The Crazies (2010)

Don’t ask me why I can’t leave without my wife and I won’t ask you why you can.

— David Dutton

I have not seen the original George Romero cult classic. When I saw the promos for The Crazies, I was intrigued about a different take on the “zombie movie” genre like the 28 Days Later series. The movie overall is an enjoyable ride, but has some glaring inconsistencies within it.

It seems like a typical American town, but something strange is starting to happen. One of the town’s residents, Rory (Mike Hickman) wanders unto a high school baseball game in progress holding a shotgun in his hands. The Pierce County Town sheriff, David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant) tries to reason with him, but he points the gun towards him. David has no choice but to shoot Rory dead.

David is haunted by his act, when Rory’s family questions his actions. He believed that Rory was drunk when David shot him, but the medical examiner said otherwise that he wasn’t under the influence. He begins to investigate what could trigger a guy to do that kind of act.

Slowly the residents of this community start acting strange. A concerned wife, Deardra Farnum (Christie Lynn Smith) takes her husband, Bill (Brett Rickaby) to the town doctor, Judy Dutton (Radha Mitchell) to be examined. Judy thinks that Bill looks fine, but something is little off. Things change when Bill shows the same signs as Rory by locking his family inside his house and set it on fire. David and his deputy, Russ (Joe Anderson) put Bill up in their holding cell until he could be transferred.

A trio of hunters discovers a dead parachutist in the middle of a swamp, but David and Russ see that it was a big plane nearby. It was there for over three months and was poisoning the town’s water supply. David wants to shut down the town’s water supply, but was rejected by the mayor (John Aylward) who thinks that this farming community need to water to help the crops.

When they come back to station to find Bill lying on the floor, they think he’s dead, but he tries to come after them from behind the bars. They wanted to know why it is taking so long for other agencies to arrive. They realize that the internet is not working nor cell phone signals. In a matter of hours, the town becomes a ghost town. David and Russ begin seeing the townspeople committing unspeakable acts.

During the middle of the night, a bunch of soldiers bursting a take the rest of the townspeople away on buses to be cage up in a quarantine area at high school stadium. .Judy thinks that a virus is unleashed on the town. A word around the grapevine is that a toxin has been released in the town’s water supply meant for another city that making the resident loose their marbles.

Judy is quickly taken away, because they think that she has contracted the virus. Truth is it she’s pregnant. He wants to save her but the contaminated people have broken loose and the military presences have retreated. David has to find some way to get his back and leave town before there is nobody left.

Director Breck Eisner created a mood that seemed real, even though it’s cheesy premise. There were some good gory scenes. I did have major problems with the movie. There was an instance when Russ thinks he’s going crazy and threatened to shoot the David and Judy. David punched him with his right hand, but earlier in a scene where he was stabbed on that same hand Rory’s family, Peggy (Lisa K. Wyatt) and Curt (Justin Welborn). There was the scene in the car wash. Really? That climatic scene at that roadhouse. Hmm…

Judgment: An enjoyable ride that has some bumps along the away.

Rating: ***1/2