The Crazies [Blu-ray]

Director: George Romero George Romero

Overview

George A. Romero returns to Night of the Living Dead turf with middling success in this quirky end-of-civilization thriller, also released as The Crazies. The paranoid scenario involves a government-engineered killer virus (identified by the title moniker) which is accidentally released into the water supply of Evans, Pennsylvania, driving most of the inhabitants stark-raving mad and forcing the declaration of martial law as the entire town is placed under quarantine. This does not sit well with the locals -- even those who have not yet been contaminated who consider the military mobilization tantamount to war. Romero keeps the momentum up by causing an escalating series of disasters, with each attempt at resolution making the horrors exponentially worse. One might be led to consider this a metaphor for Vietnam -- the military's presence is depicted as more threatening than the killers they've been sent to subdue -- but the film as a whole is too wildly erratic to focus on allegory, generating instead a ham-fisted criticism of government power. Pontificating aside, this is an effective, fast-paced thriller, thanks to some very effective setpieces, steadily mounting tension and outbursts of jarring violence.

Product Details

Release Date:	03/13/2018
UPC:	0760137109785
Original Release:	1973
Rating:	R
Source:	Arrow Video
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:44:00
Sales rank:	14,588

Special Features

Brand new 4k restoration from the original camera negative; High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation; Original uncompressed PCM Mono Audio; English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing; Brand new Audio Commentayr by Travis Crawford; Romero Was Here: Locating The Crazies - Romero historian Lawrence DeVincentz takes us on a guided tour of Evans City, PA and the locations used in The Crazies; Crazy for Lynn Lowry - clt star Lynn Lowry discusses her early career including her role in Th Crazies; Q&A with Lynn Lowry filmed at the 2016 Abertoir Film Festival; Audio interview with Producer Lee Hessel; Behind-the-Scenes footage with optional Commentary by Lawrence DeVincentz; Alternate Opening Titles; Image Galleries; Trailers & TV Spots; Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly-commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Lane Carroll	Judy
W.G. McMillan	David
Harold Wayne Jones	Clank,Clank
Lloyd Hollar	Col. Peckem
Richard Liberty	Artie
Lynn Lowry	Kathie,Actor
Richard France	Dr. Watts
Edith Bell	Woman Lab Technician
Harry Spillman	Maj. Ryder
Will Disney	Dr. Brookmyre
W.L. Thunhurst Jr.	Brubaker
Leland Starnes	Shelby
A.C. MacDonald	Gen. Bowden
Robert J. McCully	Hawks
Robert Karlowsky	Sheriff
Ned Schmidtke	Sgt. Tragesser
Tony Scott	Deputy Shade
Stephen Liska	Actor
Kim Smith	Actor
Bill Hinzman	Actor
Rossie Harris	Actor
Bruce Roberts	Composer

Technical Credits

George Romero

Alvin C. Croft	Producer,Producer
George Romero	Director,Screenwriter
John Stoll	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

This combination sci-fi paranoia film and bloody shoot-'em-up actioner was not the success that George A. Romero and company expected after Night of the Living Dead. It is, however, a well-made, fast-paced thriller that delivers the goods. With its threatening safe-suited soldiers in their Halloween gas masks and an apocalyptic air of violence and madness, The Crazies serves as a virtual ode to paranoia, taking concepts later seen in Rabid and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial to frightening extremes. Needless scenes of the soldiers looting the corpses before burning them can be forgiven as Vietnam-era pandering, but otherwise, Romero remains remarkably even-handed. There are plenty of gunfights and gore, though, as a sweet old lady hacks a soldier to death with a knitting needle and Romero indulges in his penchant for blood-spurting head wounds twice in the same scene. In structure, this film most resembles Romero's later Day of the Dead (also with Richard Liberty) -- bickering soldiers, scientists racing for a cure, put-upon heroes fighting lunacy -- but this one is much more kinetic and exciting, disproving the frequent charges that Romero knows nothing about action scenes. The Crazies is a surprising, neglected treat.