Stryker's War

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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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.

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?"

"Stryker's War", a.k.a. "Thou Shalt Not Kill...Except", is solidly amusing low budget action nonsense that definitely delivers in the laughs department. In fact, it's silly enough for one to believe the filmmakers had their tongues firmly in their cheeks. It's admittedly rather rough, in both the acting and technical departments, but this adds to the appeal if you totally dig wild and wacky B cinema. From a story co-credited to Bruce Campbell, and a screenplay co-written by Scott Spiegel, Josh Becker directs this goofy fun flick that takes place in 1969, after young man Jack Stryker (Brian Schulz) has returned from Vietnam after an honourable discharge. He's soon visited by his wartime comrades, played by Robert Rickman, John Manfredi, and Timothy Patrick Quill. It's a good thing they're around, as soon Jack will go to war with a Manson Family type cult led by an absolutely priceless Sam Raimi in a hilarious hippie wig, after the cult murders Jack's good friend Otis (Perry Mallette) and abducts his old girlfriend Sally (Cheryl Hausen). While this remains agreeable viewing throughout, it might require patience on the part of some viewers to stick it out through the first half before we finally start getting to the really good stuff, with a lot of hysterical gore and sadism. These cult members are going to get what's coming to them, and THEN some. One can see that this is a labour of love for the filmmaking family including such talents as Raimi, Spiegel, Becker, and Campbell (the last having also worked in the sound department). Raimi's actor brother Ted also turns up as the goon wielding the chain. Clocking in at a reasonable 83 minutes, "Stryker's War" makes for good enough entertainment, no matter if it's not a particularly good film. It earns points more for its heart than anything else. There always is something appealing about watching something made on a low budget by people just wanting to make a movie and have some fun. Seven out of 10.