Based on George Romero's 1973 original, Sheriff David Dutton watches as the residents of Ogden Marsh, Iowa begin to go... well, crazy as you can ascertain from the title. Starting with a lonely old man shot dead on the baseball field after brandishing a rifle, more and more people begin to behave erratically and lash out with extreme prejudice against their families and neighbors. Before long, the entire city is hit with a water supply contaminated by a military-grade bioweapon, and all hell breaks loose when the military places the city under quarantine. As David, his wife, and a small group of survivors attempt to leave the area, they encounter resistance on many different fronts. If this all sounds like spoilers, don't worry. All of this is revealed in the first twenty minutes or so of the film. The chaos that unfolds is so well paced and while it seems like it takes a while for the real threat to be identified, the drama is slowly unfolding in the background. We move rather quickly from scenes of an idyllic farming community to utter chaos. The transition to the majority of the film seems to speed up, letting the rest unfold very naturally as our band of heroes try to get out of Dodge without getting killed by the infected, the military, or other random assholes. The story moves quickly, but feels very leisurely, which gives the viewer time to absorb the horror of what is happening without a great cut to the next scene. There is little to no footage from this film that could have been edited out and this makes every second in the scene count that much more without all the filler that normally accompanies these types of stories. As far as casting goes, everyone was top notch. I'm an unrepentant Tim Olyphant... middle of paper... The film is tense enough to make you feel tense from the production company logo to the credits. Having been horribly desensitized to fictional violence over the years, it's refreshing to see a film that isn't afraid to evoke natural emotion during a horror film at its most extreme. This also brings the realization that not all will turn out to be rosy for some, if not all, of our core group. In fact, I have very few issues with the film and sharing them here would ruin its greatness, but they are so minimal and fleeting, it almost seems silly to think about. In a world of PG-13 "horror" movies, it's kind of nice to know that The Crazies earned its hard R rating fair and square. It may lack underlying social commentary (as I'm sure the original did, thanks Romero), but this is one hell of a movie that will shock you enough, you won't even miss it.