Stryker's War

Being a big fan of The Evil Dead, I got my hopes up for this low budget affair as it features credits for a lot of the Evil Dead gang, and said film shows that they are all talented individuals. I respect this film on one front because it can't have cost much to make; but on the other hand, it's not all that good. The story revolves around the common theme, seen in films such as Rolling Thunder, of a Vietnam veteran getting revenge. This one does it in a bit more of a weird way, however, as the antagonist here is the leader of a satanic cult, and he's played by Sam Raimi! It's safe to say that Raimi is a far better director than actor, and even though his performance here is rubbish; it's good because it's full of camp, and the fact that we get to see The Evil Dead director camping it up is the one of the film's biggest selling points. The main reason I wasn't overly impressed with Thou Shalt Not Kill...Except was because it's really uneven; certain parts of the film are interesting and entertaining, but there are huge gaps where nothing much happens. Good is made of it by the ending, however, which features some nice gory scenes and high camp from most of the people involved. Overall, this is worth seeing for die hard fans of The Evil Dead (like me), but I wouldn't recommend going into it with your expectations raised too high.

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.

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.

I'm a huge fan of the Raimi films, of course, but the reason I loved this film is more sublime. I did some acting work with Brian (the star of Stryker's War) a while back and for me it was like watching a pal on the big screen. It was at a cast party and we all sat back, groaned and howled with laughter. What an awesome stinker of a film, it was marvelous! He shared stories of working with Raimi, Campbell and others we have all come to know and love. I'm from Michigan myself, and we are all very proud of this crew. What a great legacy for Michigan! Go see this movie, you just might regret and love it.

Stryker's War is a very good and well made independant feature from the makers of The Evil Dead series. It deals with soliders who have trouble adjusting to civilian live and only find meaning when they go into combat espcially with the murderous cult lead by a Manison type person. The battle scene in Vietnam during the first few moments of the film and the battle in the woods during the climax really parallel each other as if the soldiers will do nothing but battle for the rest of their lives. The acting is so-so but what the actors do, espcially the four soliders is something that plagued many people after returning from a tour in Vietnam. One film that this movie compares to in a small scale is Rolling Thunder(1977). Some of the set pieces in Stryker's War(1985) are terrific for a low budget action flick.