The Crazies
Added Updated How We Rate
- Directed by
- George A. Romero
- Written by
- George A. Romero, Paul McCollough
- Produced by
- Al Croft
Why it’s HorroRated
Few outbreak movies are this angry, and that anger is exactly why it still bites. Romero refuses to pick a safe vantage point: the soldiers are faceless and terrifying, the brass are scrambling, and the townsfolk are shooting back, so panic spreads faster than the virus. The rough handheld camera and jittery editing make the chaos feel like news footage nobody was supposed to see. Watch it next to any modern pandemic thriller and notice how much of the playbook starts right here.
Synopsis
Between Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, George A. Romero wrote and directed The Crazies (1973), a science-fiction horror thriller about an Army bioweapon that drives the people of a small Pennsylvania town to murder and madness. When the military seals off Evans City, two firefighters, a pregnant nurse, and a few frightened neighbors try to slip through the cordon, while scientists and officers bicker over a cure and a cover-up. Romero keeps cutting between both sides of the barricade, turning an outbreak story into a furious portrait of institutions failing the people they claim to protect, and the film was remade in 2010.
Filed under
Where to watch The Crazies
- Rent or buy
- Prime Video · Apple TV · YouTube · Google Play
Streaming in the US changes often. Listings from JustWatch via TMDB, checked October 10, 2026.See every option
Quick facts
- Release date
- March 16, 1973
- Runtime
- 1 hour 43 mins
- Country
- United States of America
- Language
- English
- Content rating
- R
- Entry type
- Movie
Content notes
- Military shootings and murder
- Incestuous assault
Tags
If you liked this…
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
1968 · Movie
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
1978 · Movie
Shivers
1975 · Movie