Popeye the Slayer Man

The good news is that I enjoyed Popeye The Slayer Man more than the godawful Popeye's Revenge. It's still not a great film, but there's a reasonable amount of gore, and Popeye himself (played by Jason Robert Stephens) looks fairly imposing, even if the sailor's face is little more than an expressionless silicon mask (that causes Stephens' few lines of dialogue to be muffled).

The plot is simple: a group of friends go to a disused canning factory to make a documentary about the legend of 'the sailor man' who is said to haunt the building. Popeye proves to be very real, and starts killing people. There is plot twist that won't come as much of a surprise, but this is essentially a slasher flick, and as such it delivers what one would expect: lots of running around the gloomy factory and plenty of death scenes, which include head crushing, bone snapping, decapitation by anchor, impalements and arm-ripping. The splatter is decent enough for a low budget flick, and the acting is reasonable.

If you're after an undemanding time-waster, there's far worse out there than this one (the aforementioned Popeye's Revenge). Will this be the best of the Popeye horror movies? We'll have to wait for Shiver Me Timbers (2025) to be released before we can answer that.

Some disasters you just have to see for yourself. And the only thing I could say about this movie is the acting isn't as bad as the acting in another film kind of like it. "The mouse trap". Now that was a terrible film. Oh my God that was so terrible. At least with this film, you get some inventive kills even if they do seem a little ridiculous. I.e. The real estate lady. Is it worth the watch? I'm still not even sure. I just know I'll never watch it again. Popeye comes across is just some ridiculous, bloated guy with a terrible mask for face. And then the voice is just wrong. Like all terrible bee movie films you wonder why certain victims instead of going to the door or running away from the docs go the opposite direction. Again with the realtor she was a few yards away from the door She came in yet She somehow was going the wrong way. And ended up running another wrong way when she saw Popeye. It's just dumb and when some characters come across a dead body, they don't even have a reaction. Like it's something they see every day. Laughingly two of them even kill themselves. Ala "Tucker and Dale". Which literally made me shake my head in embarrassment. I won't go into the plot because I'm not gonna spoil it as if that's possible. I'll just say I gave the movie two stars only because of the first few kills and the acting isn't too terrible. It's just not great.

Popeyes Revenge was a decently charming flick, that had some history, tension building and creative scares. The predecessor was more of the same, however his history, design and creepiness is much improved here, instead of being a moronic killing-machine, atleast here he's scary and doesn't easily get-out-of-breath. The slowness makes him more creepy here, and his slow grovelled voice makes him even more eerie and scary as you don't know what to expect next.

The low-budget film isn't a total ROTTEN APPLE, although the deaths are. There's a mixture of positives and negatives. Let's start with it's history. The focus of the pictures made it more heart-felt, and the connection felt better suited here, as it explained briefly, and shown it more so that's why it stood out, as the family dynamic was heavily hinted throughout the story even with the re-occuring characters. So it definitely felt slightly more natural and grounded in that respect. Although, I'd of liked to of seen the history progress further, as it does feel slightly rushed as it is mostly at the middle or the end, I feel as if the commentary on the last film gave it the edge in terms of overall character story and journey, this felt better at explaining his evil-side and family dilemma.

The editing is perfectly swift and crisp, with no over-reliance on CGI, most of the film is practical effects, and that makes it feel more natural, and that's why I think this is more scarier then the other tale. I feel as I'd they used the building and the darker effects well, as the creepiness and the tension was built up by his equipment, the movement, and the dark atmosphere did give it that air of unpredictability and sofisticated twists and turns that were unpredictable for humans and movie-goers alike. I feel like the film could've also used the lighter-effect, as that was also very well executed I must say.

The characters weren't bad, they were standard teenagers that made insanely bad decisions you may of hit them with a TV Remote. However the build up to the premise is quick, which sort of works, but not so much for development and expandability for the characters. But them wanting to take shots and film the abandoned place did give it the realism and add to the surrealism of their situation.

It was like watching a fever dream, the deaths were creative, although they weren't as creative as could be, as some were fairly predictable and formulaic, it was the slowness that added to the thrills and the spooks of their surroundings. And the ending felt slightly rushed, I feel like it could of been a better moment If shorter, although I don't want to spoil anything.

The characters acting was mostly fine too, nothing particularly noteworthy, and likewise with the script, mostly hauny teenagers in a dangerous environment, putting themselves at risk, although the rear family moments, emotional beats did add the dramatisation and the creativeness the film flawlessly managed.

I'd rate this a 4 out of 10 Because it isn't terrible, it Isn't special, But there's also some fun to be had, call me stupid but this film was a Decent enough 'B' Movie. Not bad, 4/10.

Look, it is what it is, but somehow this Popeye was harder to understand than anything Robin Williams ever said.

It hurts.

I appreciate the lack of CGI but Popeye looks like the last version of Joan Rivers.

It feels part Troma but mostly Friday the 13th.

The experience could have used a few more quips from the big guy, but then again, the Elephant Man was easier to understand.

After 80 years, this viewer hoped to get a bit more then what the film offered.

This thing is at least watchable when compared to "Popeye's Revenge."

4 out of 10 spinach cans.

PS Put something in your pipe and smoke it all before you watch either of these movies.

A group of youngsters break in to a spinach factory, desperate to figure out whether the fabled old Sailor exists.

It's definitely better than Popeye's Revenge, a bit more cohesive, and I'd argue that the acting, though far from perfect, isn't actually that bad.

Is it good, absolutely not, but if does fall into that category of so bad it's watchable, one of those movies that going could put on after a night out, have a pizza and a giggle over.

Popeye, all I keep thinking of is The Goonies, imagine if Sloth has been on the roids, had some cosmetic surgery, some Botox and developed a love of spinach instead of chocolate.

The death scenes are really poor, and at times you can see bits and bobs I'm sure you're not meant to.

Every cliché under the sun, the film starts exactly the same way as Pooh and Mickey, a woman running for her life in some sort of warehouse, if you're wanting originality, think again.

I eagerly await the new Snow White from these guys, but until then, Slayer Man provides some unexpected entertainment.

5/10.