Uncle Sam
God bless AmericAAAAHHHH!
Happy Fourth of July my fellow
Americans. Today we declare our love of burgers, hot dogs, terrible
beer, explosions, and that terrible John Mellencamp song “R.O.C.K.
In The USA”. Oh, and the signing of the Declaration of
Independence. That too. Apologies to my UK readers (and there are a
lot of you). This must be a tough time for you. In keeping with the
tradition of holidays being used as the basis for horror movies, I
was able to dig up one that takes place on the 4th of
July. Nothing says “America” like a B-movie involving a killer
zombie soldier dressed like Uncle Sam!
Uncle Sam is a 1997 horror movie
starring David Fralick (Soultaker, The Young And The Restless) as Sam
Harper. Sam is killed in action by friendly fire during the gulf war,
but comes back to life and kills two American soldiers inspecting his
body. Back home, his nephew Jody Baker (Christopher Ogden) idolizes
his uncle, taking his war medals into show and tell and expressing
his interest in joining the military when he is old enough. Sam's
wife Louise received word that Sam's body has been discovered and is
being returned home. At the wake, Jody meets and bonds with Jed
Crowley (Issac Hayes, Robin Hood: Men In Tights, South Park), a
former soldier that was friends with Sam. On the 4th of
July, Sam awakens and rises out of his coffin. He kills a peeping tom
dressed as Uncle Sam and puts on his costume. At the 4th
of July parade, Jody talks with Barry, a boy his age that was blinded
and scarred by a fireworks accident the previous year. Sam talks to
Barry and feels a kinship with him because of his accident. Sam
violently kills various people throughout the parade some committing
unpatriotic acts like purposely singing the national anthem poorly,
and some just because. Barry tells Jody that the killer Uncle Sam is
actually Jody's Uncle Sam. Will Jody, Barry, and Jed be able to stop
this killer zombie Uncle Sam or will the 4th of July go
out with a bang?
Stand up for the flag, jerk!
While I'm still waiting for a horror
movie about Arbor Day or Daylight Savings Time, it's fun to see the
4th of July get it's due. There is no question that Uncle
Sam is a B-horror movie, much in the vein of Jack Frost, though far
less silly. The story is pretty basic with an angry, mega patriot
soldier coming back from the dead and going on a killing spree. It's
the details where things get mucked up. So Sam died and came back as
some sort of zombie. Okay, I can accept that, but I can't accept that
no reason was given for his resurrection. Unless I totally missed
something, I don't think they even attempted to give a reason. No
voodoo curse, no toxic gas used during the Gulf War, not even being
attacked by a radioactive Iraqi soldier. Also, what is the point of
making him a zombie if you're going to cover him up with an Uncle Sam
costume? The zombie makeup actually looked good, so it's not like
they couldn't pull it off. They might as well have had him just be a
crazy soldier going on a killing spree. I guess they were trying to
go for something deeper with the whole “coffin draped in the flag”
deal, but it never came off as moving or touching. The inclusion of
Barry comes out of nowhere in the last 35 minutes or so and is pretty
unnecessary. They even give him “magical psychic powers,” giving
him some sort of connection to Sam. Why do that? It adds nothing to
the movie and the “supernatural handicapped character” is
unfortunate and annoying.
Where it lacks in making sense, Uncle
Sam makes up for it with over-the-top violence. Raising someone by
their neck on a flag pole and exploding a Congressman with fireworks
were ridiculous, but fun to watch. There is a passable amount of
blood and a little gore, but probably not enough. The acting is good
enough all around with Issac Hayes putting in a legitimately good
performance. Some of the lines he says throughout should be used as
samples for metal bands. The movie has spurts of good camera shots
and creative direction, but it doesn't last throughout the entire
movie. Why only do it a few times? You have the skill and ability,
why not make it work for the full hour and a half? Uncle Sam gets
really heavy-handed in it's political condemnation of both
conservatives and liberals. It sends mixed messages and comes off
preachy at times without a real sense of political knowledge.
Kid, you've got problems
Uncle Sam is a silly, but fun B movie.
There are some good acts of violence as well as good performances
from most of the cast. The story glosses over some basic things and
could have been put together more cohesively. Why have a zombie if
you're just going to cover him up and not have him act like a zombie?
Uncle Sam has it's moments and was better than expected. That doesn't
mean it was necessarily good, but it wasn't bad. That's the American
way!
6/10
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