Grenade Chief

## Plot

Set in Granby, Colorado, the sleepy town wakes up to Viet-Cong paratroopers invading in broad daylight. Deshean Simpson, an average Joe, was the only line of defense against this red menace.

Since he was a kid Deshean wanted to join the National Guard. He is also a pyromaniac, who loved explosives. As a child Deshean practiced throwing acorns like grenades. He practiced all around town hoping he would get to use this skill one day. However, he grew up in a single parent house-hold, and had a strong relationship with his mother. His mother, Shatandra Simpson, did not wish to see her only son get hurt in the line of duty. After much family drama Deshean settled for going to community college and becoming a chef.

This all changed when the Viet-con touched down in Gramby, Colorado. The local sheriffs never stood a chance against the Viet-Cong, and soon most resistance was squashed by the red menace. Except Deshean, who was working his second job at the Waffle House. Upon realizing the great menace that has descended on this town, Deshean jumped into action. After dodging the Viet-Cong patrolling the streets Deshean made it to an abandoned National Guard depot on the outskirt of town, and with almost divine inspiration, found multiple crates of M67 Fragmentation Hand Grenades.

Deshean, with all his years of practice, knew the town like the back of his hand. He gave the Viet-Cong a taste of their own medicine, and waged an explosive guerilla campaign against the occupiers. Using the sewer system, he terrorized the Viet-con soldiers around town. Making trick shots with grenades, at one point throwing a grenade directly down the barrel of a tank.

The movie ended rather abruptly, cutting to black after the townhall full of Viet-Cong got blown up. Text then rolls on screen describing how Deshean went on to win multiple engagements before finally destroying the last of the Viet-cong. It is suspected that the studio simply ran out of budget, but due to the lack of first hand accounts this is all but speculation.

## Pre-Production

* Originally the film was going to mimic Red Dawn and have a group of main characters. However due to budget constraints the movie ended up only having one protagonist, Deshean.
* Originally the film was also going to have Russians be the main villain of the story. However after a cease-and-desist by John Milius the antagonists were switched to Viet-Cong instead. The movie gave a vague alternate history explanation of the Soviet Union collapsing leaving Vietnam as the largest hostile communist nation. It is interesting to note that three years after the airing of the movie the Soviet Union collapsed.
* During the ‘Chef to Chief’ scene, Deshean’s actor actually ripped off his apron unprompted. There were no spare aprons so the large bed sheet disguise that was shown on Deshean during the Waffle Battle Scene was originally supposed to be Deshean’s work attire. The costume director’s wife demanded to be in the movie after losing her favorite and only apron and could be seen inside the enemy tank.

## Reception

### Critical Response

Often referred to as a "Low budget Red Dawn rip-off with no style or taste to speak of," this movie was almost nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award.