The crazies

The Crazies The Crazies is an American horror film directed by Breck Eisner and written by Scott Kosar, Ray Wright and the original writer George A. Romero.

The film is a remake of the 1973 version and both share the same storyline. The film tells the story of how a small town in Iowa water system is contaminated by the toxic chemical ‘Trixie’. It follows the sheriff, his deputy and his wife trying to make sense of the situation which then turns deadly. Due to the virus, the towns people infected become violent and psychopathic. The military are also called in to try and incubate and control the situation, however this doesn’t quite go to plan.

The opening scene of the film is a town on fire showing the destroyed town of Ogden Marsh. This scene challenges Todorovs narrative structure theory of how a story begins with equilibrium.

However, we find out this scene is from later on in the movie and the real start of the movie if 2 days before this. The film flashes back to ‘2 days earlier’ in which it shows a mundane town coming together to watch the local baseball; this could be argued as the equilibrium, which although is not the opening scene but is the start of the narrative. The film then carries on with the structure of the ‘classic Hollywood’ narrative as the equilibrium is disrupted by the strange behaviours being witnessed by several town citizens. Despite this, it could be suggested that the real disequilibrium doesn’t start until the military comes in and sections off the whole town; this is when everyone realises there is a serious problem and causes moral panic amongst the town. It then goes on to follow David, Judy, Russell and Becca on a journey trying to escape, which in this case was the majority of film time. At the end of the film, we believe there is a new equilibrium created as Judy and David escape and the credits roll. However, we then see a news clip reporting on what has happened in Ogden Marsh, it then cuts to a close up of an infected ‘crazy’ in the next town to which Judy and David are travelling to. Therefore, Todorovs’ theory applies to parts of this film but it doesn’t fully follow it.

As well as the structure of the film, specific character roles are also very important as they fulfil a job within the story.

Vladimir Propp suggested there were 8 different character roles which could be found in any narrative. In this particular movie the ‘hero’ role is clear. David, the sheriff, fits into this role from the very start as the audience knows he is a figure of authority we associate helping and protecting with this role. Further on in the film the audience sees that David truly is a hero after going back from the ‘safety zone’ to try and save his wife. This suggests that Judy-his wife- fulfils the role of the ‘princess’ as she is assisted and looked after along

the way by David. Additionally, she is pregnant which makes her seem more vulnerable and more likely to need help. Furthermore, the love both characters have for each other could be one of the reasons they were able to fight and escape. The deputy, Russell Clark, is seen as the ‘helper’, aiding the hero on his journey. Throughout the film you see Russell constantly by David’s side, assisting in any way possible. He even saves their lives ‘3 times’ during the course of the film. Although it seems as if Russel turns against Judy and David towards the end of the film when he pulls a gun on them, it is soon sorted and forgiven due to the fact Russell has now also caught the virus. Russell’s last act in the film shows him sacrificing his life so Judy and David can run to safety, so in fact Russell could also be seen as the ‘have a go hero’ role within this film. The villain in The Crazies is unclear as not an individual ‘baddie’. In some ways there are several different villains seen within the movie which carry out different roles. The government, for example, could be one of the villains as they caused the overall outbreak of this infection. They sent the plane and even when they had realised it had crashed they tried to hide it and not warn the citizens of the town; maybe if they had done this the virus wouldn’t have spread. Additionally, the military could be seen as villains as they shot innocent civilians. However, the ‘evil’ villains are the ‘crazies’- those infected by the virus. They are psychotic and inhumane, killing whoever, whenever they wish. The ‘crazies’ are seen as the overall villain because of the reckless killing spree. Propps’ theory applies to some of the characters, however not all 8 are found in film.

The character roles also links to the binary opposites found in the film. For example, good vs evil is seen through the hero’s fighting and the ‘crazies’ trying to kill everyone. This concept is something we learn from an early age through fairy-tales so when it is seen in a movie we can easily identify what side each character is on; this then guides us through the narrative and helps us figure out why the characters are doing certain things. In The Crazies however, it is hard to figure out what side some characters or groups are on. The military, for example, are trying to help stop an epidemic but to Ogden Marsh the military seem bad because they are coming into their town and killing off or taking away people. Additionally, normal vs strange can be seen through the fact that the ‘normal people are ones not infected and the ‘strange’ are behaving violent and look very dysfunctional and almost inhumane. LeviStrauss’ theory can be loosely linked to aspects in the film.

Bordwell and Thompson stated that there are 3 distinct time durations within a film: screen duration, plot duration and story duration. The actual screen duration, in which it takes for the film to start and finish is 100 minutes. The plot duration is around 3 days, from when the baseball games starts to when David and Judy are walking towards Cedar Rapids. The story duration however, lasts around 3 weeks. This is when the plane crash happened, but this is something the audience does not see but has to fill in themselves. The plane crash signifies the start of the story as this is when the water became contaminated leading up to the events that were seen in the film. Another event which he audience doesn’t see is the town actually drinking the water, this again is something the audience has to figure out.

The Crazies use several horror conventions which allows the audience to easily identify that it is a horror. For example, the film is set in a rural area which gives a sense of isolation. Additionally, a lot

of the action and dramatic death scenes are set at night, giving the illusion of evil and makes the audience even more scared. In most horror films women are portrayed in a particular way and are often sexualised, however in The Crazies this is not the case as there are not many female characters. Becca is killed and it could be argued that this was very stereotypical as she was under 18 and had a boyfriend, which is often frowned upon in horror movies.

Despite this, in her death scene she is portrayed as quite innocent and childlike. Judy, who is could be seen as the ‘final girl’ is presented as a loving and doting wife who through most of the film relies on David to assist her. However, in some scenes she is seen fighting back, even at one point smashing a ‘crazies’ head against the car and shooting another; therefore she could be seen as quite masculine. This is counteracted though due to the fact she is pregnant, which is the most feminine portrayal of a woman; the audience would not expect her to fight back because of this. David and Judy could be seen as having the ideal lifestyle, which could be another reason for their survival.

In conclusion, The Crazies supports some aspects of Todorovs and Propps’ theories but does support other theories such as Bordwell and Thompson. I also think that this film follows several horror conventions like ‘final girl’ and isolated places. However, it also challenges some such as females not being overly sexualised.