The Crazies
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| The Crazies | |
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 DVD cover |
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| Directed by | George A. Romero |
| Produced by | A. C. Croft |
| Written by | Story: Paul McCollough Screenplay: George A. Romero |
| Starring | Lane Carroll Will MacMillan Harold Wayne Jones |
| Music by | Bruce Roberts |
| Cinematography | S. William Hinzman |
| Editing by | George A. Romero |
| Distributed by | Cambist Films |
| Release date(s) |  March 16, 1973 |
| Running time | 103 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $275,000 |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Crazies (also known as Code Name: Trixie), is a 1973 American horror film about the effects of the accidental release of a military biological weapon upon the inhabitants of an American town. The film was written and directed by George A. Romero, and starred Lane Carroll, Richard Liberty and Lynn Lowry. It was filmed on location in and around Pittsburgh.
A remake of the film is currently in production and is set to be released sometime in 2010. [1]
[edit] Plot
The film has two basic subplots, one of which follows the efforts of civilians to stay alive during the disaster. The other involves the efforts of political and military leaders to contain the epidemic of violent insanity induced by the weapon.
Set in and around the small town of Evans City, Pennsylvania, the central characters are fireman David (W.G. McMillan), his nurse girlfriend Judy (Lane Caroll) and fireman Clank (Harold Wayne Jones), who harbors feelings for Judy. (It is established that David was a Green Beret and Clank an infantryman, who both served in Vietnam). The town has been subject to strange events of late, including an arson fire at a local farm committed by a demented farmer. Judy and David have extra cause for concern, since Judy is pregnant with David's child.
Meanwhile, heavily armed U.S. troops clad in white NBC suits with gas masks, arrive in Evans City, led by Major Ryder, who takes over the doctor's office where Judy works. It is revealed that an army plane carrying an untested bioweapon recently crash-landed in the hills near the town, infecting the water supply with a top-secret virus code-named 'Trixie', causing victims to either die or become homicidal. In Washington D.C., government officials order Colonel Peckam (Lloyd Hollar) to go to Evans City to help contain the virus, while a government scientist, Dr. Watts (Richard France), arrives in town to find a cure before the virus is able to spread outside the quarantine perimeter.
Washington authorities decide to maintain airborne bombers armed with nuclear weapons to destroy the infected town, if necessary. Further mayhem ensues when the army cordons off the town, shooting anyone attempting escape. The soldiers are assigned to quarantine the townspeople in the local high school, and the ensuing chaos results in the local sheriff being shot with his own pistol. While the townspeople are being rousted from their homes, a soldier encounters a serene-looking elderly woman. Dropping his guard, he urges the woman to come with him, and she fatally stabs him with her knitting needles. A small group of soldiers are killed by several locals armed with firearms and dynamite, after which an infected woman broom-sweeps the bloodied grass. The local priest, aghast at soldiers rousting his flock, douses himself with a keg of gasoline, and immolates himself (a reference to Buddhist priests who immolated themselves in protest during the Vietnam War), see Thích Quảng Đức.
The remainder of the film focuses upon the travails of David, Judy, Clank, teenager Kathie (Lynn Lowry) and her father Artie (Richard Liberty), after soldiers confine them in a large van. The five people manage to escape, with intentions of leaving town.
Gradually becoming mad from the virus, Artie eventually rapes his increasingly deranged daughter Kathie. Upon discovering the pair, Clank retaliates by beating Artie, who then apparently hangs himself. A visibly shaken Kathie wanders outside, only to be killed by trigger-happy soldiers, and Clank kills several soldiers in defense before being shot in the head. Judy, now visibly infected, is killed in a crossfire between soldiers and deranged townspeople (nicknamed 'crazies' by the soldiers). Angry and frightened, David surrenders to the military. He knows that he is immune to the virus, but spitefully keeps it a secret.
As in much of Romero's work, the military is depicted as foolishly abusive. In this film, the soldiers isolate Dr. Watts in the middle of a disaster area with primitive facilities. Watts' rightful insistence that he might find a cure in a proper laboratory are overridden with threats of brute force. When the doctor finally develops a possible cure, he is mistaken for one of the infected whilst attempting delivery of the vaccine and forced into a quarantined area by soldiers. The test tubes containing the vaccine are then shattered after the doctor falls to his death when pushed down a flight of stairs by a stampede of 'crazies'.
The film's final scene shows a disconcerted Colonel Peckam being ordered to relocate to another infected city. He boards a helicopter, leaving behind a town in chaos.
[edit] External links
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