Uncle Sam

Plot synopsis:
In Kuwait, a military unit uncovers an American helicopter downed by friendly fire at least three years ago. As the wreckage is inspected, Master Sergeant Sam Harper, one of the burnt bodies within, springs to life and kills a sergeant and a major, and returns to an inert state after muttering, "Don't be afraid, it's only friendly fire!"
Weeks later, Sam's body is delivered to his hometown of Twin Rivers, which is preparing for Independence Day. Sam's wife Louise is given custody of the casket containing Sam's remains, which are left in the home of Sam's estranged sister Sally, who lives with her patriotic young son, Jody. Sam reanimates in the early hours of the Fourth of July, and proceeds to kill and steal the costume of a perverted Uncle Sam. Sam then makes his way to a cemetery, where he murders two of three juvenile delinquents who had vandalized tombstones, and desecrated an American flag.
During the Independence Day celebration (which a corrupt congressman is visiting) Sam beheads the third delinquent, kills Jody's teacher (who had opposed the Vietnam War) with a hatchet, and shoots Sally's unscrupulous lawyer boyfriend in the head. Despite these deaths, the festivities continue, but are thrown into disarray when Sam uses the fireworks gear to blow up the congressman, and a flagpole to impale Louise's deputy boyfriend. As this occurs, Jody is told by his mother and aunt that his supposedly heroic idol Sam was in fact an alcoholic psychopath who physically and sexually abused them, and only joined the military so he could get a "free pass" to kill people.
Jody is told by Barry, another boy who has established an unexplained mental link with Sam, that the undead Sam is responsible for the deaths. With help from Sam's old mentor Jed, the boys goes to Jody's house, where they find the lecherous sergeant who had dropped Sam off dead, and stuffed inside Sam's coffin. Realizing that Sam will probably go after Louise, the boys and Jed go to her home, where Sam blames Jed (who had told him tales of how glorious combat was) for his current state. Jed retorts by yelling, "You never fought for your country! You just killed for the love of killing!"
Jed's gun proves ineffective against Sam, so he and Louise go to get Jed's cannon while Jody (who Sam claims is the reason he came back) keeps Sam occupied. Jody lures Sam outside, and Jed blasts him with the cannon and destroys him in flames at Louise's house. The next day, Sally watches as Jody burns all of his war-themed toys.

Tags: good versus evil, violence, murder

Review:
I rented this in the mood for a really bad movie that I could rip to shreds but to my surprise, and despite what everyone else seems to think of it, it was actually quite good!
Yes, there are all kinds of B movie slip-ups (like school being in session in the middle of summer, the crippled and deformed blind kid who somehow has been equipped with a sixth sense after a fireworks accident the previous July 4th, and the casket being dropped off and kept in the sister's living room as if it were a new TV set or piece of furniture) but I found myself ignoring all the flaws because the actors had so much conviction in their roles, and because Lustig's camerawork was so fluid and put me under its spell.
There are wonderful, quiet scenes like the one where Isaac Hayes' one-legged veteran takes the impressionable kid aside and explains that killing machines like his Uncle Sam aren't heroes at all, or the one where Timothy Bottoms' grade school teacher is forced to defend his pacifist stance during the Vietnam War to a class of skeptical students.
Sir Isaac Hayes delivers a weird performance as the badass Jed. I loved his line at the end before he gives Uncle Sam a little of his own.Very low budget slasher flick.
It has all the classic elements: nudity, axes to the head, and best of all a really freaky looking slasher who looks surprisingly like the guy from "Tales From the Crypt." It is the perfect dumb horror movie, and if you are the type of person who likes stupid, bad, b-movies, then this is a great one..
A superior b-grade cast, some Lustig and/or Cohen veterans (William Smith, Robert Forster, Frank Pesce), and some who are not -  Bo Hopkins ('The Wild Bunch'), Isaac Hayes ('Escape From New York') and P.J. Soles ('Halloween'), make this one worth the rental.
If you like campy horror/comedy flicks along the lines of "Jack Frost", you'll love "Uncle Sam".
The story centers around a young boy, Cody, who is very proud of his Uncle Sam who was killed in Kuwait by 'friendly fire' from the US Government.
Cody, young and naive, wants to be just like his uncle Sam, but Sam wasn't a hero or good guy after all.
Believe me, there much worse movies out there than Uncle Sam. No, I think that this film is horrible too.
But there's way more bad movies than this out thereTroll 2 is the worst horror movie ever, not Uncle Sam. This film is Gone With The Wind compared with that crap.
Three stupid and obnoxious teens burn an American flag on Sam's funeral plot, which somehow makes him return to life as a ghoul (the make-up is actually pretty good) who offs non-patriotic people while dressed as the title character!On July 4th at the Twin Rivers festival is where most of the carnage takes place.
"We wouldn't want to disappoint the children, now would we?"Awful performances from a cast who should know better, lame attempts at comedy, a moronic script (by Larry Cohen!), a stupid full-contact potato sack race and unbelievable character actions (two adults leave a little kid alone in a house with the killer!?) are just a few of the problems with this gimmicky, subpar horror film.Score: 2 out of 10.
Larry Cohen has made some of the best horror films of the 70's, 80's and 90's--he's truly an original, like Roger Corman or William Castle.
"Uncle Sam" is a terrific horror movie.
I know it's only Uncle Sam, but it's Bill Lustig and Larry Cohen.
I can say some good about Uncle Sam. I can say it has one of the best casts to ever grace a slasher film.
If you're wanting to see a serious horror film with deep social commentary about war, watch Deathdream."Uncle Sam wants you...dead!".
At any rate, this film delivers some great and often creative death scenes that should please most slasher movie fans.
The reason I say TRUE horror fan's should watch this is because true horror fans don't care how low budget a movie is, they know the acting is going to be bad yet they rent a movie like this for the kills which are gruesome.
Leave Uncle Sam for the drunken party goer who won't remember what the movie was about ten minutes after seeing it.
The mean-spirited satire censuring anti-patriotism and the lack of pride and duty among even America's finest citizens is inventive...up to a point.UNCLE SAM is probably not William Lustig's best picture, but he has done far worst films.
We picked up this movie at the video rental store thinking that this would give us a good laugh, and that's exactly what happened, although the laughter was really just mocking what a lame movie Uncle Sam is.
There have been many "horror movies" that have been as low budget and bad as this one, like Jack Frost for instance, but something about this one was just not as funny.
There are some fine character actors, Bo Hopkins plays a scuzzy Army bereavement officer, and Isaac Hayes is a wounded member of Uncle Sam's combat unit, but they are more or less wasted.
Sure, the Uncle Sam on stilts peeper is fun to look at, but a few good scenes cannot save this from being a disappointment.
Most of us who watched Uncle Sam normally like "terrible B-Movie Horror flicks", despite the fact that they are terrible.
We know that going in, so the only real way to review this type of movie is against others of the same type, like The Dentist, Maniac Cop or Jack Frost- all horror movies with a little theme going for it.
I, personally, liked the patriotic theme this movie cast and would not mind seeing a sequel, possible set in Afghanistan or a fictional Middle Eastern country for the politically correct(knowing, of course, it will probably be even worse than the first).I also enjoyed the fact that, in the movie, every "draft-dodger", un-patriotic or anti-American was going down, usually with a sarcastic catch phrase, like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Running Man or everything he's ever done.
What you have here is a stupid concept at an attempt at a goofy horror movie that doesn't even make one laugh.Uncle Sam Harper comes back from the dead (and we don't even know how) and starts killing a few town locals in his attempt to come back for his nephew Jody.
Very stupid movie, effects suck, killings are pretty much ripoffs from other movies (hedgeclippers, Friday the 13th) burying alive, many others) anyway stay away from this piece of crap, the best thing about this movie is the holographic cover that the video comes in.
Sure, there was a lot of dumb stuff in it, but I actually think that this was an great movie.I got it when it came on video, and it started slow, I thought (what the hell?) but it didn't stay that way!
The very first scene where Sam's corpse comes back to life and kills the US army troops was so terribly acted.
The funniest part of the movie would have to be in the big climax when Uncle Sam goes flying and you can see the string pulling him.
Uncle Sam: Directed by William Lustig and written by Larry CohenOh man I have been waiting for ages to see this movie.
I'm unsure as to whether Uncle Sam is pro-patriotism, anti-war or simply devoid of any subtext whatsoever; what I am sure of is that the film drops the ball when it comes to tone, neither cheesy enough to be a whole lot of demented popcorn fun, nor genuinely scary enough to be seriously unsettling.
Uncle Sam - a war hero with a mean streak who returns from the dead to punish those who upset his sensibilities - makes for a memorable killer, decked out in silky stars 'n' stripes costume and creepy mask, but he only occasionally rises to the occasion when it comes to bloody mayhem.
A severed head in a 4th of July barbecue is the grisly highlight, but most of the kills lack creativity.Written by Larry 'It's Alive' Cohen and directed by William 'Maniac' Lustig, the film has great horror credentials, and the cast is solid enough (P.J. Soles, Isaac Hayes, Robert Forster, Timothy Bottoms, Bo Hopkins), but the end result is a film that ultimately disappoints and confuses (what the hell is that final freeze frame supposed to imply?).4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for the peeping tom scene, which provides the obligatory female nudity..
And around 39 minutes of so, give or take, in 1996's Uncle Sam.Directed by William Lustig (Maniac and the three Maniac Cop films) from a Larry Cohen script (It's Alive, The Stuff, God Told Me To and around ten more movies on our shelves), this slasher film concerns itself with a soldier killed by friendly fire in Kuwait.
Uncle Sam (1996) * 1/2 (out of 4) William Lustig directed horror film comes from a screenplay by Larry Cohen.
UNCLE SAM is a real disappointment and I think the majority of the blame goes towards the screenplay because for the life of me I couldn't understand what the writer was going for here.
On one hand you're thinking this is just a good, old-fashioned "if you're against America then we're going to destroy you" patriotic movie and had it gone for this and really played up the flag waving it could have been interesting.
Just as you think that's the type of movie you're watching you then get this entire backstory about Sam being a complete and utter jerk who was very abusive to his family and it seems no one who really knew him cares about him.
With that said, UNCLE SAM could have been an interesting film but sadly the screenplay just doesn't come together..
So yesterday Uncle Sam was on the list, being intrigued by it's creative cover on the VHS we decided to get Uncle Sam and too are surprise we didn't rent a terrible unwatchable movie, Uncle Sam's plot was good, the acting was not bad at all, but that Jody girl/boy really pisses me off.
Too me and my buddy's they were plain old rough and done extremely well, like when Uncle Sam pulls that guy all the way up the flag pole with the rope around his neck, that disturbed me, clearly seeing him making excruciating facial expressions and writhing in pain and squirming, and once at the top his neck breaks, that was done really really well, and the scene where that kid is in Sam's grave and Sam burries him alive, that was not cool man, thinking of the situation he was in, broken leg, isolated....6 feet deep.
Except of course for the young nephew that respected his uncle like he WAS G.I. Joe. I can only presume that the original script continued to explore this, however it seems no one wanted to make that movie so somewhere along the line the production team said, "screw it" and scrapped everything after the first half hour or so and turned it into a horror film.
This movie is brought to you buy the director of Maniac (William Lustig) and the writer of It's Alive (Larry Cohen), which were both very good horror movies with a great subtext entwined into it.
"Uncle Sam" is a horror comedy from William Lustig, director of "Maniac", "Vigilante" and the "Maniac Cop" films.
Sadly, it's not up to the standards of his best work but it does provide light entertainment for its 90 minutes' duration.Horror and film fans may spot a few familiar faces in "Uncle Sam" such as Isaac Hayes, Timothy Bottoms, P.J.
However, Lustig instills in the film a certain charm and, as a result, it isn't a total disaster.Although predictable, this is a movie that is worth viewing if you're in the mood for something light and fun.Fulci fans won't miss a nod to one of the master's classic movies somewhere in "Uncle Sam"!
At the time I wasn't very familiar with William Lustig (except his Maniac Cop movies) but I was familiar with Larry Cohen whom is the writer for this movie.
So, I just bought it through "Blue Underground" and this is what I think of the movie now, 9 years later.The premise is pretty simple as a man named Sam Harper is over seas when he is killed by friendly fire in Kuwait.
Upon his return, he decides to kill any who is anti-patriotic, which includes loser teenagers, crooked politicians, people who cheat on their taxes, etc.The plot to the movie is somewhat funny.
The major downsides were that Uncle Sam doesn't really appear until forty minutes into the movie, and like an hour in he just starts killing everybody.
The best part of the movie was at the end when they fire the cannon at Uncle Sam and you can see the string pulling him back through the house.
Also, from the director of Maniac Cop. This is about a dead soldier who is dressed in an uncle sam costume in a 4th of July parade...if that is not good, I don't know what is!
Luckily enough, there still was the companionship between William Lustig and Larry Cohen, who finished their "Maniac Cop"-trilogy and even pleased us horror fans with the entirely new and delightfully trashy "Uncle Sam".
He comes back to life, obviously, and starts an ingenious killing spree dressed up like "Uncle Sam"; the symbol that used to recruit young men as American soldiers.
"Uncle Sam" works well as a satire, criticizing the US Army forces that often don't really know what they're fighting for as well as typical blind patriotism, but foremost it's an exciting horror flick with several violent deaths and a cool, old-fashioned villain.
Semi-sober satirical horror film, pleasingly directed by William Lustig from a script by the ever-maddening Larry Cohen -- well matched collaborators who fall just short of taking that extra step, that could've turned this gleefully subversive gore fest into a runaway cult item.Update and reconstruction of Bob Clark's "Deathdream" (among its many other titles), with a zombified Gulf War casualty of "friendly fire" back for burial in his hicktown, where he rises to wreak havoc during the patriotic hysteria of a fourth of July celebration.
One day, five years ago, i think, me and my friend was joking around about this particular woman, saying she looked like Uncle Sam, do to her attire and the colors of her clothes.
Overall, "Uncle Sam" was an okay film but let me warn you, in the film, his face looks nothing like it does on the videocover..
I Liked the Whole Film, Beginning to end and I Think That If You Like Horror Movies you will too.
Isaac Hayes kept this movie afloat with a solid performance as the former soldier who has to save everyone from the wrath of Sam. The director seemed to have issues with the protesters of Vietnam as a former soldier by the name of Sam comes back to life to kill the non-patriotic Americans.
With the great tagline of "uncle sam wants you...dead!", I thought this movie had the potential of being a personal favorite of mine.
Disappointment from the talented team behind Maniac Cop. Uncle Sam represents the only non-Maniac Cop collaboration between Larry Cohen and William Lustig, which is a shame.
Aside from just making a derivative psycho killer film, it seems obvious that writer Larry Cohen wanted Uncle Sam to have some brains too, which is shown by the attempt to inject a message into the proceedings.
Larry Cohen is definitely a huge talent when it comes to entertaining horror movies - films like The Stuff, It's Alive and, of course, Maniac Cop are camp classics if you ask me; but he really should stick to entertainment, as this screenplay is a mess and the 'message' is so jumbled up that I have little idea what exactly it's preaching.
Uncle Sam was a patriotic, lunatic soldier killed by friendly fire whilst fighting for his country.
It's not long before his fellow Americans are abusing their privileges, and Uncle Sam decides to get up and do something about it.It's hard to take a movie about a war veteran zombie seriously, and this is something that Cohen should have taken into account when putting pen to paper.
However, even as a horror film, Uncle Sam falls short.
We've got some nice gore scenes on display, but much of the running time is spent on building up the plot with the kid and his admiration for Uncle Sam, and to say the least; it isn't very interesting.
It's very similar to the one on the IMDb site.An awful film with some hilarious scenes, like when the family is on the table and enjoying their breakfast together, while the coffin of the dead Uncle is in the same room.
Uncle Sam itself is a movie that asks a question, Am I A Good Movie?
I caught myself a copy of Uncle Sam and popped it into my t.v, expecting a horribly bad and god awful movie just so I could laugh at it.
Cohen and Lustig do eventually take the movie in that direction, with some odd and amusing touches, but they do have more on their mind than just body count nonsense; "Uncle Sam" does take some of its themes seriously.
A fine cast of familiar B movie faces does well with the material.Sam Harper (David "Shark" Fralick) is a soldier killed by friendly fire during the first Gulf War. His body is brought home after three years, intriguing his impressionable young nephew, Jody (Christopher Ogden), who wants to grow up to be like Sam and serve his country.
Kind of like "Being Alive" the actual movie is not worth the time..
Uncle Sam exhibits the same "problem" that I have with many other, ostensibly bad, B-movies: It's not bad enough!