- The Crazies (2010 film)
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The Crazies
Theatrical release posterDirected by Breck Eisner Produced by Michael Aguilar
Rob Cowan
Dean Georgaris
George A. Romero (executive)Written by Scott Kosar
Ray Wright
George A. RomeroStarring Timothy Olyphant
Radha Mitchell
Joe Anderson
Danielle PanabakerMusic by Mark Isham Cinematography Maxime Alexandre Editing by Billy Fox Studio Participant Media
Imagenation Abu DhabiDistributed by Overture Films Release date(s) February 26, 2010 Running time 101 Minutes Country United States Language English Budget $20 million[1] Box office $54,677,170[1] The Crazies is a 2010 American horror film directed by Breck Eisner. Written by Scott Kosar and Ray Wright, the film is a remake of the 1973 film of the same name by George A. Romero, who is also the executive producer and co-writer of the remake.
The Crazies stars Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell. The film takes place in the fictional town of Ogden Marsh, Pierce County, Iowa, "friendliest place on Earth," whose town water supply is accidentally infected with the "Trixie" virus. After an incubation period of 48 hours, this virus gradually transforms the mental state of the infected into that of cold, calculating, depraved, bloodthirsty killers, who then prey on family and neighbors alike.
The film was released on February 26, 2010 to largely positive reviews from critics, and was a box office success both domestically and internationally.
Contents
Plot
In the town of Ogden Marsh, Iowa, David (Timothy Olyphant), the local sheriff enjoys a baseball game. His deputy, Russell (Joe Anderson), spots Rory Hamill, a local resident, entering the outfield holding a shotgun. David is forced to shoot and kill the unresponsive Rory. David and his wife Judy (Radha Mitchell), the community doctor, begin to notice other town residents exhibiting bizarre behavior. The next night, a local farmer burns his house down with his wife and son trapped inside, killing them.
While investigating the discovery of a pilot's body in a swamp, David and Russell discover a cargo plane submerged under the water. Communication services are lost, and soldiers arrive to take all residents to quarantine at the high school. Everyone is examined for symptoms of infection. Judy does not pass the examination and is separated from David. She explains her fever is due to pregnancy, but is sedated anyway. She wakes strapped to a gurney as the perimeter of the facility is breached by the infected. The military personnel evacuate, abandoning Judy and the other civilians. David is nearing evacuation, but escapes and rejoins Russell. They rescue Judy and her hospital assistant, Becca (Danielle Panabaker).
David, Judy, Russell, and Becca make their way out of town on foot, unable to find a working vehicle. They encounter Becca's boyfriend, Scotty, when they pass through his farm. Soldiers raid the farm, shoot Scotty and his mother, and burn the bodies. They learn that the soldiers have been ordered to shoot all civilians who have potentially been exposed. The group repair a patrol car, and, once on the road, are spotted by an attack helicopter and drive into a car wash for cover. Infected attack and kill Becca, and the helicopter destroys the car. On foot, Russell disables a passing government SUV with a police spike strip. The driver, presumably a government agent, reveals the cargo plane contained "Trixie," a "Rhabdoviridae prototype" biological weapon. Enraged, Russell shoots the driver and threatens Judy and David. When confronted about his behavior, Russell realizes he is infected and, after being disarmed, begs to go on with Judy and David. He later dies while distracting soldiers at a blockade, so that Judy and David can sneak past.
David and Judy arrive at a truck stop to search for a vehicle, discovering the military also executed those who were evacuated. Fending off infected, they escape in a semitruck. Ogden Marsh is destroyed in a massive explosion as they flee, and their truck flips in the passing shockwave. As the couple walk towards Cedar Rapids, a view from a military satellite highlights first the couple, then the city, and the words "Initiate containment protocol" appear, signifying a new containment attempt.
In the credits, a news clip is shown in which the newscaster Bruce Aune of KCRG-TV 9 News reports that an explosion originating from the Dakon Pendrill chemical plant started a massive fire in Ogden Marsh, "with eyewitness reports of a 400-foot fireball that lit up the sky." He goes on to report a second explosion at a nearby truck fueling station, alluding to the truck stop. He says a perimeter has been set and civilians are not being allowed into the area. After that, the news clip cuts to a soldier with his rifle brandished, then to a snarling crazy, and then cuts out completely as 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
- Bruce Aune as News Anchor (Real news anchor at KCRG in Cedar Rapids, Iowa)
Production
Much of the film was shot in Middle 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).[2] The film was produced and distributed by Overture Films.[3] The special effects were created by Robert Green Hall.[4]
Make-up
The make-up for the film was designed by Almost Human Studios, who also did makeup for other horror films such as Quarantine, Frankenfish and Prom Night. Director Breck Eisner's first visions of what the infected would look like were zombies. He and the makeup crew made many molds and sketches of what the infected should look like, with deformities and skin hanging off and so forth. Eventually, he grew tired of the "zombie" look which he believed to be too cliché and decided to go for a more realistic "go under the skin," in which the blood vessels would appear to be bursting forth and face and neck muscles and tendons tight and wrought. Eisner has described this look as "hyper alive."
The director's one and only rule for the makeup design was that they would have to research in medical books and consult medical professionals for the design of the infected. Lead make-up artist Rob Hall said "If we were to pitch something to Breck, about, if you know, one side of his face should look like this, Breck would immediately want to know what disease it came from, and what version of reality it could be implemented into Trixie. But the most important thing was to make sure it felt real. Make it feel like you could get it, too." The basis of the makeup the crew used was mainly rabies, tetanus and Stevens–Johnson syndrome.
Each "Crazie" design has about 21 separate pieces that took over three hours to apply for the final effect seen in the film. Robert stated the final effect in the film seen was not just the makeup, but the lighting, camera angles, and post-production effects were the main factor. The main theme for the design was "stress." He has stated he wanted the "Crazies" to look stressed out. The veins and eyes were the main focus of the design. The contact lenses covered the actors' entire eyes and required eyedrops every five minutes to prevent permanent eye damage.[5]
Release
The film premiered on February 24, 2010 in Los Angeles[6] and received a wide release in the North America on February 26, 2010.[7] The Canadian DVD and Blu-ray Disc were released June 29, 2010.[8] The DVD and Blu-ray Disc + Digital Copy combo pack was released in the North America on June 29, 2010 and in the UK on July 19.[9]
Critical reception
Reviews for the film have been generally positive. Based on 137 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an overall approval rating of 71%, with an average score of 6.4/10. The site's consensus states the film is "Tense, nicely shot, and uncommonly intelligent, The Crazies is the rare horror remake that works."[10] By contrast, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a "mixed or average" score of 55% based on 30 reviews.[11]
Michael Phillips of The Chicago Tribune awarded the film 3½ stars of 4 commenting that he "greatly prefer this cleverly sustained and efficiently relentless remake to the '73 edition. It is lean and simple."[12] Eric M. Armstrong of The Moving Arts Film Journal wrote that "The Crazies is a solid B-movie and one of the few remakes that actually surpasses the original."[13] Ty Burr of The Boston Globe gave the film 3/4 stars touting the film as "extremely solid stuff – about as good as you could hope from a B-movie retread."[14] Variety film critic Dennis Harvey also praised the film, writing "While not a slam dunk, this revamp by helmer Breck Eisner (of the enjoyable but underperforming Sahara) emerges an above-average genre piece that's equal parts horror-meller and doomsday action thriller.[15]
However, Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly graded the film a C, writing, "I don't care how this premise has been dressed up, we've seen it a jillion times before."[16] Mike Hale of The New York Times wrote a mixed review stating "The filmmakers seem so determined to make a serious, respectable horror movie that they have only the bare minimum of fun."[17] Amy Biancolli, writing for San Francisco Chronicle, wrote that the remake "boasts less of the plot and fewer characters than the original, but the hairdos are spiffier and the special effects have graduated from cheapo stage blood to the extravagant gross-outs that horror audiences now routinely expect."[18]
Box office
The film opened at #3 behind Cop Out and Shutter Island with $16,067,552.[19] By May 2010, the film has grossed an estimated $50 million worldwide.[1]
Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Result 2011 People's Choice Award Favorite Horror Movie Nominated Merchandise
On February 23, 2010, an iPhone app, Beware the Infected, was released.[20]
Comic book
On February 17, 2010, iTunes released a graphic novel adaptation of the film.[21] A comic book was also released chronicling how the virus was spread. It went on for four issues.
Browser game
On February 24, 2010, Starz Digital Media released a Facebook game based on the film.[22]
References
- ^ a b c "The Crazies (2010)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=crazies.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-20.
- ^ ‘Crazies’ remake filming under way in Perry
- ^ "Exclusive: Rob Hall Talks Effects on Remake of The Crazies". DreadCentral. http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/33369/exclusive-rob-hall-talks-effects-remake-the-crazies.
- ^ "Exclusive photo: THE CRAZIES love Fango!". Fangoria. http://www.fangoria.com/home/news/9-film-news/4409-exclusive-photo-the-crazies-love-fango.html.
- ^ The Crazies DVD Special Feature(s): "Paranormal Pandemics", "Rob Hall make-up featurette", "Behind-the-scenes with Breck Esiner"
- ^ "Massive Image Gallery: The LA Crazies Premiere". DreadCentral. http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/36127/massive-image-gallery-the-la-crazies-premiere.
- ^ "The Crazies (2010)". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=crazies.htm. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
- ^ "The Crazies Hit Canadian DVD and Blu-ray in June". DreadCentral. http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/36934/the-crazies-hit-canadian-dvd-and-blu-ray-june.
- ^ The Crazies (US - DVD R1|BD RA) in News > Releases at DVDActive
- ^ "The Crazies Movie Review, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1205380-crazies/. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
- ^ "The Crazies reviews at Metacritic.com". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/crazies. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
- ^ Phillips, Michael (2010-02-25). "'The Crazies': Remake bests the master". Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/sc-mov-0224-crazies-20100225,0,1112943.column. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
- ^ Armstrong, Eric M. (2010-03-10). "'The Crazies (2010)'". The Moving Arts Film Journal. http://www.themovingarts.com/the-crazies-review/.
- ^ Burr, Ty (2010-02-26). "'The Crazies' movie review". Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2010/02/26/crazies_aims_to_scare____and_does/. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
- ^ Harvey, Dennis (2010-2-25). "The Crazies Review – Read Variety's Analysis of the Film, The Crazies". Variety. http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117942303.html?categoryId=31&cs=1. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
- ^ Gleiberman, Owen (2010-02-25). "The Crazies". EW.com. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20347142,00.html. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
- ^ Hale, Mike (2010-02-26). "Movie Review – The Crazies". The New York Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/02/26/movies/26crazies.html?ref=movies. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
- ^ Biancolli, Amy (2010-02-26). "Review: 'The Crazies'". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/25/MVJ21C6IFK.DTL#ixzz0gxs6n8Vk. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
- ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for February 26–28, 2010". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2010&wknd=09&p=.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
- ^ The Crazies By Petrol Advertising
- ^ "Trailer for 'The Crazies' Motion Comic Book". BloodyDisgusting. http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/19076.
- ^ "The Crazies Comic, iPhone App, and Facebook Games Are Here". DreadCentral. http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/35937/the-crazies-comic-iphone-app-and-facebook-game-are-here.
External links
- Official website
- The Crazies at the Internet Movie Database
- The Crazies at AllRovi
- The Crazies at Box Office Mojo
- The Crazies at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Crazies at Metacritic
Films directed by Breck Eisner 2000s Thoughtcrimes (2003) · Sahara (2005)2010s The Crazies (2010)Categories:- 2010 films
- American films
- English-language films
- 2010s horror films
- Action horror films
- D-BOX motion-enhanced films
- Film remakes
- Films set in Iowa
- Films shot in Iowa
- Films shot in Georgia (U.S. state)
- Overture Films films
- Films about infectious diseases
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