VFW

With "Bliss", Joe Begos shot right up to the top of my favorite horror directors, and "VFW" continues his wildly fun reign successfully. While it's not without its faults, "VFW" raises true grindhouse hell, soaked in neon, coated in the grainy 16mm aesthetic, full of gory delights & led by a truly amazing, in-for-it-all veteran cast. What else could a man want?

"VFW" is a much too rare type of movie in our era, which is not saying much, it being universally acknowledged as an 80's throwback midnight flick, but we need more movies like this. I do. "VFW" is highly and undeniably entertaining from start to finish, full of splatterhouse action, practical FX mayhem, various kills and thrills - all the goodies a horror fan needs. The real attraction, however, is the movie's core cast, the 80's stars in an 80's kind of movie. Stephen Lang, Fred Williamson, Martin Kove, William Sadler and more provide snappy, relatable and just plain awesome characters having fun together and killing punks. A simple siege scenario, a classic good guys vs. bad guys idea, no twists, just a straight-forward, easily digestible fun. From a critical point of view, "VFW" lacks depth, feels a little disposable, has a high enough predictability factor & doesn't have all that much to say, but, frankly, throughout the 90 minutes, I couldn't care less. The script by Brallier and McArdle doesn't always hit the spot, not the entirety of the grizzled, old-school me-and-the-boys dialogues come off as organic & the narrative is shallow enough, but Joe Begos knows exactly how to treat it. Taking "VFW" on its own terms, nothing can go wrong, it's kinda like a grindhouse-indie "The Expendables", just cooler and with a lot more sauce.

"VFW", however flawed, will (and has) find its place in the heart of genre fans for it can't really fail, only in the hands of those who despise violence, old-school shenanigans & everything's that awesome. Joe Begos is, without a doubt, one of the best directors working the indie scene right now & I'm eager to hear what's next in store for us. My rating: 7/10

Joe Begos is quickly becoming my absolut favorite indie director. Coming off his fantastic down n' dirty vampire flick Bliss, he is now back with his take on the classic siege film, doused in his trademarks of excessive gore, synth/metal score and neon lights.

The overall story is the very definition of simplicity and works all the better for it. It truly feels like a movie from a bygone Era populated with rugged old-times battling leatherclad junk peddlers to the blood spattered end.

If you love movies like Carpenter' Assault on Precinct 13/Escape from New York, I'm confident you'll find something here to your liking.

Hope you enjoy it.

Love siege movies. This one is an obvious tribute to Carpenter + the gore. It even has a Carpenter like ostinatto synth music at the beginning which establishes the menacing mood as in Assault On Precint 13. Still, the movie falls short in every aspect. The cast is good but their performance is shaky. Lang, more than anyone, is the weakest. The guy who plays the ranger is also bad. The mood is also destroyed by some mediocre continutiy. One moment a dear friend of theirs die and the next they are all laughing and delivering tacky lines. At this point in the movie, the music turns into obnoxious generic sounds. While the gore is there, the dark images prevent us from seeing it and enjoying it (a recourse to hide low budget effects maybe?). Still, it is fun to watch, the great William Sadler is in it, and it's a great (although poorly executed) Carpenter tribute.

Or the More Expendable Expendables. Nice little low budget action movie. It doesn't pretend much so it kind of delivers. Lots of gore and fighting but little in the way of plot or drama.

First, here we have a non pretentious movie with a great cast and 80's style gore-action. Second, looks like the director was inspired by movies like From Dusk Till Dawn or Hobo with a shotgun and Carpenter's Vampires. Last, I really appreciate the effort of creating something decent here and in some ways it accomplished. To add, decent performances and great 80's stylish music. So, overall a great B-movie entertainment.