Romero's 'Crazies' to return

Story will be updated to present-day Pennsylvania, where a secret biological weapon is mistakenly released into the community.

Apr 11 2005

Following their sterling work on 'The Machinist', writer Scott Kosar and director Brad Anderson are teaming up again, this time for a remake of the criminally underrated George A Romero flick 'The Crazies'.

A classic example of 1970s paranoid horror, the original ('The Crazies' reviewed here) tells of a military accident that affects a small Pennsylvanian town.

As a result, the residents become dangerous, demented and downright deranged, before finally popping their clogs.

'Not another horror remake!' we hear you cry, but bear with us on this one as having a second stab at 'The Crazies' might not be such a bad thing.

Firstly, the original was so far ahead of its time that being brought up to date could actually work in its favour.

Secondly, the fact that current horror-rewrite king Kosar is doing the screenplay (following his recent efforts on 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and 'The Amityville Horror') also bodes well.

Thirdly, having effortlessly squeezed every last bit of tension out of Kosar's script for 'The Machinist', director Brad Anderson could do great things with the scary-as-hell premise.

Finally, Romero is to executive-produce the update, and if George himself gives the film his blessing, who are we to argue?

Whatever the case, rest assured we'll keep you updated on the project's progress.

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