The Crazies

The Crazies

Director:

Stars:


For me, this movie was all about the cinematography. It was supposed to take place in Iowa and the director of photography somehow captures the beauty and solitude of such a place before a pandemic broke out and most of the people had to be slaughtered.

A remake of Zombie King George Romero, the Crazies rests its laurels on the beautiful acting of Radha Mitchell and rising star Timothy Oliphant. It also seems to start the movie with a unique Midwestern charm which is always a surprising accomplishment for a group of people who come from Hollywood.

The setting is sort of ideal - a small farming community where everything seems to be going right until a water contamination starts causing some of the men in the community to act strangely.

Oliphant does a knockout job as the town Sheriff who is forced to start using his gun as things get, well, crazy. Another knockout performance comes from Joe Anderson, who plays Oliphant's deputy. He adds a sort of wiry energy that helps the whole experience keep moving.

Cinematographer Maxime Alexandre, to me though, is the star of the movie as he manages to create simple, beautiful images in the beginning  that make me want to take a vacation in Iowa, and then as the film progresses the image become more and more disturbing and ultimately terrifying. Watch this movie and you will understand again what good photography and lighting really are.