Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except (1985)

How sad is this?

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Blistering performances.

Story by Bruce Campbell, produced by Scott Spiegel, starring Sam Raimi, and directed by Josh Becker - the crew that made The Evil Dead. This is like a movie a couple of drunken friends would make over a weekend. Not a single thing is believable about it, from the main character's limp to the 30-year old they got to play a high school student. This is NOT a good movie, yet I can't call it totally un-enjoyable.The story starts with some day-for-night, Midwest-for-Vietnam battle scenes in which Stryker gets his leg shot in a disastrous attack on an enemy village. This information could have been relayed quickly in any number of ways, but the first 20 minutes of the picture is devoted to this. It's all padding and has nothing to do with the rest of the movie, except for Stryker's fake limp and his Marine buddies showing up later on. Cut to Michigan years later. Stryker is coming back to his hometown at the same time a maniacal cult is cutting up the locals. But nobody notices until the Cult Leader (played by Spider-Man director Sam Raimi) kidnaps Stryker's potential girlfriend. Then he and his military pals bring on the violence.The violence in this movie is so poorly executed, it's laughable. The squibs are visible underneath the actors' clothes, the blood is obviously red syrup, and the fight scenes are the least exciting I think I've ever seen. It's a rare movie that's so bad it's good (and funny). Most movies that people recommend for the same reason are usually so bad they're just bad. I don't expect anyone to rush out and see this based on it being a terrible movie. Most of the dialogue attempts to be taken seriously, but the occasional brilliantly stupid line comes up. "Don't touch the sacrificial fluids! Okey-dokey?" Or when the Cult Leader claims to be Jesus Christ reincarnated, Stryker simply replies, "No, you're not." It was all I could do to muffle my laughter and not wake up my roommates.http://www.movieswithmark.com

Like all the other reviews stated clear already, "Thou Shalt Not Kill … Except" offers more interesting trivia details than actual good cinema. The film is somewhat of a side-project of the "Evil Dead"-team; only the roles and duties were exchanged for this once. Bruce Campbell (co-)wrote and Sam Raimi (nowadays the acclaimed director of blockbusters such as "Spiderman") stars as a thoroughly depraved, sneering and serial killing gang leader. He's totally awesome in a tacky kind of way! That means Raimi is a downright lousy actor, but if you see him go over the top here and then subsequently picture him sitting in the director's seat of a $200,000,000 box office hit … it's just a priceless image! The plot is familiar revenge/exploitation camp but ever more violent, senseless and uncompromising than it is usually the case. Four buddies that fought side by side in Vietnam reunite in their Michigan hometown for some random hard-drinking, sex with minors and blasting the hell out of wooden outhouses with shotguns. Meanwhile, there's a murderous gang of bikers active in the area. They're self-acclaimed messiahs, already killed several entire families and always clad nightmarish messages on the wall in human blood. You know, lovely stuff like "The Bloodbath is Coming!" Real-life scum as practice-shooting targets were just what our 'Nam buddies needed and it even gets personal when it turns out that the gang killed Stryker's befriended bartender and kidnapped his high school sweetheart. The body count in this film is enormous and each separate killing is somewhat imaginative. Unlike most Vietnam-themed retribution/vigilante flicks, like for example "Rolling Thunder" and "The Exterminator", the avengers here weren't depressed, embittered or dehumanized after serving in the war. Quite the contrary, they love bringing up memories about their tour together and literally enjoy shooting up the enemy… ANY type of enemy! Much more than the other entries in this sub genre, "Thou Shalt Not Kill … Except" is a pure glorification of violence. The filming style is gritty and very cheap, the editing and sound effects are really clumsy and the forced "happy" ending is truly hilarious. In other words; pure & genuine exploitation that won't get appreciated by everyone, but if you like this kind of trash and/or you want to see the other - more secret - side of Sam Raimi, "Thou Shalt Not Kill ... Except" comes with my highest recommendation.

This film has Sam Raimi as a Charles Manson-like figure with a big gang taking on a Vietnam veteran and his gang in Bruce Campbell's backyard. Tons of blood, death, and some nice gore happens. What more do you need to know? I really have nothing else to say that could make you see this. You've already made up your mind. This film is filled with tons of hilarious segments, including some army men doing kung-fu. The last 30 minutes or so of this film is just violent scene after violent scene, and here's the thing: it never gets old. I've seen so many films where the action gets pretty old after a while. After 500 explosions or so, I usually get tired. In fact, war films are probably the most notorious for this, featuring way too many deaths and action scenes and not enough compelling moments. But this film is actually entertaining in so many ways that I can't not recommend it. It's another film you'll want all your friends to watch. Just a straight-up good time.Even though it's listed on IMDb as "Stryker's War", my copy is indeed known as "...Thou Shalt Not Kill, EXCEPT" which is probably the best movie title in history. Get this today. Also, check out "Intruder" which also has Sam and Ted and Bruce. Man, they used to all be doing such interesting, awesome things. Now... Spider-Man? Come on.

FYI: My comments about 'Stryker's War' are based on the recently released Collector's Edition. I strongly urge you to seek out this version above all others for one reason and one reason only: 'The Making of Thou Shalt Not Kill Except'. Without this vital piece of material the film is without it's glory. The short-story format, retelling of the journey from concept, to production and execution, makes the film ten times more enjoyable, especially for fans of the 'Evil Dead' series of films. The mention of Bruce Campbell (story) and Josh Becker (director, screenplay) "... kicking the story around..." while driving from Tennessee (from the set of 'Evil Dead') to Michigan is a fine example of the insight one gains from this 'Making of...' piece. For true fans.As for the film itself, based on it's own merits... It's not very good. The film takes place in 1969 during the events of Vietnam and the Manson Family murders. The story revolves around Sgt. Stryker, a man honorably discharged from 'Nam due to an injury sustained in battle. He returns home and retires to his cabin only to soon be faced with a Manson family-esque group (complete with C. Manson look alike leader) terrorizing his loved ones. Stryker meets up with his old war comrades and decides to take back his piece of sanity from the malicious group of the deranged.Perhaps you could state that the events in the film are in fact a metaphor for the insanity that is war and therefore vicariously is a metaphor for the Vietnam war... Except! Except for the fact that the film is just a silly variation on Rambo, but without the 'great' acting. The novice direction doesn't help, making much of the film bland and boring. The screenplay is definitely uneven despite being fine-tuned for years. The pacing is lop-sided and leaves all of the action in the last act (sans a scene or two in act two). The one bright spot in the production is Joseph LoDuca's (Music Composer) score at times. With a limited budget, the score is capable of making you forget about the sometimes low-production values displayed.Despite all of it's short-comings... I like this film. I would have loved to have been at the standing-room only premiere of 'Sgt. Stryker's War' back in 1985. I probably wouldn't have liked it as much, seeing as how I was only three years old at the time, but just to be able to say I was one of the first people to see this film would be a kick. I can't really say that about any other film... See this film if you are an 'Evil Dead' fan (it features Sam Raimi, Ted Raimi, Bruce Campbell, Scott Spiegel, Joseph LoDuca and Josh Becker in various forms of production). See this film if you're a fan of the obscure. Most importantly though, see this film if your a fan of film, but only the Collector's Edition. If you do see the Collector's Edition then you'll understand this..."What's a good idea?"