Uncle Sam (1996)


Too often the box art of a movie is more interesting than the movie itself.  Due to Uncle Sam not getting a theatrical release as originally intended the few posters produced - lenticular, showing the face on the one-sheet changing - are now collector's items.  I am quite sure I remember seeing the box and ignoring it back in the '90s because, even though I knew who Larry Cohen was, I didn't know William Lustig outside of the Maniac Cop movies.  At the time I would not have known either of them were involved with this movie due to the fact that I would have had a quick laugh over the artwork before looking for some similar low-budget fare from Full Moon that I would have thought more entertaining. 

Master Sergeant Sam Harper (David "Shark" Fralick) is killed in a helicopter crash caused by friendly fire during Desert Storm.  Three years after the incident his body is found and shipped back to his hometown of Twin Rivers, where his sister Sally (Leslie Neale), nephew Jody (Christopher Ogden) and widow Louise (Anne Tremko) all reside.  Jody idolizes his uncle despite everyone from his former commander Jed (Isaac Hayes) to Louise recognize him as a violent, abusive psychopath.

The bad news is that Harper isn't exactly through killing.  He escapes from his coffin, dons an Uncle Sam costume and begins murdering many of the local townsfolk during the Independence Day celebration.  Jody finds out who it is from his friend Barry (Zachary McLemore), a kid blinded by fireworks the year before.  Sam makes a psychic connection with Barry, allowing him to guide Jody and Jed as they attempt to put an end to Sam's rampage as he heads for a reunion with Louise. 

Lustig and Cohen got together on this to see if the magic still worked after things sort of fizzled on Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence.  They got a fair amount of money from a Florida billionaire to make Uncle Sam, but also suffered a fair amount of interference because of that.  The result is a rather anemic horror film that feels in some ways like a ripoff of Maniac Cop, just with the killer being bad from the beginning, and with less than stellar results.  It doesn't help that both Cohen and Lustig were becoming jaded with filmmaking.  Cohen's last film, Original Gangstas, came out the same year and had the same exhausted feeling as this did.  

The highlights of the movie are the makeup on stuntman and actor David "Shark" Fralick, a decent performance by Christopher Ogden and an excellent acting turn from Isaac Hayes.  The best parts of the movie are with Jed, from the speech he gives to Jody about why he should not go into the army to being part of the action at the end.  It also has a few Lustig touches, like the fate of a slimy congressman played by Robert Forster as well as the big finale at the end, which in typical form involves lots of fire.  There are also a number of cameos if one likes to play "Spot the Character Actor", from Bo Hopkins to William Smith to P. J. Soles.  

Still, even as a slasher, Uncle Sam has a feeling of been there, done that.  After failing to get a theatrical release, and not wanting to continue making movies that went direct to video, Lustig followed Cohen into virtual retirement.  It's a shame because, even without Cohen, he may have had some more in him, but this one seems to have drained him as well.  It's not spectacularly bad enough to warrant watching for fun and, for those hoping for another great exploitation film, there is nothing here but disappointment. 

Uncle Sam (1996)
Time: 89 minutes
Starring: Christopher Ogden, Isaac Hayes, Leslie Neale, Anne Tremko, David "Shark" Fralick
Director: William Lustig

 

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