George A. Romero is best known as the godfather of the zombie movie, but he was an all-round horror aficionado that spent the majority of his career dealing in blood, guts, and gore, even if shuffling hordes of the undead would always remain his calling card.
One of the better non-zombie Romero efforts to arrive was 1973’s The Crazies, and given the desire to remake virtually every recognizable horror eventually, it was only a matter of time before a redux landed. As it happened, Breck Eisner’s 2010 effort was surprisingly solid, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to say it’s every bit as good as the original.
Timothy Olyphant’s charismatic sheriff, his wife, and their dwindling band of companions are forced to fight their way through the sleepy town of Ogden Marsh after a mysterious infection turns the local population into bloodthirsty maniacs with only one thing on their mind, dealing and receiving much in the way of death and destruction.
The Crazies V2.0 wrings genuine tension out of its atmospheric set pieces, and even provides some underlying social commentary that doesn’t come across as heavy-handed or on-the-nose. A 70% Rotten Tomatoes score makes it one of the best-reviewed retreads to emerge during the early part of the 21st Century, too, and it’s been going down a storm on Netflix this weekend.
As per FlixPatrol, the nail-biting exercise in staying alive at all costs has emerged on the platform’s global most-watched list, even scoring a Top 10 finish in a couple of countries into the bargain.