Review: The Crazies (15)****

Among the sundry paranoid thrillers of the 1970s, George A Romero's original version of The Crazies is much underrated. This 21st century remake manages to retain much of the sense of isolation featured in its predecessor and emerges as an intelligent indictment of the powerlessness of ordinary folk when faced with the strength of faceless bureaucracy.

The Crazies focuses on what occurs in a small Iowa town when its water supply is contaminated by a bacteriological weapon carried on a plane that crashes into the river that provides the area's water supply. Of course, the reasons behind the grim events are not immediately explained; instead the local sheriff and his pregnant doctor wife (Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell) slowly put together the clues as their friends and neighbours begin turning into homicidal maniacs.

Overnight an average small town resembles an apocalyptic wasteland – dotted with corpses and roamed by mad-eyed killers.

The Crazies preys on mankind's fears: of the unknown, of the dark, of enemies and of what we cannot communicate with.

Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the character of David, the cop whose status and authority count for nought in a world where no-one can be trusted.

The script borrows liberally from the atmosphere of fear and suspicion that Romero employed in 1973. More than just another quasi zombie adventure, this represents the unspoken fears of many Americans: that far from acting as their saviour, Uncle Sam will be their executioner.

The film is as bleak as one might expect in these modern times and manages to embrace a denouement that hints at more carnage to come. Horror buffs will appreciate the inventiveness of a film that includes a key attack inside a working car wash as well as scenes of wanton killing featuring snarling crazies alongside anonymous, white-suited, gas-masked soldiers.