The Crazies- Film Analysis

The Crazies 

Directed by Breck Eisner, The Crazies is an American science fiction horror film. The film was created as a remake of the original 1973 version which was directed by George A. Romero. Although the 2010 version uses modern CGI and technology, the narrative structure of both films is similar and they roughly share the same storyline. The film is based in, Ogden Marsh, Iowa, which is described in the film as ‘The friendliest place on earth’. A toxic Trixie disease spreads through the town, turning the townsfolk into barbaric zombie like beings. The disease causes physical, as well as mental decay, creating a predator out of its consumer, triggering instincts of death, and the urge to kill their neighbours and family. The town’s sheriff, David (Timothy Olyphant) and his community doctor wife, Judy (Radha Mitchell) battle through the spread of the infectious toxin, along with the sheriffs deranged deputy Russell Clank (Joe Anderson) and the film follows their tragic escape, and their realization of the accidental government plane crash which was responsible for the contagious virus. Although it is not actually visible within the movie, we soon find out the plane crashed into the main water source of the town, contaminating the water supply with the chemical that was released from the crash. This means that when the residents consume the water, they are also consuming the Trixie virus. The government demands the army to create an incubation perimeter for the citizens of Ogden Marsh, and they are separated into clean, and infected areas. The Crazies undergoes many iconic gore and death scenes, until the very end, when we see David and Judy travel to the next town, only to then find out the virus has spread further than one town.

The Crazies generated an estimated $50 million by May 2010, and was given good reviews at the box-office. The film’s target audience would be, those who enjoy horror, however, as it focuses on a zombie/science subgenre, it could focus on a younger teenage audience. On the other hand, the younger potential teenage audience could be challenged, as the film was given an 18 rating due to the graphic and sexual scenes it includes.

Bulgarian structuralist Tzvetan Todorov came up with the Classic Hollywood Narrative theory. This is a narrative that is shared amongst most American films. He determined that most films start with an equilibrium, which is a normal calmness, until an event disrupts it and causes a chain of events to called the disequilibrium. At the end everything is resolved, and a new equilibrium is created. This was labelled The Classic Hollywood Narrative/Structure (CHN).

Although The Crazies does have many features of the Classic Hollywood Structure, it is difficult to say exactly if it does actually follow Todorovs theory. This is because although the film essentially begins with the baseball game, and ends with David and Judy walking towards the new town, the first scene that is actually shown is houses burning and an abandoned and destroyed Ogden Marsh. Although initially the audience is not aware of what caused the fire, or created this apocalyptic feel that this scene gives, the text displayed shows ‘2 days earlier’ before the film starts from the beginning, and half way through the film the same scene is shown again, only this time, it is shown chronologically with the rest of the film. Furthermore, we later find out that the actual beginning of the story told in the film, began when the governments plane crashed into the towns water supply. Although this is not seen in the movie itself, its apparent that this is the sole reason behind the main aspect of the story line. 

The film is approximately 100 minutes, and although the story or narrative is about 3 weeks long, we can only see 3 days of this story. So originally, The Crazies does not appear to follow the Classic Narrative Structure. However, if you changed the order that some scenes of the film are viewed, it does. If the film did not start with the burning town scene, but went straight into the baseball game, the equilibrium at the start would have clearly been the baseball game. The disruption would have then been the unusual behavior of Rory Hamill whilst he was holding a shotgun. As more and more people become infected, David and Judy escaping the town becomes the new equilibrium. However, for the effect of irony, the infection turns out to have traveled to this next town. This manipulating of the CHN is what earned The Crazies it’s positive rating, although, not abiding by the CHN, can be risky, with a disjointed narrative. Overall, The Crazies does not exactly follow Todorovs narrative theory, but there are aspects linking to the Classic Hollywood Structure.

This could link in with the cause and effect theory by Bordwell and Thompson, which outlines the set duration, in terms of screen time, plot time and the story time of a film. The storyline duration of The Crazies is much longer than what we are able to see. However, the 33 days shown for the plot duration is only located towards the end of the timeline, with the previous important events, being the plane crash. not shown on film. This has a massive impact on the narrative that the audience sees, as from the audience’s point of view, the plot begins when the first town resident Rory getting the virus from the contaminated water.

Claude Levi-Strauss determined that all narrative structures include binary oppositions, which are two opposites where one is always valued as higher than the other. In The Crazies, there is many clear binary oppositions including Sanity v Insanity. The sanity here, is the survivors and the people that are un-infected yet are of the virus outbreak.  Insanity, is the opposite of this, the people who are infected by the virus and have allowed their minds to become controlled by a predators urge to kill. A clear example of this insanity can be seen when the local farmer is locked in a jail cell, and he appears to have fits and spasm’s, showing the effects of the Trixie virus. Another binary opposition that can be seen in The Crazies is simply Alive v Dead, with the routed for heroes staying alive, and the other side, characters and citizens that have contracted the disease, being dead emotionally and personality wise.

Another theory that The Crazies can follow is Vladimir Propp’s character theory. Propp came up with 8 character types, after studying old Russian folk tales.

In relation to Propp’s character roles, the obvious Hero in The Crazies, is the town Sheriff, David. Even the role of the town’s Sheriff, shows responsibility and admiration from the people of the town, who he is there to protect. The survival of the sheriff whilst also protecting his wife along the way means that his wife Judy can be seen as the princess. Throughout the film Judy needs Davids help, amplified by the fact that she is pregnant.  

The deputy Sheriff Russel Clark obtains the donor character as he saves the Sheriff’s life “3 times” and then sacrifices himself, to keep his dignity.

One of Propps characters that is hard to determine in The Crazies is the role of the villain. Unlike the film Halloween (1978), in which Michael Myers is the obvious only villain, The Crazies does not have a clear individual villain, and there are many aspects to the film that could be considered instead. One argument is that the government could be to blame, as they failed to contain the carriers of the virus, and mistreated the townsfolk. They are also to blame for the cover up of the plane crash, and This could be the reason that the Trixie virus was able to spread at the speed it did. The military can also be perceived as a villain in this film, with the vision of them shooting an innocent boy and his mother, and then incinerating them showing in inhumane quality. A third potential reason is the people who caught the virus, who then turn into the zombie like killers. Even though this is not necessarily the fault of the people themselves, as the virus makes them act like this, there is still a substantial atmosphere of evil, and the responsibility for the barbaric murders of family and friends.