Uncle Sam
Directed by: William Lustig
Written by: Larry Cohen
Starring: Isaac Hayes, David “Shark” Fralick

Just from looking at the cover I knew that this movie would rule. It was obvious that it was a cheesy horror movie that would be lame enough to be a classic. What’s not to like about a guy in an Uncle Sam costume killing people on July 4th??

The basic plot goes something like this. Sam Harper is a Desert Storm vet who gets shot down by “friendly fire”. His body is sent back home, and on July 4th his corpse comes to life, steals an Uncle Sam costume, and then goes around killing various people at the city’s Independence Day parade and celebration. It isn’t entirely clear why he chooses to kill the people he does, but usually he kills anybody who is acting unpatriotically. The only person who can stop Uncle Sam is his nephew Jody (yes he is actually an UNCLE Sam…), who must overcome his admiration for Sam to see that he isn’t really such a nice guy after all. Jody also has some help from Isaac Hayes, who plays a one legged war vet, and some blind kid in a wheelchair.

One of the things I love about this movie is how they try to weave an intricate plot behind it, when in fact we all know that it is just a cheesy slasher flick. About half of the movie is spent establishing the fact that Sam wasn’t well liked by anyone except his nephew, and showing that he has a history of being downright mean.

So many characters keep getting thrown at you in the first part of the movie that it’s hard to keep track of everyone and how they relate to the story. Of course, many of the characters don’t actually relate to the story at all, they only serve as victims for Uncle Sam’s killing spree.My favourite character is the kid in the wheelchair who was somehow crippled and blinded by a firework accident. He shows up halfway through the movie basically out of nowhere, and ends up being one of the heroes at the end with his unexplainable psychic powers. Isaac Hayes’ character is also pretty classic with his soothing words of wisdom.

There are so many things in this movie that didn’t make sense, but it just makes it even better. There is nothing driving this movie. You never know where it is going or what is going to happen next because they introduce a new character just so they can kill him or her off.

Aside from the bizarre plot and characters, there are plenty of other cheesy elements to this movie that make it all the more entertaining.

There is some definitely BAD acting in Uncle Sam. Right off the bat, the opening scene where Sam’s plane is shot down, the soldiers who discover his body have ridiculous voices and sounds like they are acting bad on purpose. Things only get worse from there.

The killing scenes in this movie are very poorly done. They’re too slow to be scary, and not graphic enough to be gross. It’s pretty obvious that they are not to be taken seriously. Most of the time they don’t show any of the deaths of the victims, they only show blood splattering or something. The special effects aren’t too bad, considering that this is a cheesy horror flick, but there are some amusing mishaps, such as the scene where you can actually see the rope that suspends Uncle Sam as he gets knocked backwards and flies through the air.

At the very end of the movie there is one last treat; when the credits are rolling and there is a lame voice over of someone reading some really corny poetry about the glory of war or something like that. It is the perfect ending for a perfectly lame movie!

Let me just say that if you like cheesy horror movies, then you will love Uncle Sam, and you should go out and rent it today! Watch it with a bunch of friends, it will make it even more enjoyable. For those of you who don’t like cheesy horror movies… well then… what the hell is your problem anyways? — Sean