Welcome back to Rotten Ink and to another “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic.” This one will be a little more special as we will also be taking a look at Monsterbash 2023 Convention! Well, kind of as we will be visiting some shooting sites of the film in Evans City, Pennsylvania for the original 1973 film, and I will also showcase some of the cool stuff I bought, but all of that will be at the end of this update. The Crazies is a spooky film about infected humans of a virus that turns them into killers and was part of the big remake boom that was taking part at the time. Now it’s time for us to sit back and talk about this remake film and the world it created.

Before we move too far into our look at The Crazies remake, we should take a look at the infected that make this world so dangerous and deadly. The infected or Crazies in this film get this way from the water supply by a bio weapon called Trixie as well as bites of blood transfusions between those who have come in contact with it. They slowly lose their minds and almost at first seemed confused, but are driven to commit acts of violence on those around them. As the illness takes hold they become more and more filled with rage and become even more dangerous killing machines as they have no remorse for what they are doing. Their appearance changes from being blank to crazed and almost zombie like as the bleed from the face area and this adds terror into the hearts of those victims they are after. While they are human, they will used their fists, feet, weapons, fire and whatever they can get their hands on to slaughter their prey. They cannot be reasoned with and when you come across an infected death is what follows. They can also infect others and this causes their numbers to rise and they will also attack in hordes and they will over whelm you and you will be surly dead. But The Crazies do have a weakness as they are just humans with a disease so they can be killed like any normal person from being stabbed, shot, drowned or set ablaze they will die. Also it is said that the infected will show signs in 48hrs and could possible die in that time from it. So while they are easily killed, they are super dangerous as they spread their sickness as well as murder those they come in contact with. Also we should mention that where The Crazies go, the military follows and they have orders to kill on site making them dangerous as well! So in other words if you live where The Crazies infection breaks out, death is all around.

As you can see, The Infected are very dangerous and want to kill and infect others, and to me their virus spreading make them very scary! But now it’s time to take a look at the film and like always I will be taking the film’s plot from our friends at IMDB and I will then write a little about the films production as well as my thoughts on the film. So if you are ready, put on your hazmat suit and let’s stay out of site of the infected and lets talk about the 2010 remake of The Crazies.

The Crazies (2010)

“As a toxin begins to turn the residents of Ogden Marsh, Iowa into violent psychopaths, sheriff David Dutton tries to make sense of the situation while he, his wife, and two other unaffected townspeople band together in a fight for survival.”

The Crazies was a George Romero film from 1973 that was a big cult classic and like most of Romero’s early work was filmed in the Pittsburgh, Pa area. And in the 2000’s a big trend was for Hollywood to remake every Horror Movie in site and The Crazies got its turn in 2010 when Overture Films with Participant Media along with director Breck Eisner and script writers Scott Kosar and Ray Wright came together to deliver a new take on the classic Romero story. The film was casted with names like Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson, Danielle Panabaker and Christie Lynn Smith was brought into big roles in the film that was filmed in Georgia and was given a budget of around $20million, and was your standard lower budget Hollywood production and a fun fact being that the film originally started under Paramount Pictures before going to Rogue Pictures before landing at Overture Films in the end. And they were able to also get Lyn Lowry who was the star of the original film to comeback in a cameo role. The film would be scored by Mark Isham and would be released in theaters on February 26, 2010 and was meet with mixed reviews from critics as well as fans and would bring in $54,806,823.00 worldwide and was # 80 for the year beating out other Horror and Cult Films as Vampires Suck, Devil, Machete, Daybreakers and Piranha 3D. The film would find new life and fans when released on DVD and would make a splash at the video rental stores at the time.

As you longtime readers know, I grew up a Monster Kid and a big fan of Horror Movies and one trend that I was very mixed on was the remake craze that ran through the genre and delivered a very mixed bag of films that ranged from really great to bottom of the barrel. Now keep in mind I do not hate remakes I just prefer sequels and reboots as I like the continuation to stores not retelling of them. And I do understand that remakes are a part of Horror Movie history and are made for the next generation of fans as look how many times over the years say Phantom Of The Opera, Dracula and Frankenstein have been remade. And for me The Crazies remake was one that I waited for DVD instead of seeing in the theater as I was not sure that this Romero filmed needed an update and I also felt that the film looked like it took more inspiration from “28 Days Later” than the original film it’s named after. And after watching it I can say I didn’t mind the film, but it was not one of the better remakes of that era of cinema and I felt that while it retained some of the elements that made the original so good it tried way to hard to mimic the trends of Horror at the time of it’s release and this made it feel just like any other “Zombie” or “Infected” film that flooded video rental shelves and cinemas. The Crazies remake as well as the original now is a little more topical after the Virus Crisis the world has been dealing with and just shows how fast something can spread. Over all this was a alright film that I bought on DVD when released and is one you should check out as you might enjoy it more as it is a little more fast paced.

So as you can see, The Crazies remake was a very mixed bag as it tried to add its own elements to the original film, but sadly it was stuck in the shadow of trying to remake a George A. Romero film. Well it’s that time now to check out the comic series that goes along with this film and first I would like to thank Bell Book And Comic as well as Lone Star Comics for having these issues in stock and making this update possible. I want to also say that this will be a first time read for me on this series so that’s pretty cool as this review will be my first impression to the comics. I would also like to remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So with that lets get crazy with The Crazies and Top Cow Comics. Oh and these comics also were done as motion comics and can be found on the DVD release of the film.

The Crazies # 1  **1/2
Released in 2010     Cover Price $2.99    Top Cow     # 1 of 4

A plane crashes into some water and birds end up killing the pilot who was stuck in a tree by eating his eyes after he becomes infected. Rory Hammil lives on a pig farm and hates people due to his past in the Military and has been facing stop drinking, as he has been an alcoholic. And while looking out his widow he sees some of his neighbors on his land caring guns and goes out to confront them, but they soon are mad that he is being rude and one even has a gun pulled on Rory and to prove a point to him about his manors they threaten to kill his hogs…but the bluff almost turns deadly as the hogs seem to be very aggressive towards the humans even knocking one of them down to the ground. Once the neighbors leave Rory comes back in and his wife Peggy tries to tell him he no longer needs to have so much anger and that they need to throw away the bottle of liquor to stop tempting him to drink again, he tells her he needs it to be there in order to beat his addiction. And when Peggy hears a terrible noise outside Rory grabs his shotgun and heads to the barn to see that his hogs have turned on each other and some are dead while the others attack him forcing him to kill them as his wife enters the barn in horror. After the slaughter Rory sits in his home with his blood-covered shotgun that he takes with him as he walks into town and in anger he threatens people and corners a baseball team.

This is a pretty interesting first issue to kick off a comic series based on the remake of The Crazies as we start with a crazy plane crash and then join a hog farmer whose animals have gotten super aggressive and he soon follows in the anger and with a shotgun heads to town to seek some revenge for his anger. It’s clear that whatever was on the plane that crashed is what is causing this change in peoples and animals behavior and it has to be in the water that people are drinking. The issue does a great job of also showcasing that something is causing people to loose control and also shows that they will turn on themselves as well as will murder things that are in the path of the infected being. The comic has some blood but this issues is not all that gore filled and lacks in the death department as well, but I think that’s fine as this is the first issue that is setting up the world. Rory Hammil is just a down and out farmer whose addiction to alcohol has caused him lots of struggles as has his past that to me seems to be military service, and after drinking some water and having a run in with his neighbors as well as being bitten by one of his hogs snaps and wants to shoot and kill innocent people he now views as his enemy. The Hogs are super mean as they are aggressive and want to kill people and one another all because they are filled with so much anger. The cover for this issue is pretty creepy as it shows a Hog that is blood splattered, with the interior art by Jon Buran and is solid work, not my style but still I find it good. So with that, let’s see what the second issue has in store for us and if the baseball team will survive the rampage of Rory who in the cliffhanger has his shotgun pointed at them.

The Crazies # 2  ***
Released in 2010     Cover Price $2.99     Top Cow    # 2 of 4

Billy is a cattle farmer and after sending his son Nick to school he notices that one of the gates has been left open and one of the cows is loose. Billy ends up finding the cow in the creek drinking and he also notices that the animal is bleeding form its nose and mouth, and when Billy tries to get the animal out of the water and back home safe the cow attacks him knocking him into the water and keeps acting aggressive as Billy retreats to his home and informs his wife Deardra of the cows sickness and they both agree it needs to be put down. Billy with his rifle heads to the cow when he starts seeing and hearing things almost as if he is slipping into madness, and after shooting the cow Billy goes crazy on the body beating it with his rife until it breaks. Once back home Billy knows something is wrong as a voice is telling him to do very bad things and his wife even notices and takes him to see a doctor and he acts as if he is fine. That night Billy armed with a knife traps his wife and son in a closet and then sets the house on fire burning them alive while he lays down and laughs in the driveway as their screams fill the air.

Ok now I get it, each issue is its own story that showcases someone from that town that is being infected by the rabies like disease that is in the water and affecting the animals, and I am not going to lie, I like this concept as it showcases how this is affecting different people. This issue’s plot has a cattle farmer who is attacked by one of his cows who ends up hearing voices and seeing a person that keeps telling him to do bad things to his family and sadly in the end he does just that, and this one is a true look into madness and is way more downbeat and scary. Billy is our subject this time. He’s a cattle farmer who has a loving wife and a respectful good son. Billy makes money off the milk from his cows and while trying to save one finds himself getting infected and going more and more insane as the days and hours pass and he decided that burning his family alive is the right thing to do…very cold blooded and shows you how bad this illness is! The issue is very dark in tone and while not super bloody there are moments of murder that are very disturbing as a cow is shot and then beaten and a mom with her child are set on fire. The cover for this issue is great and has a creepy Horror Comic vibe and the interior art for this issue is done by Hugo Petrus and is really great as I think he captures the brooding and dark mood of this subject matter well. This far the comic series based on the 2010 film The Crazies has been a good read and I am shocked that it took me this long to read it! So with that let’s see whose madness we follow next.

The Crazies # 3  **1/2
Released in 2010     Cover Price $2.99    Top Cow    # 3 of 4

Charlie Finley works as the town’s mortician and bodies just keep coming in and the Sheriff needs to know the cause of death and as well needs Charlie to keep these murders and deaths hush as he does not want to panic the town. One of the bodies on the slab is Rory Hammil and when working on him he by accident pokes his finger and the wound bleeds causing Rory’s blood to mix with his. That night Charlie has a terrible nightmare of the dead bodies coming to life and visiting him in his room and the bodies are that of the crashed Pilot, Deardra, Nick and Rory and even when awake he sees and hears them! Also that morning the towns Pastor shows up to prey for those who have passed and as Charlie leads him to the morgue the dead taunt him, and once there Charlie attacks the Pastor and sews his mouth and eyes shut and Charlie hides when a bone saw in hand when The Sheriff arrives.

In this issue we follow the towns mortician who by accident cuts his finger when working on the body of Rory Hammil and this causes him to become infected and he is tormented by the voices and visions of the victims of the past two issues who push him to do bad things and he does just that as he kills the towns Pastor and then readies himself to murder the Sheriff by the issues end. Poor Charlie is the one we fallow in this issue and he seems like a good guy who has fallowed in his fathers footsteps of being the towns mortician when in reality he wanted to be a doctor and help the sick. When driven to madness Charlie seems to like to cause more torture before death and once his mind breaks it seems there is no coming back for him. What I dig about this issue is that it ties in the past two and shows that this horrific rabies like illness is ripping through this small town and that no one is safe from it. The issue has a little more blood and some gory moments like it shows the burnt corpses of Nick and Deardra and shows the Pastor with his mouth and eyes sewed shut. The cover for this issue is pretty cool and creepy and has a classic modern Horror Comic look, and the interior art for this issue is done by Vincent Spencer and is a weird mix of drawings and photos and it works well for this issue. So far this comic series for The Crazies is a good read and really does fit in well with the 2010 film, and with that let’s take a look at the final issue in this series.

The Crazies # 4  **1/2
Released in 2010     Cover Price $2.99    Top Cow    # 4 of 4

The town is under attack by the infected and the military has been called in with orders to kill everyone and thing to keep this infection from spreading and hidden in the woods are the three neighbors of Rory that are Red, Jesse and Nathan who have to fight for their lives as they kill a few soldiers as well as have to fight off some of the infected all the while they are clearly infected as they are filled with violent anger and have been bitten by those they are killing as they want to find a truck to get out of town and then they also have an idea to take what they want. The three friend drive around killing the infected and for some reason put many of the bodies in the bed of the truck they have stolen, but the are finally pulled over by the army and its now clear that they are infected as they brutally kill the military men and they are proud of doing so.

This is the final issue in The Crazies comic series and follows the three friends and the neighbors of Rory from issue one as they get infected and go on a murder rampage as they kill both the normal and infected people and almost treat this like they are hunting deer as they are having a blast in their rampage and while they are infected the three still have their friendship, and they are very violent in their killing ways. The Three Friends are skilled with guns as well as knives and they blast and slash their way through so many people and this hands down is the most violent and bloodiest comic in the series and one solider even gets his face punched into hamburger meat! And by this final issue the infection or illness has spread so fast that everyone is doomed and are running around in rages and attacking one another as well as anyone they see. The series I have to stress did a great job of feeling like it belonged in the film and I enjoyed this with issue two being my favorite in the series. The cover for this one is pretty great and for some reason reminds me of a cover you would see on something like “30 Day of Night” or “68” and is eye catching for that time. The interior art is done by Rahsan Ekedal and is really cool and is the style of modern Horror Comic art that I have always liked. Over all this is a good comic series based on a Horror Film and proves once more that more companies should team with filmmakers to make these types of comics as they are great reads for fans of the film as well as help promote the film very well. Well checkout some of the artwork below to see some of the styles used in this series and I say if you like The Crazies remake make sure to get these comics and give it a read. And I should note that many of the characters and situations from this comic series is from the film it’s self as it explores more about them that you did not see in the film.

Now let’s talk Monster Bash 2023 and you long time readers know that I love this convention a lot as it is a celebration of classic monsters and also has become a kind of gathering spot for Horror Hosts as you can see such hosts as Mr. Lobo, Son Of Ghoul, Drac & Countess Carita and even one of my favorites Gruesome Graves can be found at guest tables and even just wondering around in the crowd. But in 2023 we only did one day at the convention and then spent the rest of the time eating at the amazing restaurants, shopping at local businesses and visiting classic shooting locations of George A. Romero films! And we ended up going the last day of the convention on June 18 and went as soon as the doors opened and after paying to get in we walk around and seen all types of amazing stuff all connected to Classic Horror Movies as well as other things that fans would enjoy like Superheroes and Classic TV. The statues this time around were a mix of things like Universal Dracula and Hammer Horror Frankenstein Monster. And there were lots to look at from Horror DVDs, Shirts, Toys, Books, Model Kits, Books, Comics, Posters, Night Lights, Artwork and much more. While our time was short at Monster Bash this year it still was a great time and lots of fun to spend time with the classic Monsters.

So for those wondering what my Monster Bash 2023 haul was it was the following I got a 1976 King Kong plush doll for $20.00, two paperback novels one being Island Of Dr. Moreau the other The Mummy: Dark Restriction for $7.00 each, I got a wood burn plaque of Horror Host Bowman Body for $25.00, The Mummy # 1 by Dark Horse Comics for $8.00 and three magnets (Phantom Of Paradise, Planet Of The Apes and Night Of The Howling Beast) for $12.00 for the set. And I have to say this is a good haul and I am really happy to have the King Kong Doll as I have wanted one since I was a kid!

On June 19 is when we traveled to Evans City to soak in the place were many scenes of The Crazies was filmed in and is also the town that the film takes place in! When getting there the town has a very small town feel, but also it is very busy as the main street has lots of semi trucks and traffic passing through. We walked up and down the street stopping into some local owned shops and while on the sidewalk talked to each other about The Crazies and it’s impact on the Horror Genre as well as looking around the town thinking about what if the events of the film was real. It was a nice day and a great walk around the town and if you like the 1973 classic film The Crazies make sure to check out Evans City as it’s a fun small town that has micro brew bars, ice cream shops, candy, spices and more.

As always Monster Bash was a fun time and I was able to find some pretty cool stuff for my collection and also let’s not forget just how good the comic series based on The Crazies was! But I think we have spent to much time here in this restricted area and we should probably head out before gas masked hazmat wearing weirdo’s come looking for us! But before we do let me tell you that out next update will take us away from comic books and will take us back to the world of Silent Cinema as we will take a look at the 1922 film called The 3^rd Alarm and you guessed it we will be meeting back up at the Rotten Ink Theater! So until next time, read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Horror Movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host! Before we meet again make sure to check out both the original and remake of The Crazies as they are both worth a watch.