Introduction

The Crazies is a 2010 American science fiction horror film directed by Breck Eisner, with a screenplay from Scott Kosar and Ray Wright.

• 

• 

• 

The film is a remake of the 1973 film of the same name. George A. Romero, who wrote and directed the original, served as an executive producer.

Starring Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell, it focuses on a fictional Iowa town that becomes afflicted by a military virus that turns those infected into violent killers.

The film was released on 26 February 2010 to generally positive reviews from critics, and was a modest box office success.

Outline

In the town of Ogden Marsh, Iowa, residents begin to exhibit bizarre behaviour and some act violently, such as a man entering a town baseball game with a shotgun or a neighbourhood farmer trapping his wife and son in a closet and setting fire to the house. These changes are observed by David (Timothy Olyphant), the sheriff of surrounding Pierce County; and his pregnant wife, Judy (Radha Mitchell), the community doctor. David and his deputy, Russell Clank (Joe Anderson), eventually discover that a military aircraft crashed into the town’s river, leading David to suspect that the plane’s cargo contaminated the water supply and is the cause of the strange behaviour.

Soon afterwards, all communication services are lost in Ogden Marsh and military soldiers arrive to quarantine the residents of the town at a high school. The soldiers begin checking the temperatures of the evacuees and while David passes the infection test, Judy does not, and the couple are separated. When the infected cause a violent riot at the high school and a perimeter breach is caused the military personnel swiftly evacuate and David escapes the quarantine, where he and Russell are able to rescue Judy and her assistant Becca (Danielle Panabaker).

The four attempt to escape from the Ogden Marsh while trying to avoid both the soldiers, who have been ordered to shoot all civilians on site and burn their bodies, and the infected townspeople, who are becoming increasingly violent. They manage to obtain a vehicle to aid them in their escape, but Becca is killed when they try evading a military helicopter and the helicopter destroys their car. Continuing on foot, the survivors are able to subdue an intelligence officer, who reveals that the cargo plane contained a Rhabdoviridae prototype and biological weapon called Trixie, which did contaminate the town’s water source.

Russell begins to act oddly and suddenly shoots the intelligence officer, prompting tension between David and Russell, until Russell begins to suspect that he is infected. When the group reaches a military roadblock, Russell sacrifices himself to provide a distraction and allow David and Judy to sneak past the soldiers.

David and Judy arrive at a truck stop to search for a vehicle, where they discover that the military has executed the residents who believed they were being evacuated. After killing more infected, they escape in a semi-truck while a massive bomb destroys Ogden Marsh. The explosion disables their truck and they are forced to walk on foot. As the couple heads towards Cedar Rapids, however, they are spotted by a military satellite and the military prepares to contain the city. In a mid-credits scene, a news report on the explosion in Ogden Marsh is repeatedly interrupted by footage of infected individuals before the signal is lost.

Cast

• Timothy Olyphant as David.
• Radha Mitchell as Judy.
• Joe Anderson as Russell.
• Danielle Panabaker as Becca.
• Christie Lynn Smith as Deardra Farnum.
• Brett Rickaby as Bill Farnum.
• Preston Bailey as Nicholas.
• John Aylward as Mayor Hobbs.
• Joe Reegan as Pvt. Billy Babcock.
• Glenn Morshower as Intelligence Officer.
• Larry Cedar as Ben Sandborn.
• Gregory Sporleder as Travis Quinn.
• Mike Hickman as Rory Hamill.
• Lisa K. Wyatt as Peggy Hamill.
• Justin Welborn as Curt Hamill.
• Chet Grissom as Kevin Miller.
• Tahmus Rounds as Nathan.
• Brett Wagner as Jesse.
• Alex Van as Red.
• Anthony Winters as Town Pastor.
• Frank Hoyt Taylor as Mortician Charles Finley.
• Justin Miles as Scotty McGregor.
• Marian Green as Mrs. McGregor.
• E. Roger Mitchell as Tom.
• Wilbur Fitzgerald as Distraught Husband.
• Bruce Aune as News Anchor.

Trivia

• Lynn Lowry, who portrayed Kathy in the original film, makes a cameo appearance as an infected woman on a bicycle billed as “Woman on Bike”.
• 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).
• The special effects were created by Robert Green Hall.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s): Breck Eisner.
• Producer(s): Michael Aguilar, Dean Georgaris, and Rob Cowan.
• Writer(s): Scott Kosar and Ray Wright.
• Music: Mark Isham.
• Cinematography: Maxime Alexandre.
• Editor(s): Billy Fox.
• Production: Participant Media and Imagination Abu Dhabi.
• Release Date: 26 February 2010.
• Running Time: 101 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWRL7pmVn7c