The small town of Ogden Marsh, Iowa, will fill your head with John Mellencamp, “I was born in a small town/ And I live in a small town/ Probably die in a small town….“  The residents of Ogden Marsh can nix that “probably” part.

As things always do, the day starts fairly normal.  It’s small town life, and everyone is happy with that.  The sun is shining, people are doing their own thing, and it’s opening day for the high school baseball team.  As Sheriff David Dutten says, “Opening day is the first day of Spring.”  Apparently, something went bad during the winter.  Former town drunk, Rory Hamil, walks out onto the field with a shotgun.  Sheriff Dutten tries to reason with him; he thinks Rory is back on the booze and tries to talk him into putting the gun down.  Rory doesn’t comply and before he can pull the trigger, Sheriff Dutten shoots him.  Rory’s widow doesn’t understand why her husband had the gun, or threatened Dutten.  She protests that Rory couldn’t have been drunk, he hadn’t had a drop of liquor in two years.  Dutten doesn’t believe it, but the toxicology report shows a blood alcohol level of 0.0.  Dutten knows something bad is a-goin’ down.

The townsfolk only support that; they begin acting ten kinds of weird, or, more appropriately, ten kinds of crazy.  Sheriff Dutten’s wife, Judy, is the town doctor, and she is baffled by some of her patients.  Bill, for instance, is brought in by his wife because he is acting a little strange.  Bill seems a little lost in space, his mind is a little preoccupied, but Judy tells his wife everything seems okay- his vital signs are fine, but she would like to run some blood work.  That night, Bill traps his wife and son in the closet and sets the house on fire.  When questioned about his actions, Bill only stares off into nothing and hums.


People are slowly going insane in the membrane, acting psychotic, and it seems to have something to do with a dead pilot discovered by some hunters in the marsh, and the crashed plane David and his deputy soon find.  It seems something from the plane has escaped into the water system, and it just ain’t good for human consumption.  When the poopie hits the fan, it hits big in Ogden Marsh.  Not only are there crazies to contend with, but the military steps in with a shoot first, ask questions later mentality.

The Crazies doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it has the same premise as about a blue million other movies in the zombie/people-going-psycho subgenres, but it is the kind of horror movie I’ve been wanting to see for quite a while now:  a good one.  It pulled me into it’s small town horrors right away.  The writing, the directing, the acting, everything is top notch, and even though it’s been done before, it’s not always been done with this quality of talent.

Not that it’s perfect.  It’s hard to accept some of it, even if you suspend your disbelief heavily.  You can only suspend so much.  And the ending, I felt, was a little too easy and convenient.  But The Crazies delivers the goodies; it’s one of those movies I wished had been longer because it was such a good time.

4.5 out of 5
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