The Crazies (1973 film)

The Crazies
Film poster
Directed by	George A. Romero
Produced by	A. C. Croft
Written by	Original screenplay: Paul McCollough Screenplay: George A. Romero
Starring	Lane Carroll Will MacMillan Harold Wayne Jones Lloyd Hollar Lynn Lowry Richard Liberty
Music by	Bruce Roberts
Cinematography	S. William Hinzman
Editing by	George A. Romero
Distributed by	Cambist Films
Release date(s)	March 16, 1973 (1973-03-16)
Running time	103 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$275,000
Box office	$143,784

The Crazies (also known as Code Name: Trixie) is a 1973 American science fiction horror-action film about the effects of the accidental release of a military biological weapon upon the inhabitants of a small American town. The film was written and directed by George A. Romero, and starred Lane Carroll, Will MacMillan, Harold Wayne Jones. Although it failed at the box office during its original release, it has since became a cult classic. A remake of the film was made in 2010.

Plot

The film has two subplots, one of which follows the efforts of civilians to stay alive during the disaster, having to battle both "the crazies" as well as soldiers ordered to shoot on sight. 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 firefighter David (Will McMillan), his girlfriend, Judy (Lane Caroll), who works as a nurse and Clank (Harold Wayne Jones), another firefighter 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 MK5 gas masks, arrive in Evans City, led by Major Ryder (Harry Spillman), 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 either to die or become homicidal. "Trixie" is highly contagious. In Washington D.C., government officials order Colonel Christopher Peckem (Lloyd Hollar) to go to Evans City to help contain the virus, while a government scientist, Dr. Elliot 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 deploy 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 (Robert Karlowsky) 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 stabs him with her knitting needle, injuring him. At this point, nearly all of the villagers have been infected. A small group of soldiers are killed by several villagers armed with firearms and dynamite, after which an infected woman sweeps the bloodied grass. The local priest (Jack Zaharia) is infected. The priest, aghast at soldiers rousting his flock, douses himself with a keg of gasoline, and auto-cremates.

The remainder of the film focuses upon the travails of David, Judy, Clank, teenager Kathy Fulton (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 going mad from the virus, Artie has sex with his suddenly deranged daughter Kathy. Upon discovering the pair, Clank retaliates by beating Artie, who then apparently hangs himself. A visibly shaken Kathy wanders outside, only to be killed by soldiers. Believing himself to be infected, Clank stays behind and kills several soldiers before being shot in the head. Judy, now visibly infected, is killed by infected townspeople, despite David's efforts to save her. Angry and frightened, David surrenders to the military. He knows that he is immune to the virus, but keeps it a secret.

The soldiers isolate Dr. Watts in the middle of a disaster area with primitive facilities. Watts' 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 while 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 Peckem being ordered to relocate to another infected city. He boards a helicopter, looking with sadness at the city below as he leaves the town in chaos.

Cast

• Lane Carroll as Judy
• Will MacMillian as David
• Harold Wayne Jones as Clank
• Lloyd Hollar as Col. Peckem
• Lynn Lowry as Kathy
• Richard Liberty as Artie
• Richard France as Dr. Watts
• Harry Spillman as Maj. Ryder
• Will Disney as Dr. Brookmyre
• Edith Bell as Lab. Technician
• Leland Starnes as Shelby
• Bill Thunhurst as Brubaker
• Leland Starnes as Shelby
• A.C. McDonald as Gen. Bowen
• Robert J. McCully as Hawks
• Robert Karlowsky as Sheriff Cooper
• Ned Schmidtke as Sgt. Tragesser
• Tony Scott as Deputy Shade
• Roy Cheverie as Army Doctor
• Jack Zaharia as Priest

Production

According to Romero on the DVD commentary track this project began life with Paul McCollough, who authored a screenplay entitled The Mad People. The script dealt with a military bioweapon that was accidentally released into a small town, with the military subsequently trying to cover up the incident and the townspeople revolting. Romero revealed that the military subplot was only featured in the first act of the script, and the rest of the film focused on the survivors and their attempts to cope with what was happening. The director called McCollough's script "very existential and heady".

The screenplay was read by Lee Hessel, a producer who owned Cambist Films and with whom Romero had previously worked on There's Always Vanilla. Hessel expressed interest in it and offered to finance it as Romero's next film, but only if the director would be willing to rewrite McCollough's screenplay to focus on what Hessel considered the most interesting ingredient of the story, namely the military takeover of the town, which occurred in the first 10 to 20 pages. Romero agreed and rewrote the script, and he was given a budget of approximately $270,000^{[citation needed]}.

The film was shot in and around Evans City and Zelienople, both small towns in Pennsylvania about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh. Romero has spoken of how the majority of people in the towns were very cooperative and happy to help with the production.

On 23 February 2010, the film was released onto a Blu-ray Disc format.

Reception

Box office

The film did not have a wide release, instead playing in a limited number of theaters before opening in a different market.^[1] Today, Romero has claimed he feels that the major reason The Crazies failed at the box office was due to poor distribution. He stated that Hessel made a true attempt to adequately market the film, including releasing it under a variety of titles in different parts of the country, but that it never managed to catch the public's eye.

Critical

The Crazies received mixed reviews; it holds a 53% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[2]

References

1. ^ "Special Article: Year of 'The Crazies': 1973". BloodyDisgusting. http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/19300. 
2. ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/crazies/

External links

• The Crazies at the Internet Movie Database
• The Crazies at AllRovi