UncleSam

Uncle Sam (1997)

With the upcoming 4th of July holiday and the fact that Blue Underground just released it on Blu-Ray it is about time that I reviewed my favorite patriotic horror flick, Uncle Sam. Jody idolizes his Uncle Sam, his real uncle who just happens to be named Sam. But Sam has been missing in action for years. That is until his body is recovered in the desert of Kuwait. His chopper was shot down by friendly fire during the war, and that isn’t sitting too well with Sam, who comes back long enough to let those trying to recover his body know. This is only made worse when Sam’s body is brought home to be buried over the 4th of July holiday and discovers that no one really misses him (he was a scary creep when he was alive) and there are people disrespecting the good ole USA. So Sam grabs an Uncle Sam costume and goes a killing.

You know I love a good cheesy horror film and by God director William Lustig gives us one with Uncle Sam. Sure the story is kind of goofy and some of the characters silly, but this is just a body count movie with a crazy killer. Plus how many horror flicks do we have to watch on Independence Day? The movie starts off with a bang and keeps the fun coming all the way until the explosive ending. The fact that all of the kills in the movie have a sort of 4th of July “flavor” to them is genius. I even like the odd bit with the blind kid that pops up sort of randomly in the middle of the movie. It has a certain amount of cheese factor that adds to my enjoyment of the flick. But then I wouldn’t expect anything less from a movie directed by Lustig and written by another genre legend Larry Cohen.

In addition to a story that delivers I also got a kick at how many genre vets that Lustig gave parts to in the movie. From the opening sequence with the legendary William Smith, to the lecherous Army sergeant played by Bo Hopkins, Robert Forster chewing some scenery as a corrupt Congressman, to yet another “Mom” role for P.J. Soles there are lots of familiar faces. But these are just the glorified cameos. I’ve always thought that the late great Isaac Hayes did a wonderful job in his role (I’d almost say starring role) of grizzled veteran Jed. He has some wonderful, and yes kind of overly dramatic, monologues that add a lot to the movie. I for one have always thought that Hayes was an underappreciated actor (Truck Turner rules!) and he is wonderful again in this role.

This being basically a slasher movie I of course have to talk about the special effects. First up even though Sam is behind a mask, which itself is kind of scary, for much of the movie he looks pretty damn creepy when unmasked. Many of the kills are bloody good fun as well. You have a head getting lopped off, death by a flag pole, as well as a hanging on one, and a hippy gets an axe to the noggin’. But my personal favorite is death by fireworks! Good times I’m telling you good times…

Before I finish up I did want to mention that I watched the new Blu-Ray of Uncle Sam from Blue Underground for this review. The transfer is really nice and the movie looks great in high definition. Special features are a bit light. You get one silly little gag real, a deleted scene, and the trailer. There are a couple of commentary tracks, which I honestly haven’t listened to, but plan on as soon as I can. Additionally there is a short feature on the fire stunts that is pretty cool. Still I was hoping for a making of, but that is probably asking a bit much. Personally I would say if you already have the DVD then I wouldn’t double dip on the Blu-Ray. But if you don’t own the movie then I’d go with the Blu-Ray over the DVD. It has never looked better then it does on Blu.

Is Uncle Sam a classic? Not really, but it is a hell of a lot of fun. This is the kind of harmless little horror movie that is a blast to sit back and watch. So grill some burgers and have a happy holiday.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer