I was working for a video store when this movie came out. I remember it well because of its holographic cover. At the time I wasn't very familiar with William Lustig (except his Maniac Cop movies) but I was familiar with Larry Cohen whom is the writer for this movie. So I rented it then. Years later I looked back on this movie with some fond memories. So, I just bought it through "Blue Underground" and this is what I think of the movie now, 9 years later.
The premise is pretty simple as a man named Sam Harper is over seas when he is killed by friendly fire in Kuwait. The army ships his body back to the states for his family to give him his respectful burial. It turns out though, that Sam Harper was not a liked man. He "wanted people to be afraid of him". This doesn't mean anything to an impressionable kid who happens to be Sam's nephew. The kid wants to grow up to be just like Sam. But that's besides the point. Sam, for some unknown reason, is able to return from the dead. Upon his return, he decides to kill any who is anti-patriotic, which includes loser teenagers, crooked politicians, people who cheat on their taxes, etc.
The plot to the movie is somewhat funny. Obviously written by Cohen because it has his trademark style. The problem with the movie is the first half of the film is rather slow. I understand the need for character development but other then the Issac Hayes character, I could have cared less for the rest of the cast. Issac Hayes was cool because he seems to be the voice of reason for this bloodthirsty little nephew of Sam's. There were some characters that I couldn't wait to see get killed, though. The flag burning teenagers was quite a pleasure to see get theirs. Or the stupid, crooked politician was good also.
All in all, this wasn't bad. I feel that after watching it, it was missing something. Maybe more gore, maybe more story, or maybe both. Look for the ending of the movie as it was made in respect to Lucio Fulci's "The Gates of Hell". 6/10
The premise is pretty simple as a man named Sam Harper is over seas when he is killed by friendly fire in Kuwait. The army ships his body back to the states for his family to give him his respectful burial. It turns out though, that Sam Harper was not a liked man. He "wanted people to be afraid of him". This doesn't mean anything to an impressionable kid who happens to be Sam's nephew. The kid wants to grow up to be just like Sam. But that's besides the point. Sam, for some unknown reason, is able to return from the dead. Upon his return, he decides to kill any who is anti-patriotic, which includes loser teenagers, crooked politicians, people who cheat on their taxes, etc.
The plot to the movie is somewhat funny. Obviously written by Cohen because it has his trademark style. The problem with the movie is the first half of the film is rather slow. I understand the need for character development but other then the Issac Hayes character, I could have cared less for the rest of the cast. Issac Hayes was cool because he seems to be the voice of reason for this bloodthirsty little nephew of Sam's. There were some characters that I couldn't wait to see get killed, though. The flag burning teenagers was quite a pleasure to see get theirs. Or the stupid, crooked politician was good also.
All in all, this wasn't bad. I feel that after watching it, it was missing something. Maybe more gore, maybe more story, or maybe both. Look for the ending of the movie as it was made in respect to Lucio Fulci's "The Gates of Hell". 6/10