I went to see the Men Who Stare at Goats the other day, and I have to admit the highlight was the trailer for the remake of George Romero’s The Crazies. Now, I’ve heard about this thing for a while, and never bothered to dwell on it. I saw Day of the Dead Part II so I’ve been burned by Faux-mero films before. They’re usually half baked remakes barely suitable for human intake. Now granted how offended could I be by a remake of The Crazies? I’ve never seen the original, and after sampling Romero’s off-brand flicks like Season of the Witch and Martin, I wasn’t in a huge rush.
When the trailer started I was hooked from the start. Two words, Timothy Olyphant. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Deadwood was one of the finest shows ever. Period. Now Olyphant was just one reason for its success, and that doesn’t get him a pass on that insipid Hitman movie or his less than threatening performance in Live Free or Die Hard. Here it looks like he’s back in form in the role of the sane lawman dealing with the outbreak of madness. Plus it’s got Rhada Mitchell, and she was pretty good in Silent Hill even if the film was uneven.
The Crazies is directed by Breck Eisner, son of ex-Disney honcho Michael Eisner. He’s been around for a while, but the last movie he directed was Sahara. I know, it makes me worried too, but we better get used to Eisner playing in genre. He’s got the remake of The Creature from the Black Lagoon lined up for 2011 and a proposed reboot of Flash Gordon for 2012. (That is unless that Cusack flick is right after all. Then we won’t have to worry about that one. ) From the look of the trailer I like what he’s shooting for, and if he gives the film a realistic look while being able to maintain the creepiness from the trailer, then I’m in. The use of Cat Stevens plaintive Mad World in the trailer manages to make listening to Cat Stevens badass for the first time ever.
So check out the trailer for The Crazies (2010) and The Crazies (1973). I know I’ll be checking out the original before the remake drops. Love to hear what some folks think, especially someone who’s seen the original. So drop a comment, and drop back by tomorrow for another selection from the VHS format.
The remake trailer looks great. I have seen the original Crazies. It is Romero's best work outside of his zombie films in my opinion. It's going to be hard to top the original...I'm anxious to see how the remake turns out.
ReplyDeleteI love the original Crazies, but the idea of a remake didn't offend me too much simply because it's a pretty great starting concept that could easily be adapted in different ways (like The Signal). Plus, looooooove me some Olyphant! What you really need to see is A Perfect Getaway. It barely registered on the radar over the summer, but it's a decent little mystery with a FUNTASTIC performance by Olyphant. He just has a ball with his role and made me want to see everything he does from here on in.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the trailer for the remake looks surprisingly kickass.
Loved the original and I generally don't like remakes much. Not looking forward to this one bit! When it comes out I know I will be strangely drawn to like a moth to a flame and I will probably hate it.
ReplyDeleteI saw the original Crazies on afternoon TV years ago... it looked terrible, but then again it was panned, scanned, canned and edited no doubt.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking Rhada Mitchell, she must be the new horror go-to girl; she's great in the under-appreciated Aussie giant croc movie, ROGUE!
Well it looks like The Crazies is in store for a spilt audience.
ReplyDelete@Steve- I'll be looking into the original sooner than later.
@Emily- Anything funtastic has me sold. Add in Tim in a thiller, and I'm there.
@Nigel- That's usually how I feel about remakes too, and usually I'm right. Maybe since I haven't seen the orginal I'm giving this trailer some slack.
@Erich- Thanks for the comment. I think you're new around here so I wanted to say welcome. I loved Rhada Mitchell in Rogue. I should have mentioned that. Mclean makes a pretty tight film. Loved Wolf Creek too.