Uncle Sam

Uncle Sam (1997)

Directed by: William Lusting

Rating: 1½ out of 4 Pentagrams

Reviewed by: Jeff Deth 

William Lusting really disappointed me with this one. Having directed two films I really loved, Maniac and Maniac Cop, I had some hope for Uncle Sam.  That being said I’ve left it on the shelf for a number of years because deep down I knew it wasn’t going to be good.  The time finally came when I had to be sure, just in case. Well, now I’m sure.

I don’t even know how it went wrong. the script isn’t good for starters. Larry Cohen wrote it and he has a solid reputation having directed some good films himself such as It’s Alive. The premise itself of a disfigured Iraq war vet returning home for more killing has a lot of promise. They could have made the killer really campy and fun. I guess they tried but it doesn’t work for me.  I was left wanting much more.

The other thing is, if you can’t get the story right at least put some effort behind the special effects. Well, they failed in that regard too. The effects suck for the most part. I thought the make-up job on Sam himself was good, it’s the kill scenes that get the shaft. I don’t know if they didn’t have the budget or what but they basically cut away on every kill. If they only made the kills more graphic and outrageous this would have been more worthwhile. I mean after all this is from the guy who gave us Maniac, one of the most brutal and graphic slasher flicks ever.

It feels like Lusting forgot himself making this movie. The political satire that should have been inherent given the theme falls flat. Everything feels fake. All the acting is terrible with the exception of Isaac Hayes who is the only character who is at all interesting to watch. It seemed as if he understood the camp quality potential and no one else did. And for that you have to blame the director because it’s his job to control the performances given.

I was on-board for about the first 20 minutes while I could feel some level of build up taking place. Uncle Sam’s dead body returns home to his abused wife and sister along with the nephew who wants to grow up to become him. Things seemed to be in the right place. Unfortunately, everything falls apart the moment Uncle Sam re-animates without explanation after days of lying dead in a casket. There’s this weird shift in mood where everything just feels wrong. The kills are supposed to be motivated but they all seem random. He just wanders around the town and “wrecks havoc” during the Fourth of July festivities.

There where too many missed opportunities and bad decisions all adding up to a movie that fails to have either scare value or camp value.  It’s been over 10 years since Uncle Sam thudded on the ground and we haven’t heard from Lusting since. What a disappointment that he has yet to redeem himself. Because hey, every great horror director has made a total POS. But what preserves their career and place in horror history is they usually fire back with something good again. In the end the balance sheet is more to the good than bad. Lusting has made so few movies that his place in history is hard to gauge. He has made the two aforementioned classics, two debatable sequels to one of those classics, three action type movies and this forgettable trash. His average is somewhere in the middle I suppose evaluating only his horror work. And I hate to say that because I really enjoyed the early stuff. See this only to know what could have been.