George A. Romero made The Crazies just a few years after making his breakout film Night of the Living Dead in ‘68, but with the popularity of Romero’s zombie film and the others in his ‘Dead’ trilogy still to be determined, he was still a struggling indie filmmaker. So it was with a very meager sum that he set out to make The Crazies and delivered a very interesting piece of work, even if it often fails in its storytelling. Join us – Andy Nelson and Pete Wright as we continue our Disease Films series with Romero’s 1973 film The Crazies.
We talk about the independent feel of the film, what works about it and what doesn’t. We chat about Romero and some of his tropes that were evident early on, shining strongly in this movie. We discuss the actors, the relatively short careers for many of them and the particularly lengthy (and schlocky) career of Lynn Lowry, still busy making films like Skysharks. We look at the various elements of production on display here, from cinematography and locations to makeup and effects to the canned music and the editing. And we talk about the distribution of the film and why it largely failed to find an audience.
It’s a fun film to watch and clearly helmed by someone who knew how to put a taut film together, even if it’s a bit of a mess with some bad performances. But we like it anyway, even if it didn’t end up ranking very high on our Flickchart. So check it out and then tune in!
Film Sundries
- Watch this film: iTunes • Amazon • YouTube
- Original theatrical trailer
- Original poster artwork
- Flickchart
- Letterboxd
