The Plot

Ogden Marsh is a typical, wholesome All-American small town where sheriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant) watches out for the citizens without any big problems. Trouble arises, however, when once law-abiding townsfolk begin to suddenly run amuck, such as a guy who sets his house ablaze with his family inside. Before you know it, more folks start going off the deep end, transforming into dangerous killers.

Evidently, they have been infected by something that is systematically driving them violently nuts. Even worse, the federal authorities, who are inadvertently responsible for causing what happened, refuse to let the few remaining people who have not been turned crazy out, including the sheriff and his family, his deputy and a medical assistant.

They are basically left to fight for themselves and to figure out how to escape before they either get killed or become infected themselves.

The Good

* Is a surprisingly decent remake of the 1973 George Romero horror flick
* Lots of edge-of-your-seat action, knee-quivering chills and plot twists
* While the performances are not of the Oscar-winning caliber, there are believable characters you actually want to root for.
* For those who are fans of the demented slayer genre of films, there is plenty here to hold your interest.
* A whang bang of an ending

The Not-So-Bad

* You do have to give director Breck Eisner his props for staying fairly faithful to the original Romero version.

The Kinda’ Ugly

* Do you ever wonder if people in small towns get tired of being portrayed in films as psychopaths?

Wacky Meter: 8 out of 10