I've always been in love with the beautiful Aussie actress Radha Mitchell. If I could actually meet any movie actress, it have to be with her. No, she's not Angelina Jolie, but she's quite attractive in her own way. I've always liked her screen persona, so I'm always happy to see her on screen. I realize this has nothing to with "The Crazies", but I just thought I'd let everyone know that Radha is great. As far as the movie itself, it's not great, but it does work surprisingly well for what it is. Roger Ebert gave it 2 and a 1/2 stars and I'd have to agree with his assessment.

"The Crazies" is a pretty straightforward movie. It wastes no time getting started with any sort of character development. This is a zombie/virus flick in the vein of "28 Days Later" and "Outbreak". It stars Timothy Olyphant ("A Perfect Getaway", "Deadwood") as a small town sheriff who's married to the local doctor played by Radha. Their expecting their first child when a few local folks go, well...crazy. Once the sheriff finds out a plane has crashed into the local water supply, he figures the whole town will go insane. And he's right. Shortly after, the U.S. military shows up for containment and that means killing a few infected citizens in the process.

There's nothing original in "The Crazies". It's 90 minutes of familiar formula, but there are some good gory kills. The best one is when the good ol' sheriff uses a knife, that has been stuck through his hand, to kill a woman. And the scene in which an infected uses a pitchfork to kill strapped down "prisoners" is quite creepy. Radha's performance (for what it is) is quite convincing, and that goes for the rest of the cast. Everyone perfectly conveys the fear of watching their town go up in smoke. If you see the movie, and find that you like Radha, you can see her in other horror films. She's been in "Silent Hill", "Rogue" and "Pitch Black".Of all the films,  I liked "Silent Hill" the most, but "The Crazies" is a good way to spend 90 minutes. It's worth a look if you like zombie flicks.