During the 10 years between Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, director George Romero had a string of box-office flops--some of which were actually quite good. For example,there's The Crazies, in which a military plane carrying biological-warfare agents crashes near Evans City, Pennsylvania. The virus gets into the town's water supply and has two effects on the infected: death or irreversible insanity. The military moves in to contain the situation, but the local populace regards the army as a menacing force and things rapidly spin out of control. Soon the highly contagious virus infects the whole town and the soldiers as well, while a government scientist races to find an antidote. The Crazies features some great set pieces as the virus spreads: a little old lady smiles sweetly and stabs a soldier to death with a knitting needle; a young woman placidly sweeps with a broom while soldiers and locals have a bloody firefight around her; a soldier swings his rifle wildly at his comrades until they shoot him. Made in the shadow of both Vietnam and Watergate, The Crazies contains plenty of allegory: an invasion by military force, government cover-up and duplicity, madness and eventually genocide (all set, of course, in Romero's beloved Pennsylvania). The President only appears on television, and then only the back of his head is shown as he speaks in detached, almost bored tones. Like Night of the Living Dead, this film offers no hope, no comfort, and sure as hell no happy ending. Keep an eye out for Romero in a somewhat gassy role as Evans City's mayor. --Jerry Renshaw

A visitor from the mysterious East arrives in New York -- not to offer the wisdom of the ages, but to make it big as a dancer in this fish-out-of-water comedy. Ramu Chandra Gupta (Jimi Mistry) grew up in India on a steady diet of movie musicals, particularly local Bollywood spectaculars and vintage American song-and-dance films. Ramu grew up with the dream of one day making it big as a dancer, and in time he found a job as a dance instructor. However, Raimu believes his destiny lies in the United States, and he leaves India behind to relocate to New York City. Unfortunately, Ramu's bright new future isn't exactly awaiting him, and he's soon sharing an overstuffed apartment with distant relatives in Queens while working in an Indian restaurant. An audition for a film director named Dwain (Michael McKean) turns out to be a tryout for a porno movie -- a role Ramu does not get when he fails to rise to the occasion. However, he does make the acquaintance of one of Dwain's starlets, Sharona (Heather Graham), with whom he soon finds himself infatuated. Ramu gets a job entertaining guests at a party catered by his relatives when the performer originally booked is incapacitated. While Ramu's Bollywood-style dancing goes over well enough, he makes a deeper impression on Lexi (Marisa Tomei), an enthusiastic but half-bright student of Eastern philosophy who regards Ramu a font of wisdom as well as a hot date. Ramu quickly becomes the toast of New York's upper crust, and scores an agent, Josh (Rob Morrow), but how long will it be before folks realize Ramu is rather low on the enlightenment scale? And can he find happiness with Sharona while Lexi is still in the picture? The Guru also features Christine Baranski and Malachy McCourt. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi