The Crazies 2010

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: The Crazies struggles to find novelty and laughs, and must battle the overwhelming sense that we've been here, seen this too often and too recently to experience any real surprises. Read more

A.O. Scott, At the Movies: It's kind of crazy, but it's also pretty smart. And if your nervous system can stand it, you should see it. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Olyphant, an actor capable of playing stoic heroes as well as sneering villains, anchors the movie with a believable sense of desperation, and the brief film doesn't waste a second on anything that doesn't bear directly on the crisis at hand. Read more

Kathleen Murphy, MSN Movies: Even on the level of killer-virus-gone-wild gore-fest, The Crazies as rejiggered by Eisner is a dud. Read more

Mike Hale, New York Times: The problem with The Crazies? Not crazy enough. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: Unlike Romero's film, what's missing is a trenchant sense of connection to our historical moment. Read more

John Anderson, Wall Street Journal: The big difference between Mr. Romero's film and Mr. Eisner's -- which is so intelligent you fear the fanboys will scatter -- is that Mr. Eisner never gives us the military's point of view. Read more

Ted Fry, Seattle Times: Eisner stumbles in playing up an inherent tension that could have given audiences their own case of the crazies. Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: Without the rotting ickiness of proper zombies, they just seem like methed-out Iowans looking for a fix. That's scary, but not scary enough. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: In the big picture, the government is the bad guy. In the moment, however, the school principal with a blood-drenched pitchfork will do quite nicely, thank you. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: The Crazies does what an exploitation movie should: It gets in, it scares you silly, and it gets out, all while playing fair by the audience. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: [A] respectable update. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: It should not be judged for what it is not. But nearly everything about it works. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: Romero had quite a lot on his mind, back in the day: Vietnam, the Kent State shootings, a wicked distrust of the military and the Man in general. Eisner has almost nothing on his mind. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: While it loses the charm of Romero's low-budget clunkiness, it is in all other regards superior. Read more

Adam Graham, Detroit News: If there's a message in all this, it's buried in blood splatter. Which is fine, but makes The Crazies more disappointing than if it had less lofty goals. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Here's what I can say for sure about the humanoid attackers in the new version of The Crazies: They're not very interesting. Read more

Eric D. Snider, Film.com: Tense, exciting, and occasionally very scary. Read more

Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: A tingler that's cynical and cruel -- it takes it for a given that our government would conspire to kill its citizens, even using Holocaust imagery to sharpen its point. Read more

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: Nearly every scare in The Crazies is telegraphed, whether by suddenly too-tight photography or shrieky crescendos of sound. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The movie never takes you anyplace truly uncomfortable - for that, you have to go back to the source material. But the new The Crazies still delivers a good, scary horror show. Read more

Ian Buckwalter, NPR: The incoherence is made all the more disappointing because Eisner displays a great deal of raw talent for the genre's tone and set pieces. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: It devolves to simple run-and-hide cliches, usually accompanied by jarring musical jolts. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Even for a horror movie, The Crazies is a bore, and we're talking about the most boring genre this side of dysfunctional-family indie drama. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Director Breck Eisner cranks up the gore to levels that are overpowering and unpalatable. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: A slicker production than the original but some of the grit is gone. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The last thing I need is another Jump Out/ Loud Noise/Alarming Chord Movie. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: The filmmakers seem less clear on what really made those early Romero films great, which is something that, by definition, can't be re-created by any level of loving craftsmanship: They were timely. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: This remake of George A. Romero's 1973 biological warfare shocker is a trim, taut, terrifying essay in homespun horror. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: The blood is certainly convincing these days, but it generally flows only in the safest and most inoffensive, uncontroversial directions. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Eisner brings plenty of tension and some gratifying scares amid the ordinariness of Main Street U.S.A., clapboard farmhouses and wide fields. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: You have to give Eisner points for knowing where all the bodies are buried, and how to unearth them suddenly for maximum effect. Read more

Tom Huddlestone, Time Out: There's too much story and key details are absent or underexplained. Though far from unwatchable, The Crazies feels like a missed opportunity. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: The Crazies is familiar B-movie fare, but it's also lively fun and presented with well-paced flair. Be sure to watch it in a safe and contained area. Read more

Dennis Harvey, Variety: Eisner and his scenarists (Scott Kosar, Ray Wright) make changes mostly for the better, ramping up the horror factor via tighter focus on the imperiled locals and the requisite hike in gory violence. Read more

Dan Kois, Washington Post: Adapted from horror master George A. Romero's micro-budget 1973 classic, The Crazies delivers some satisfying scares but skims blithely over the darker ramifications of its story. Read more