The Crazies

(Image credit: Saeed Adyani)

Timothy Olyphant stars in this edgy and effectively grisly remake of George A Romero's 1973 cult chiller

Timothy Olyphant stars in this edgy and effectively grisly remake of George A Romero's 1973 cult chiller.

Any movie that starts with We'll Meet Again and ends with Bring Me Sunshine can't be all bad - and director Breck Eisner's spectacular chiller is so good that it's hard to imagine how it could be better.

The story's the same as before: the inhabitants of an American small town turn murderously insane.

Sheriff Olyphant tries to work out what's happening but, when martial law is declared and the army steps in, he and a band of heavily armed survivors fight back.

The script manages the dialogue, shocks and scares persuasively and it's put across with fine acting by Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, as his pregnant doctor wife, and Joe Anderson, as his deputy.

Polished, edge-of-seat stuff.