Stryker's War

This cheesy, low-budget piece of revenge action from the Evil Dead gang might be technically sub-par, clumsily written, and poorly acted, but thanks to a genuine sense of fun, plenty of mindless violence, and a memorably OTT turn from Sam Raimi as a Charles Manson style cult leader with bad hair and even worse teeth, it actually proves to be very entertaining stuff.

The predictable story sees cigar chompin' Sgt. Stryker (Robert Rickman) and his tough Vietnam veteran buddies going to war one more time against a gang of bloodthirsty hippies who have attacked the sarge's girlfriend and killed her grandfather. What this plot lacks in originality, it sure makes up for in violent, gung-ho, exploitative action, as Stryker and company proceed to blast seven shades of crap out of anyone who looks like they might have dodged the draft or worn flowers in their hair.

Of course, Stryker's War will be of most interest to horror fans keen to see what the creators of The Evil Dead got up to next: not only does the film star its director Raimi (who proves he cannot act, and yet somehow steals the show anyway) and his brother Ted (as a Mad Max style villain wrapped in chains), but it was also co-written by the chin-tastic Bruce Campbell, produced by Scott Spiegel, and features a rousing score by Joseph LoDuca.

I remember seeing the trailer for this film in the theater when I was fourteen or fifteen and laughing my head off. Unfortunately, I didn't come across the film again for several years until my best friend in high school ran across a copy in a small video store. Boy what a find! I was completely sober and on the floor laughing for ninety minutes! Terrible acting, horrific sound effects (laser-like sounds in the Vietnam scenes), miss-placed blocking by the actors (one guy jerks BEFORE he's shot)and total lack of coherency or logic make this a must see! I mean, Vietnam vets take revenge on Manson-like killer in the middle of a forest? What's not to love? Bye the way, if you like this, check out a film called "Hard Rock Zombies."

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?"

Thou Shalt Not Kill...Except(1985) is an exciting and entertaining action flick. The style of the film and the action has the flavour of Hong Kong action films of the late 1980's. The opening scenes reminded me of the Vietnam prologue in The Exterminator(1980). The four marines behave like the goon squad in William Lustig's Vigilante(1981). The final twenty minutes drift into Last House On The Left territory. Sam Raimi does a good job at playing the cult leader. It is refreshing in the way it pokes some fun at the vigilante movies.

This is not simply an independent movie, it's an amateur movie! It got put together by a bunch of friends, with a passion for movie making but without a sufficient budget. It makes the movie quite awkwardly looking in parts but it doesn't prevent it from becoming a fun and still quite good one.

It is a pretty odd movie, that is hard to take seriously really but then again, not all movies are supposed to be taken serious. Sometimes movies can just offer you simple pleasure and the creators of this movie must besides had some pretty good fun with it as well, which can be seen back on the screen.

If it wasn't for Sam Raimi's involvement, this movie would had probably been lost into obscurity already. Raimi and director Josh Becker were friends at the time and most of the movie got shot in Bruce Campbell's backyard. All pretty awesome facts that don't help to make the movie any better but it is something that makes this movie a curiosity piece for a whole bunch of people out there.

And yes, the movie is actually worth watching. It's stupid, it's simple, it's cheap but it is fun as well! At first this movie didn't seemed like it would be a good one at all. For the longest time the story was going absolutely nowhere and was simply dragging on, no doubt to extend its running time. The real 'story' and fun kicks in during its second half, when the movie turns into a good old fashioned exploitation flick.

No doubt that the '70's exploitation genre formed the biggest inspiration for this movie. The second half of the movie is nothing but violence and gore. No nudity though, though the movie also easily could had gone that way. It's that kind of movie! The violence and gore isn't all that convincing and very over the top really but this all adds to the overall fun level of the movie.

There is no way that you could call this a great movie but it's one you can have a great time with while watching and having a couple of laughs at it while still being entertained by it all. It's not laughable bad, it's enjoyable bad! And the film-makers luckily had no problem with this and didn't took themselves very seriously to begin with.

6/10

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