my thoughts on.... 'The Crazies' (1973)

as you all well know, i love zombies.... and anyone who loves zombies, loves George A. Romero: King of the Modern Zombie.... this all but forgotten movie of his, which was sandwiched between 'Night of the Living Dead' and Dawn of the Dead' has very similar themes.... just minus the dead folks.... a lot of people consider this to be a classic and love it like a cult religion.... and it has drawn enough attention to create a remake that is about to hit theaters.... which looks like it has promise....

the idea behind the movie is very similiar to his zombie films.... in so much that people start going crazy and killing each other due to a government screw up.... the big wigs call in the army in biohazard suits to contain the virus and start the clean up.... but soon all hell breaks loose and people start getting killed as mass hysteria adds more fuel to the already problematic fire....
i love George.... he provided me with one of my all time favorite movies and in the zombie genre can, basically, do no wrong.... however, everytime i venture outside of that realm i get lost.... his other films tend to not have the same punch.... or something just feels like it's missing.... as a matter of fact, i haven't seen a non-zombie Romero film yet that i loved.... or even liked very much.... sadly, this falls in that category.... granted.... it's not terrible.... it just seems like it might be trying to say too much about society and the government and the like.... or maybe i'm just reading too much into it.... who's to say....? but it rubbed me the wrong way....

so all in all, not something i would recommend except to die hard Romero fans.... there is hardly anything to really do with the 'crazies'.... as a matter of fact they're barely a part of the story at all.... it's more about the guys in the white suits with the guns.... and how they react to the situation.... i wish i had more positive things to say and i could tell you all to run out and see this.... however, i'm thinking that you may want to wait for the remake and give that one a try instead.... (i can't believe i just said that.).... either way.... 2 out of 5 stars.... sorry George, i love you, but just not that much.

if you enjoy this movie, check out: '28 Days Later', '28 Weeks Later' and 'The Crazies' (2010)