George A. Romero’s The Crazies Needs to Be on Your Halloween Watchlist

Legendary horror pioneer and celebrated filmmaker George A. Romero is fondly regarded as the “Father of the Zombie Film,” having helmed a slew of iconic cinema classics throughout his illustrious career, including Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Martin, and Creepshow. He swiftly established himself as one of Hollywood’s most unique and talented directors with the critical and commercial success of the 1968 zombie masterpiece, Night of the Living Dead, sparking a cultural phenomenon and becoming an influential horror hit.

During the 1970s, Romero struggled to achieve the same prosperity and praise that his directorial debut afforded him, following up Night of the Living Dead with two underwhelming pictures: There’s Always Vanilla and Season of the Witch. He attempted to bounce back and return to form with the 1973 sci-fi horror flick The Crazies, which focused on an infected Pennsylvania town where its residents become homicidally insane after being infected by a virus. Though it failed to make a splash at the box office, it is now regarded as an underrated cult classic and a must-see for fans of the revered director.

The Crazies Is a Terrifying Sci-Fi Horror Spectacle

From the genius mind of horror maestro George A. Romero comes the spine-tingling 1973 spectacle The Crazies, which takes place in the remote town of Evans City, Pennsylvania, where its residents begin to exhibit violent and unhinged behavior that ultimately leads to murder and mayhem. When government officials are sent in to quarantine the town and its dangerous inhabitants, Vietnam War veteran and firefighter David (Will McMillan) and his pregnant girlfriend Judy (Lane Carroll) attempt to escape the infected community along with their friends.

Evans City descends into madness after an Army plane carrying a lethal bioweapon crashes near the small town, infecting its water supply and causing its victims to either succumb to the virus known as “Trixie” or become progressively more and more agitated and homicidally insane. Faced with both the terrifying threat of his savage neighbors and the brutal soldiers trying to keep them confined, David makes it his mission to get his girlfriend and unborn child to safety while evading perilous threats at every turn.

David must also race against the clock to flee the town and remain uninfected before nuclear weapons are dispatched to completely obliterate Evans City and its residents (both the crazed and the innocent). The desperate and determined veteran’s only hope for survival and getting his loved ones out alive falls on the shoulders of Dr. Watts (Richard France), who is working tirelessly to develop a potential cure, but is also plagued by horrific terrors in his quest to save the town.

The Crazies Was Filmed on a Low Budget

Made on a modest budget of approximately $270,000, The Crazies was based on Paul McCollough’s screenplay The Mad People, which explored the effects a bioweapon had on a small town as the military was brought in to cover up the catastrophic incident. Romero reworked the script to make the military’s threatening presence more of the main focal point, which producer Lee Hessel believed was the most compelling component of the adaptation. The acclaimed director called McCollough’s original screenplay “very existential and heady” and heavily emphasized the government’s secret involvement.

The Crazies was just Romero’s fourth big screen endeavor, with the trailblazing filmmaker having previously helmed the horror masterpiece Night of the Living Dead, There’s Always Vanilla, and Season of the Witch, and he was looking to bounce back after the latter two pictures failed to make a splash with critics and audiences. Romero did not hire any Hollywood stuntmen for The Crazies, instead opting to enlist the expertise of local firefighters and licensed fireworks handlers to create and execute the action sequences in the hair-raising flick.

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In fact, many of the background performers were locals from where the film was shot in the real Evans City, and a few of the white hazmat-suited soldiers featured were even high school students. Romero cut corners to compensate for its smaller production budget but nonetheless delivered his signature fearless approach to the horror genre and delivered a taut and truly chilling finished product (even if it would take a little time to be acknowledged for all its greatness).

Romero’s Underrated Cult Classic

Released on March 16, 1973, The Crazies was unfortunately a box office dud when it made its debut, grossing just $143,784 throughout its theatrical run and initially garnering a mixed bag response from critics. George A. Romero later attributed the film’s poor financial performance to its underwhelming distribution, as it was only available in a limited number of theaters before ultimately being opened in a different market. The horror pioneer took another major career hit because of the lackluster reception of The Crazies, which became the director’s third box office blunder after There’s Always Vanilla and Season of the Witch.

Despite its initially terrible impact and unappreciation from moviegoers, the legacy and impact of The Crazies has only grown in the more than 50 years since its premiere, with many now retrospectively acknowledging how brilliant the horror film truly is. Romero expertly provided social commentary on the potential terrors a civil emergency could cause within humanity while playing on the fears of audiences over the looming threat of bioweapons and the government’s potential involvement in a cover-up. Those eerie elements paired with the idea of someone’s loved ones and friends going violently insane are truly fuel for nightmares and pack a major punch.

The Crazies is now regarded as a cult classic and a criminally underrated entry in Romero’s phenomenal Hollywood repertoire, and in 2010, a remake of the sci-fi horror flick was created by Breck Eisner with Timothy Olyphant headlining the reimagining as David. The remake actually fared better with audiences and critics than the original, and it further demonstrated the timelessness of the story and importance of its message. The Crazies is the perfect addition to your Halloween watchlist and curious viewers can witness the mayhem and madness unfold themselves by streaming the Romero ’70s gem. Stream The Crazies on Tubi.