Uncle Sam (1996)

Simply Perfect

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Uncle Sam (1996) * 1/2 (out of 4) William Lustig directed horror film comes from a screenplay by Larry Cohen. Sam Harper (David Fralick) is killed in the Gult War and after his body returns to his home he comes back to life to kill anyone who goes against America. His young nephew looks up to his uncle but he's not quite aware of his past or what he's presently doing. UNCLE SAM is a real disappointment and I think the majority of the blame goes towards the screenplay because for the life of me I couldn't understand what the writer was going for here. On one hand you're thinking this is just a good, old-fashioned "if you're against America then we're going to destroy you" patriotic movie and had it gone for this and really played up the flag waving it could have been interesting. Just as you think that's the type of movie you're watching you then get this entire backstory about Sam being a complete and utter jerk who was very abusive to his family and it seems no one who really knew him cares about him. So, if this guy is such a monster is the viewer supposed to hate him? The screenplay makes you hate him yet it then asks you to like him as he goes on this killing rampage. The entire film is just all over the map. It's clear that Cohen can write a terrific screenplay but there are times where his work just seems rushed and out of focus and this is such a time. Fans will get to see several familiar faces here including William Smith, Bo Hopkins, Isaac Hayes, Timothy Bottoms, P.J. Soles and Robert Forster. Lustig does what he can with the material and I'd give him credit because he really does capture the spirit and feel of an 80's slasher movie. Those expecting non-stop gore will probably be disappointed as there's really not too much of it. With that said, UNCLE SAM could have been an interesting film but sadly the screenplay just doesn't come together.

So me and my Buddy's everyday, go too a local video store and deliberately rent terrible looking horror movies, usually ones from the 80's, rarely ever the 90's, especially 97. So yesterday Uncle Sam was on the list, being intrigued by it's creative cover on the VHS we decided to get Uncle Sam and too are surprise we didn't rent a terrible unwatchable movie, Uncle Sam's plot was good, the acting was not bad at all, but that Jody girl/boy really pisses me off. The main reason why I am commenting on this movie and this being the first, was because of the kills. Too me and my buddy's they were plain old rough and done extremely well, like when Uncle Sam pulls that guy all the way up the flag pole with the rope around his neck, that disturbed me, clearly seeing him making excruciating facial expressions and writhing in pain and squirming, and once at the top his neck breaks, that was done really really well, and the scene where that kid is in Sam's grave and Sam burries him alive, that was not cool man, thinking of the situation he was in, broken leg, isolated....6 feet deep. Rough man, very rough, mind you there were a lot of goofs in this movie but all and all it was a good laugh, and a good time. So get really stoned like we did kiddies, and this movie is a riot.

The director of "Maniac" teams up (again) with Larry Cohen, the infamous writer of "It's Alive", "The Ambulance", "The Stuff", "Q - The Winged Serpent", "Bestseller" and a s***load of other genre pics, The result is... rubbish. How could Bill Lustig go so wrong" A dead war vet returns to America, rises from the dead, and goes on a hacking spree. Sounds good, right? Unfortunately, the film has no style, no class, no good murders, and it's as funny as AIDS. It is sad to see the man who brought us "Maniac Cop", "Vigilante" and "Relentless" drowning in mediocrity of his own making. The ad art promised a dark, smart horror pic. The movie delivered a cinematically challenged pile of vapidity.

What makes a hero? That is what the question is in Uncle Sam. Jody Baker thinks his enemy slaying Uncle Sam was the definition. Others like veteran Jed Crowley thinks there is no such thing as a hero, but a lunatic. Uncle Sam itself is a movie that asks a question, Am I A Good Movie? I caught myself a copy of Uncle Sam and popped it into my t.v, expecting a horribly bad and god awful movie just so I could laugh at it. But to my surprise, it wasn't what I expected.Uncle Sam is about Sam Harper, a soldier in the war who died from friendly fire. He is brought home to be buried and his coffin is nestled inside his nephews house. His nephew Jody is very sad about his metal earning Uncle. Jody even tells his family he wants to recruit in the army one day. But on the morning of July Fourth, three flag burners wreck havoc in a cemetery and awakes Sam's spirit. His crisp corpse pins his war metals to his chest plate, kills a peeping tom and steals his Uncle Sam uniform, ready to show how evil the world has turned.Uncle Sam to start is a cheesy B-Movie with horrible acting and bad effects. The storyline for start is the same old slasher crap. This time it's actually a soldier killing people like tax collectors who tax to much, or flag burners, or kids who beat up younger kids. As usual, the killer is deformed and wears a mask, but it works due to the creepiness of the Uncle Sam costume. The acting is horribly done, except for David "The Shark" who plays Sam wrecking havoc on the 4th of July. The characters are all badly molded, and the horrible acting doesn't make it better. Jody is horribly annoying, Jed is crazy, and Uncle Sam is blood hungry. Some of the characters aren't even needed, the dreaded Pointless Character curse. This one character is a kid who is scared for life from kids blowing fireworks at him. Due to this prank, Sam is nice to the boy and will bid the boys revenge by killing the bully's.The special effects are nothing special as well. In the finale, you see Sam blown through his house with a cannon. And here's something to look out for, you see the wire pulling Sam through the house. The gore is nice from an Axe in teachers skulls to national anthem screecher's heads being sliced off. It's always going to be war when Uncle Sam is in town. Now I thought this movie was going to be so bad I would die of laughter but to my surprise I didn't. Uncle Sam sets itself up as a mediocre horror and tries to climb the latter of progress but gets no where. The movie though succeeds in good gore and cool death sequences. Sure this movie is bad and cheap but I was entertained so maybe you will too. Uncle Sam gets a 6 out of 10, pretty low brow and stupid but you might be able to enjoy it. Uncle Sam= C+