In April, MTV News visited the set of the remake of George Romero's 1973 film "The Crazies." The original was an exercise in low-budget, high-camp horror: unmistakably fake blood, ridiculous overacting, laughable special effects. Yet the core story—the innocent residents of an Iowa town get infected with an insanity-inducing military bio-weapon that has them burning, shooting and otherwise viciously attacking one another—was undeniably frightening.

For the updated version, director Breck Eisner ("Sahara") and his cast - including Timothy Olyphant and Danielle Panabaker - have made it their #1 priority to stay true to the terrifying nucleus of the original while bringing in a bigger budget and far superior moviemaking technology in a quest to scare the crap out of audiences. Check out our report below.

“It’s like being on PCP or meth!” the director Breck Eisner explains. “Ex-girlfriend crazy, most of ‘em!” says Timothy Olyphant. “It’s all dependent on whether your mommy and daddy were nice to you!” his co-star Radha Mitchell decides.

They’re talking about the insanity-inducing, homicide-provoking effects of a military-grade bio-weapon that accidentally infects the water supply of a small Iowa town in the remake of George Romero’s 1973 horror flick “The Crazies.” While they may have different descriptions of what it’s like to become a diseased, blood-thirsty killer, during my visit to the set they are all in agreement about one thing: they’re not zombies!

“The most challenging thing for us was how do we make these Crazies not look like zombies, yet have a signature look that is dynamic and aggressive and memorable,” Eisner (“Sahara”) tells me before filming gets underway at a high school in central Georgia’s Peach County. Read more...