The Crazies (2019 remake) - The thinking man's zombie

Okay, so my title might be a little misleading - it implies that the average viewer may need to use their mind to understand this film.  However, it's basically a zombie movie without 'traditional' zombies, instead choosing infected humans who have simply gone bonkers in the nut.  It's a different enough premise to sit down to, assuming you're into undead movies in general.

After the successful remake of George A Romero's 'Dawn of the Dead' in 2004, it was as if someone watched that and applied the same visual style and feel to Romero's lesser-known film 'The Crazies.' In these days of 'shared universes' it certainly feels that the 2004 zombie film sits comfortably with 2010's version of 'The Crazies.'

The plot is hardly inspiring: chemical leak makes residents of small, secluded town go mad (with fatal consequences!).  Now it's up to the local sheriff (Timothy Olyphant – and if you’re asking, ‘Who’s that?’ then you’re probably not the only person – he’s the leading man, but he’s hardly A-list – and he’s the most recognisable of the cast!) to lead a band of survivors out of the infected zone before the government decides the only option to contain the spread is to nuke the site from orbit.

Along the way there's plenty of gore for those of us who like the ol' 'red stuff' and, although hardly terrifying, it doesn't pull any punches when it comes to its victims and there are some genuinely disturbing scenes.  There's nothing new here, like I say, not only is it a remake anyway, but its overall feel has been lifted from 2004's 'Dawn of the Dead' (and possibly '28 Days/Weeks Later').  However, with all the run-of-the-mill zombies films being churned out all over the place, this one is just about different (and good!) enough to stand out from the pack, if simply because the 'zombies' aren't zombies.  They actually have enough brainpower left to really cause our heroes some major problems.  You may never want to get your car washed again.  Simple, but effective.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that