THE CRAZIES directed by Breck Eisner, written by Scott Kosar and Ray Wright based on the screenplay by George A. Romero and Paul A. McCullough, with Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Danielle Panabaker and Joe Anderson. An Alliance release. 100 minutes. Opens Friday (February 26). For venues, trailers and times, see Movies. Rating: NNNN
The Crazies gives George A. Romero's ragged 1973 thriller about a small town contaminated by a biological weapon the same high-octane makeover Zack Snyder applied to Dawn Of The Dead - right down to the use of Johnny Cash over the opening credits.[rssbreak]
Stripping out Romero's Vietnam-era satire of incompetent military bureaucracy, the new version narrows its focus to the panicked, quarantined townspeople. Timothy Olyphant gives another sure-to-be-underrated lead performance as a sheriff trying to protect his pregnant wife (Radha Mitchell), and Eisner orchestrates several effective set pieces as the mayhem builds. And he doesn't punk out on the ending either.