The Crazies (1973)
★★★½ — The Crazies (1973)
Made four years after Night of the Living Dead reshaped horror filmmaking, The Crazies saw Romero working again in and around Pittsburgh on a budget of $275,000, modest even by the standards of early-1970s independent production. The film was produced by Pittsburgh Films and shot largely in Evans City, Pennsylvania, the same small-town setting Romero had used for Night of the Living Dead. Scripted by Romero himself (from Paul McCollough's story "The Mad People"), it arrived at a pointed cultural moment, when Vietnam, Watergate, and widespread distrust of government institutions were feeding a particular strain of American paranoia. Romero would go on to revisit similarly politicised horror territory with Dawn of the Dead in 1978, but The Crazies remains one of his more direct, if commercially overlooked, engagements with institutional failure as a horror premise.
Without this, there'd be no 28 days/weeks/years series George A. Romero’s The Crazies isn’t just a horror film, it’s a fever dream of societal collapse, shot on a shoestring budget and soaked in the kind of dread that clings to you like a wet sweater. Think Night of the Living Dead ’s bleakness, but swap zombies for a virus that turns people into homicidal maniacs. And yes, it’s as grim as it sounds. Set in the fictional town of Evans City, Pennsylvania, the film follows a government-engineered virus that drives victims to madness. The military quarantines the town, but their heavy-handed tactics only accelerate the spiral into chaos. There’s no grand twist, no heroic rescue, just escalating paranoia, blood-soaked streets, and the slow-motion implosion of civilization. What makes it work is the atmosphere . Romero leans into the low-budget grime, using handheld camerawork and natural lighting to create something raw and uncomfortably real. The gore is minimal but effective, think splatter-painted walls and twitchy, unsettling deaths. And the score, a jarring mix of church bells and discordant tones, feels like the soundtrack to a panic attack. The acting is uneven, but that’s part of the charm. The real star is the town itself, a decaying, claustrophobic hellscape where every shadow hides a new horror. And the ending is pure Romero nihilism. No one escapes clean. No one wins. It's not flawless. The pacing drags in places, and some performances veer into “overly dramatic local news anchor” territory. But as a precursor to Dawn of the Dead ’s satire, it’s a masterclass in low-budget dread.
Rating: ★★★½ | Year: 1973 | Watched: 2025-06-26
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from George A. Romero: Creepshow (1982) · Jacaranda Joe (2022) · BIOHAZARD 2 TV-CM (1997) · Survival of the Dead (2009)
More from the 1970s: Fantastic Planet (1973) · Here and Elsewhere (1976) · Italianamerican (1974) · Punishment Park (1971)
More science fiction: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) · Fantastic Planet (1973) · Nightmare City (1980) · The Long Walk (2025)
More horror: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) · Viy (1967) · Nightmare City (1980) · Angst (1983)
