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1. The Crazies Film Analysis
The Crazies is an American science fiction horror film which
was released in 2010 as a remake of the 1973 film that goes
by the same name, directed by George A. Romero. Although
this updated version was directed by Breck Eisner, Romero
took the place of executive producer, working closely
alongside Eisner. The 1973 version proved to be very
successful amongst its target audience of teenagers and
young adults, giving the remake a lot to live up to, however,
the film received mostly positive reviews and was a modest
box office success. The story of The Crazies is based in Ogden
Marsh, Iowa, with its residents considering it the ‘friendliest
place on Earth’, but when the town’s water supplies begins
infecting the residents it turns them into bloodthirsty killers,
causing chaos in the idyllic town. The film follows the town’s sheriff and his wife along with
two other survivors as they attempt to escape the reckless behaviour of the army and try to
move onto the next town.
Tzvetan Todorov is a Bulgarian structuralist linguist who came up with the theory
surrounding the classic narrative structure. He claims that a story begins with an equilibrium
which gives the audience an insight into the character’s lives, followed by a disruptive event
which causes disequilibrium. As the audience recognise the disequilibrium they will attempt
to resolve the problem which in theory, should then show a new equilibrium to present the
character’s new life. The Crazies mostly follows this theory, however, the beginning of the
film shows a scene that is a consequence of the disruptive event, with the film then
beginning with the equilibrium after which is two days before. The equilibrium of the film
shows the audience the main characters’ lives, allowing the viewers to establish an
understanding of what everyday life is like. The disruptive event begins when David receives
a call telling him that the individual he had previously shot was sober, leading him to
investigate further and eventually find out about the diseased water. As the next few days
show David and his wife, Judy try to escape the incubation shelter and save themselves
along with two others, demonstrating the characters’ attempts to try and resolve their
problems, an important part within Todorov’s theory. By the end of the narrative David and
Judy have managed to escape Ogden Marsh and move onto another town, giving the
viewers an idea of a new equilibrium. Although The Crazies does not follow the classic
structure as much as it could, it definitely demonstrates the idea behind the theory to
produce an effective and successful narrative.

2. Within most stories are binary
oppositions which are sets of values
characters adopt which reveal the
structure of media texts, the most
commonly used one would be good vs
evil. In The Crazies this divide between
the two opposing values is evident from
the beginning with the main characters being respected members of the town, as David is
the sheriff and Judy is a doctor, immediately giving the audience the impression that they
are valued citizens of the community. However, the evil within the film is not as clear as it is
in other horror films, with the evil being the Trixie disease that effects normal, ‘good’
people, turning them into psychotic killers. This blurred line between good/evil
demonstrates that not all successful horror films have to follow the conventional theories
exactly, giving the audience a different perspective on films in general. The military, along
with the government that arrive at Ogden Marsh are also considered the ‘evil’ as they
immediately punish the healthy citizens if they rebel in any way, this is seen when they
shoot a young innocent boy and his mother after they refuse to be taken into the incubation
shelter. Claude Levi-Strauss came up with this theory after looking deeper into the
arrangement themes and finding various binary oppositions that appear in most films but
good/evil being the primary one used in most stories. Horror films can be used as an
example of this theory as the majority of them use this classic structure to exemplify the
storyline and to make the film a success, while keeping the audience hooked throughout the
film, willing the ‘good’ characters to survive.
Arguably one of the most important aspects of a film are character types which enable the
audience to relate to the characters and enjoy the filmmore. Vladimir Propp examined folk
tales to see if they shared any common structures, leading him to define 8 specific types
that were used in most storylines. These
character types include the villain, the hero,
the donor, helper, princess, her father, the
dispatcher and the false hero. Only a few of
these character types are evident in The
Crazies, for example, the villain(s) who
happens to be the effected people of Ogden
Marsh along with the Military and
government, while the hero is David with his
wife being the princess. David and Judy
conform to the stereotypical couple that take the form of the hero and the princess,
especially with Judy being pregnant, this gives David a natural instinct to protect her at all
costs, which the audience can see throughout the film, making it obvious that his character
is the hero. Another one of Propp’s character types evident in The Crazies is the donor,
which happens to be deputy Sheriff, Russell. Russellis a very important asset to David, with
him not only being his work partner but when the break out of Trixie contaminates the town
he saves David’s life several times, making his presence undeniable. However, towards the

3. end of the filmhe begins to show signs of the Trixie virus and sacrifices himself to help save
David and Judy, demonstrating Propp’s donor character perfectly.
Bordwell and Thompson devised a theory surrounding the chain of events that occur in time
and space, believing that narrative shapes material in terms of space and time which defines
and manipulates the audience’s awareness. Bordwell and Thompson concluded by
proposing 3 distinctions of time within a film, including the screen duration which is how
long the film takes to show while the plot duration is the length of time that the plot covers.
However, the third distinction is the length of time the story covers. When applying this
theory to The Crazies, the screen duration is around 100 minutes, while the plot duration is
an estimated 3 days, which is what takes up most of the film, displaying the action caused
by the disruptive event. However, the story duration is extended to about 3 weeks, which is
measured from when the plane crashes to the time Judy and David escape Ogden Marsh.
In relation to Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze theory,
which is based on the idea that all female
characters are present for the entertainment of
males, The Crazies does not necessarily abide by
her ideas, with the main character being
pregnant and a devoted wife, she is not seen in a
promiscuous way. Apart from Judy, female
characters are very limited, with The Crazies
being very male dominated due to the
aggressive nature of the film. However, the other present female character throughout the
film is a teenage girl and although she does not have sex or rebel from social norms, she is
infatuated with Scotty, who is shot dead by the military, which then shows the audience an
emotional side to her character. As a result of this, she dies shortly afterwards, which could
be considered a consequence of her romantic relationship with Scotty, as proposed by the
Final Girl theory. The Final Girl in the filmis Judy, due to her masculine nature and natural
appearance she is seen as a strong woman, ensuring her survival. This theory is
predominately based around unsexual, dedicated female characters having the ability to
defy expectations and survive brutal attacks whilst refraining from drinking alcohol and
taking drugs, conforming to the expectations of society, making Judy a perfect Final Girl.
In conclusion, The Crazies challenges most classic theories that apply to horror films, while
keeping a successful and effective storyline throughout which meets the modern
expectations and conventions of a horror film.