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The Crazies (also known as Code Name: Trixie) is a 1973 American action/drama film about the effects of the accidental release of a military biological weapon upon the inhabitants of an American town. The film was written and directed by George A. Romero, and starred Lane Carroll, Richard Liberty and Lynn Lowry.

According to Romero on the DVD commentary track this project began life with Paul McCollough, who authored a screenplay entitled The Mad People. The script dealt with a military bioweapon that was accidentally released into a small town, with the military subsequently trying to cover up the incident and the townspeople revolting. Romero revealed that the military subplot was only featured in the first act of the script, and the rest of the film focused on the survivors and their attempts to cope with what was happening. The director called McCollough's script "very existential and heady".

The screenplay was read by Lee Hessel, a producer who owned Cambist Films and with whom Romero had previously worked on There's Always Vanilla. Hessel expressed interest in it and offered to finance it as Romero's next film, but only if the director would be willing to rewrite McCollough's screenplay to focus on what Hessel considered the most interesting ingredient of the story, namely the military takeover of the town, which occurred in the first 10 to 20 pages. Romero agreed and rewrote the script, and he was given a budget of approximately $270,000 to work with.

The film was shot in and around Evans City and Zelienople, both small towns in Pennsylvania about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh. Romero claims that the majority of people in the towns were very cooperative and happy to help with the production.

The director has claimed he feels that the major reason The Crazies failed at the box office was due to poor distribution. He stated that Hessel made a true attempt to adequately market the film (including releasing it under a variety of titles in different parts of the country), but that it never managed to catch the public's eye. The film did not have a wide release, instead playing in a limited number of theaters before opening in a different market. It was finally rediscovered on video.