The Crazies

(George A. Romero, US 1973, 103 min., 35mm)

RIP Romero. A military plane crashes in Evans, Pennsylvania, releasing a deadly virus that affects the infected in one of two ways: death or insanity. As the germ rapidly infests the small town, armed forces are called in to restore order, but when they, too, catch the bug, a chaotic guerrilla war ensues, sending scientists on a desperate search for a cure. The Crazies’s portrait of government ineptitude is vintage Romero and features many unforgettable images, such as a genteel, elderly woman nonchalantly jabbing a sewing needle into a very surprised soldier.