THE
CRAZIES (1973)Director: George A. Romero
Blue Underground
THE
CRAZIES (1973)A young girl awake in the middle
of the night to get a glass of water is scared witless by her older brother,
who stalks her in the shadows. Their playful games are interrupted by violent
crashing and thrashing in the kitchen...their father isn't himself tonight...and
so begins THE CRAZIES, George Romero's follow-up to NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.
After that 1968 success, he turned to romantic comedy with the sorely underrated
THERE'S ALWAYS VANILLA, which tanked at the box office. Unfortunately, this
superior effort suffered the same fate, but it has developed a developing cult
following via home video, and Blue Underground has finally licensed the film
from copyright hell for DVD (Anchor Bay released it on VHS last decade, but
for legal reasons couldn't license it for DVD release).
Social politics have always played
a hand in the disturbing shocks of Romero's horror films. NIGHT OF THE LIVING
DEAD examined the interaction of people in hostile situations (some have considered
it a statement on the Cold War); five years later, THE CRAZIES is Romero's attack
on the Vietnam War and the growing distrust of the United States Army, portrayed
as either bumbling idiots, vicious sadists, or way out of their league. An experimental
virus developed by the government to use in biological warfare is accidentally
unleashed in a small Pennsylvania town when a truck crashed into the local water
supply. Anyone who drinks the water suffers from delirium and loses their mind,
developing homicidal tendencies in the process, or dies soon after. The military
swoops into the town, declaring martial law...and are prepared to decimate the
entire town 
with
a bomb if need be... THE CRAZIES is without a doubt Romero's most disturbing
film. Insane townspeople wage war on the soldiers, wielding pitchforks, dynamite,
axes, staining their white protective suits with crimson, one woman sweeping
the carnage with her best broom; the local reverend immolates himself in a blind
rage; children witness their parents being gunned down and their bodies burnt
to prevent spreading of the virus; a distraught widower is driven to rape his
very willing daughter; an elderly woman calmly stabs a soldier with a large
knitting needle and proceeds to continue knitting when he falls to the floor
dying. There is plenty of ultra violence, a far cry from the fairly restrained
terror of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. If one really wants to get into the spirit
of the film, one could blame the failure of the film upon its initial release
on apolitical conspiracy... None of the performances really register as phenomenal
(save perhaps Lynn Lowry and Richard France), but the characters are all sympathetic
to elicit emotional responses when (as the posters proclaim) the good people
start dying.
Anchor Bay's previous VHS of THE CRAZIES can be written off as a misfire. The print was very grainy, had good color, but had damage at reel changes and slowed down several scenes to cover up more print damage. Blue Underground's beautiful widescreen transfer is a HUGE improvement: bolder colors, very black blacks, and minimal, if any grain and dirt. The previous VHS release was a fullscreen presentation, which was always assumed to be the correct aspect ratio for an early Romero film, but the 1.66:1 framing on the disc looks to be more accurate, opening up the sides and slicing off minimal information on the top and bottom.
The
star extra of the disc is the audio commentary by George Romero. I have yet
to encounter a boring commentary from Romero and this is no exception. Moderated
by Bill Lustig (who asks all the right questions), Romero waxes nostalgiac about
the shooting process, the origins of the project, his early editing techniques
(stemming from his start in TV commercials), various cast members, his dislike
for some of the library music, and sounds genuinely disappointed in the shoddy
distribution the film subsequently received. Interestingly enough, both Lustig
and Romero show interest in knowing what young co-star Lynn Lowry is doing today?
Thanks to Dave Szulkin, Ms. Lowry is back for the fans to enjoy in the 14-minute
featurette aptly titled "The Cult Film Legacy of Lynn Lowry"! Following
the death of Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith, the re-discovery of Lowry near
the end of 2002 was a big deal in the cult film community and she doesn't disappoint
in this interview! Clips are shown from all of her big films except SHIVERS
(SCORE, I DRINK YOUR BLOOD, SUGAR COOKIES, THE BATTLE OF LOVE'S RET
URN),
as she discusses the majority of her films through the 1970s. She does neglect
to address FIGHTING MAD, CAT PEOPLE, and mixes up the dates of SUGAR COOKIES
and SCORE, but she is a very courteous and charming interviewee, with some interesting
anecdotes about her work with Radley Metzger, David Durston, and Romero. We
are even treated to footage of her current nightclub act! A real treasure of
an extra. Also included are two theatrical trailers, both pretty much interchangeable,
two TV spots (one :30 spot, one 1:00 spot) that were probably never used, an
extensive gallery with behind-the-scenes photos, a massive selection of publicity
stills (including some strange posed ones with Lane Carroll and a group of soldiers),
publicity material under the re-release title CODE NAME: TRIXIE, marquee photos,
posters and newspaper clippings, press reviews, video covers, and foreign posters
(the title in France: EXPERIMENT 2000), and an interesting George Romero bio.
Blue Underground should be commended
for presenting an unsung horror classic with such love and care, moreso than
some studios do for more popular films. Fans of Romero should already own this
film in some form and need to upgrade, but those who haven't should purchase
this disc posthaste! One of the best discs of 2003. (Casey
Scott)