J. McCully, Robert Karlowsky, Ned Schmidtke, Tony Scott (II), Roy Cheverie, Jack Zaharia, Stephen Liska
Director: George A. Romero
Studio: Blue Underground
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
During the 10 years between Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, director George Romero had a string of box-office flops--some of which were actually quite good. For example,there's The Crazies, in which a military plane carrying biological-warfare agents crashes near Evans City, Pennsylvania. The virus gets into the town's water supply and has two effects on the infected: death or irreversible insanity. The military moves in to contain the situation, but the local populace regards the army as a menacing force and things rapidly spin out of control. Soon the highly contagious virus infects the whole town and the soldiers as well, while a government scientist races to find an antidote. The Crazies features some great set pieces as the virus spreads: a little old lady smiles sweetly and stabs a soldier to death with a knitting needle; a young woman placidly sweeps with a broom while soldiers and locals have a bloody firefight around her; a soldier swings his rifle wildly at his comrades until they shoot him.

Amazon.com

During the 10 years between Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, director George Romero had a string of box-office flops--some of which were actually quite good. For example,there's The Crazies, in which a military plane carrying biological-warfare agents crashes near Evans City, Pennsylvania. The virus gets into the town's water supply and has two effects on the infected: death or irreversible insanity. The military moves in to contain the situation, but the local populace regards the army as a menacing force and things rapidly spin out of control. Soon the highly contagious virus infects the whole town and the soldiers as well, while a government scientist races to find an antidote. The Crazies features some great set pieces as the virus spreads: a little old lady smiles sweetly and stabs a soldier to death with a knitting needle; a young woman placidly sweeps with a broom while soldiers and locals have a bloody firefight around her; a soldier swings his rifle wildly at his comrades until they shoot him.

Made in the shadow of both Vietnam and Watergate, The Crazies contains plenty of allegory: an invasion by military force, government cover-up and duplicity, madness and eventually genocide (all set, of course, in Romero's beloved Pennsylvania). The President only appears on television, and then only the back of his head is shown as he speaks in detached, almost bored tones. Like Night of the Living Dead, this film offers no hope, no comfort, and sure as hell no happy ending. Keep an eye out for Romero in a somewhat gassy role as Evans City's mayor. --Jerry Renshaw

Description

Its code name is 'Trixie,' an experimental government germ weapon that leaves its victims either dead or irreversibly insane. When the virus is accidentally unleashed in Evans City, Pennsylvania, the small community becomes a war zone of panicked military, desperate scientists and gentle neighbors turned homicidal maniacs. Now a small group of citizens has fled to the town's outskirts where they must hide from trigger-happy soldiers while battling their own depraved urges. But even if they can escape the madness of this plague, can they survive the unstoppable violence of THE CRAZIES?

Customer Reviews:

Anti-government gore film........2007-05-22

Drive-in movie king Romero does it again.Words cannot describe how much I love Romero's films and the "Crazies" is no exception.In my opinion the strongest social commentary of any of his films,he lays it on thick here with the constant message that you cannot trust even your own government.For the time this was made(73')there is some pretty disturbing stuff,and lots and lots of squibs.Highly recommended.

Slightly Crazy for "Crazies".......2007-04-01

This George Romero film, which (like Night of the Living Dead) was filmed in the small town of Evans City, in Western PA, revolves around what happens after a military plane crashes. The residents who come into contact with whatever the plane carried either die or go insane. Of course the government bungles the containment and a few protagonists attempt to escape the town. There are a few humorous moments, intentional and otherwise. The film is clearly a Romero flop. Of course, if you relate it to FEMA incompetency in recent disasters, it makes its own kind of sense. And, as in most Romero films, human incompetency is much scarier than an alien monster. If I hadn't lived in Evans City, PA, I probably would have rated "Crazies" as only 1 star, but seeing my former neighbors go insane, made me realize that Geroge Romero may have known, all along, what I had only suspected about the residents, leaving me with a tiny bit of self-satisfaction.

Consistently Weak.......2006-11-10

"The Crazies" (1973) was George Romero's attempt to get a little more low-budget mileage out of his "Night of the Living Dead" (1971) zombie-like stuff by blending it with elements from "The Andromeda Strain" (1971).

A germ warfare bug is accidentally released into the water supply of a small western Pennsylvania town named Evans City (where it was actually filmed). It turns some into placid zombie-like creatures and some into out-of-control maniacs. The Army comes in and imposes martial law and the local civilians do a good imitation of the zombies from "Night of the Living Dead".

The cast is a bunch of locals (western PA/NE Ohio) who fortunately for us all with low thresholds of pain did little acting after this project. Poor acting combines with poor editing to make it impossible to determine who among the citizens and the troops has the disease, is just stressed out, or is just trying to party hard. Romero's direction is extremely weak and he has trouble throughout keeping the cast in character.

Romero had discovered with "Night of the Living Dead" that there was serious exploitation potential in stories about the breakdown of society and this is where he really tries to focus his film. There is an underlying theme of social commentary as this was the time of serious social protests (Kent State just across the state line), distrust of the federal government, and our winding down involvement in Viet Nam. Romero was also drawing from his fascination with 1950's sci-fi themes regarding irresponsible science.

Unfortunately the best aspect of "Night of the Living Dead", its simplicity, is sacrificed as Romero has just enough resources to turn the film into an exercise in excess. There are several tangential plot points (voice recognition systems, a B-52 with a nuclear warhead, a frustrated scientist) that go nowhere but use up a lot of time getting there.

But these obvious problems are not the film's ultimate downfall. That comes from the film's lack of organization on the most fundamental level; which means it is extremely boring. No suspense is generated because there is no sense of progress or advancement of the storyline. Instead the same three basic scenes are repeated over and over until Romero is able to cobble together a feature length production. There are a handful of civilians trying to evade the Army troops, there are a handful of Army officers whining about how difficult their job is, and there are a handful of national security advisers back in Washington tossing around doom and gloom predictions. The film simply alternates between these three groups, with the segments completely interchangeable. The editor could have assembled them in any order and they would have not altered the flow of the story.

There are a couple of unexpectedly stylish scenes to watch for; the shooting of the flower child girl in the pasture, with a flock of sheep passing quietly in the foreground. And the infected woman with a broom sweeping the grass.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Yiou will be bored crazy watching this film........2006-10-24

And I thought George A. Romero's Season of the Witch/Jack's Wife/Hungry Wives (1973) was bad. The Crazies is another nonsensical low-budget film.
A man goes "crazy", kills his wife, destroys things in the house and the house is set on fire. Now the military is looking for other "crazies".
The only recognizable person is the child actor at beginning of film.
You will also notice some extras from Night of the Living Dead (1968).

looked like a whole lot of stoned hippies to me.......2006-07-28

though the movie was good i failed to see any gor nor a whole lot of violence though they did have a point where 28 days later did barrow some things from this film but it was a snooz fest when i showed the film to my freinds though they did like lynn part where it was weird here father had sex with her and the part the men in white suits shot her it was pretty funny than scary so yeah if your a die hard romero fan go for it but for any random viewers knock this out

Average customer rating:

Anti-government gore film.
Slightly Crazy for "Crazies"
Consistently Weak
Yiou will be bored crazy watching this film.
looked like a whole lot of stoned hippies to me

The Crazies [Region 2]
Starring: Lane Carroll , Will MacMillan , Harold Wayne Jones , Lloyd Hollar , and Lynn Lowry
Director: George A. Romero
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00009WVYV

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Anti-government gore film........2007-05-22

Slightly Crazy for "Crazies".......2007-04-01

Consistently Weak.......2006-11-10

Yiou will be bored crazy watching this film........2006-10-24

looked like a whole lot of stoned hippies to me.......2006-07-28

Asylum (House of Crazies) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Australia ]

Average customer rating:

Asylum (House of Crazies) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Australia ]
Director: Roy Ward Baker
Manufacturer: Umbrella Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000FMJAOU

Product Description

Australia released, PAL/Region 0 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. LANGUAGES: English (Dolby Digital 2.0), WIDESCREEN (1.85:1), SYNOPSIS: Ranks as one of the best films Amicus ever made, and just gets better with every viewing. British Horror Film. From Author Robert Cloch (Psycho) comes four chilling tales from the loony bin that will drive you insane! Featuring the living dead, maniacal voodoo dolls, inherited homicidal and murderous robotic dolls, Asylum is the ultimate in twisted psych-ward terror! Boasts a top-notch cast including horror legend Peter Cushing and smouldering Euro-goddesses Britt Ekland and Charlotte Rampling. SPECIAL FEATURES: Trailer(s), Interactive Menu, Featurette, Commentary,

Average customer rating:

Creatures, Critters, And Crazies
Starring: Various
Manufacturer: Sterling Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Horror | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000BT993Y
Release Date: 2005-10-18

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