The Crazies (1973)    Cambist Films/Horror-Sci-Fi    RT: 103 minutes    Rated R (violence, language, brief nudity)    Director: George A. Romero    Screenplay: George A. Romero    Music: Bruce Roberts    Cinematography: S. William Hinzman    Release date: March 16, 1973 (US)    Cast: Lane Carroll, W.G. McMillan, Harold Wayne Jones, Lloyd Hollar, Lynn Lowry, Richard Liberty, Richard France, Harry Spillman, Will Disney, Edith Bell, Bill Thunhurst, Leland Starnes, A.C. McDonald, Robert J. McCully, Robert Karlowsky.    Box Office: $143,784 (US)

Rating: ***

 I hereby acknowledge that I intentionally opted to watch George A. Romero’s virus thriller The Crazies during the COVID-19 crisis. ‘Nuff said on the subject?

 There’s no discussing The Crazies without talking about its social context. That would be like teaching a lesson about Hamlet without once referring to the pivotal “to be or not to be” soliloquy delivered by the melancholy Dane in the third act. It’s just not done. I promise I’ll circle back to what The Crazies is really about in just a moment. First, I’d like to tell you a little bit about it.

 I have no conscious memory of The Crazies, aka Code Name: Trixie, playing in theaters. I don’t have an interesting story to tell about the first time I saw it (on video in ’90). I can’t even say that it ranks among Romero’s best work. All I can say is that it’s a pretty good virus flick.

 After the residents of a small Pennsylvania town are exposed to a biologically engineered virus (aka Trixie) that got into the water supply, the military comes into contain the epidemic while a scientist tries to develop a cure with limited resources. The virus, which makes people go violently insane, is highly contagious. Armed soldiers in gas masks and hazmat suits yank people from their homes in the middle of the night and place them together under quarantine at the local high school. Naturally, chaos ensues with some people resisting.

 While being transported to the school, a small group of civilians escape from the van after it’s attacked by infected people, aka “crazies”. They are Judy (Carroll), the pregnant nurse of the local doctor; her fire fighter boyfriend David (McMillan); his friend and fellow fireman Clank (Jones); Artie (Liberty) and his teenage daughter Kathy (Lowry). They try to leave town while being hunted by soldiers with orders to shoot to kill from Colonel Peckem (Hollar), the HNIC (Head Nincompoop in Charge). Also, there’s a good chance one of more of them are already infected. Not only do they have to beware of soldiers, they have to beware of each other.

 As pure entertainment, The Crazies has a good amount of thrills and tension with not knowing who might be infected or what danger lurks in the homes and open expanses of rural Evans City. It starts off with a fire in a home set by the insane owner while his two small children look on in horror and gets crazier from there. A priest sets himself on fire after soldiers interrupt church services. There’s a little old lady with mad knitting needle skills; specifically, the stabby kind. Then there’s this shocking scene where the dad tries to rape his daughter thinking she’s his dead wife. Yep, they’re both infected. It gets pretty wild.

 The cast of The Crazies deserves praise for their efforts. Not all of the acting is great. In fact, some of it is rather wooden. I’d say it’s on par with the acting in Night of the Living Dead; maybe even slightly better. The person who really stands out here is Lowry whose loopy performance alone is worth checking out.

 Now let’s talk about the movie’s social context. The Crazies is in tune with the anti-military stance of young Americans in the early 70s. Romero’s movie is clearly critical of military involvement in Vietnam and Kent State. He’s basically saying that they make bad situations worse with their bureaucratic ineptitude and soldiers that mindlessly follow orders without question. When military leaders show up and take charge in Evans City, it goes south quickly. They’re unable to provide medical supplies and other resources to medical personnel when they need it because it has to go through the proper channels first. They quarantine everybody in the same place without testing them first. The infected will obviously infect the uninfected. Of course, there are bombers with nuclear weapons standing by in case it’s “necessary” to destroy the town. That’s military mentality for you!

 Grand statement notwithstanding, The Crazies is a decent thriller that not only entertains but shows what a talented filmmaker can do with a small budget. Romero has a real knack for stretching dollars. His movies look good. I’d even say some of them, like The Crazies, look as good as (if not better than) mainstream movies with big budgets. He makes great use of the rural PA locations, another one of his trademarks. Thanks to him, I’m disinclined to go any road trips through the surrounding areas of Pittsburgh.