Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except

Wounded, but still tough and viable Vietnam war veteran Jack Stryker (a solid and likeable performance by Brian Schulz) and his rugged Marine buddies declare open season on a deranged Mansonesque hippie cult leader (a deliciously hammy portrayal by Sam Raimi) and his equally unhinged followers after the cult abducts Stryker's girlfriend Sally (sweet Lucy Gutteridge). Director/co-writer Josh Becker keeps the entertainingly trashy story zipping along at a quick pace, stages the exciting action with rip-roaring go-for-the-throat gusto, maintains a cheerfully outrageous tongue-in-cheek tone complete with a wickedly funny sense of twisted dark humor, and delivers a handy helping of gloriously gory and excessive over-the-top violence. Ted Raimi has a field day as a crazy chain-brandishing dude. Joseph LoDuca's robust score hits the rousing spot. Becker's lively cinematography makes occasional invigorating use out of a wildly careening camera. A total blast.

I do love randomly finding out about some obscure movie, and then the very same day, being able to find it and watch it on YouTube. The wonders of the internet and modern technology I guess. Even when the film's not great, that's just a cool thing to be able to do. And at least I can now say I've seen a movie that's essentially Vietnam Vets vs The Manson Gang in a forest, where Sam Raimi plays Charles Manson. It's a violent fairytale comeuppance for a terrible person don't 34 years before Tarantino did it more famously in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I think I could recommend this movie to fans of 80s B-movies, but it's overall only going to have a pretty niche audience.

I remember seeing the trailer for this film in the theater when I was fourteen or fifteen and laughing my head off. Unfortunately, I didn't come across the film again for several years until my best friend in high school ran across a copy in a small video store. Boy what a find! I was completely sober and on the floor laughing for ninety minutes! Terrible acting, horrific sound effects (laser-like sounds in the Vietnam scenes), miss-placed blocking by the actors (one guy jerks BEFORE he's shot)and total lack of coherency or logic make this a must see! I mean, Vietnam vets take revenge on Manson-like killer in the middle of a forest? What's not to love? Bye the way, if you like this, check out a film called "Hard Rock Zombies."

This film is a must see for those who wish to witness an extraordinary acting demonstration by Dan Nelson. An incredible performance that was overlooked by critics during the films release. Nelson deserved better! His acting career never elevated itself to its full potential after Stryker's War dwindled at the box office. If you are a young actor, I urge you to rent this movie and learn from a master. You will be a better thespian after watching him act. I believe that acting should be taken to a high level no matter what material an actor has to deal with. Stryker's War did not give Dan Nelson much to play with, but it was fun to see Dan take a script and turn his scenes into gems.

Story by Bruce Campbell, produced by Scott Spiegel, starring Sam Raimi, and directed by Josh Becker - the crew that made The Evil Dead. This is like a movie a couple of drunken friends would make over a weekend. Not a single thing is believable about it, from the main character's limp to the 30-year old they got to play a high school student. This is NOT a good movie, yet I can't call it totally un-enjoyable. The story starts with some day-for-night, Midwest-for-Vietnam battle scenes in which Stryker gets his leg shot in a disastrous attack on an enemy village. This information could have been relayed quickly in any number of ways, but the first 20 minutes of the picture is devoted to this. It's all padding and has nothing to do with the rest of the movie, except for Stryker's fake limp and his Marine buddies showing up later on. Cut to Michigan years later. Stryker is coming back to his hometown at the same time a maniacal cult is cutting up the locals. But nobody notices until the Cult Leader (played by Spider-Man director Sam Raimi) kidnaps Stryker's potential girlfriend. Then he and his military pals bring on the violence. The violence in this movie is so poorly executed, it's laughable. The squibs are visible underneath the actors' clothes, the blood is obviously red syrup, and the fight scenes are the least exciting I think I've ever seen. It's a rare movie that's so bad it's good (and funny). Most movies that people recommend for the same reason are usually so bad they're just bad. I don't expect anyone to rush out and see this based on it being a terrible movie. Most of the dialogue attempts to be taken seriously, but the occasional brilliantly stupid line comes up. "Don't touch the sacrificial fluids! Okey-dokey?" Or when the Cult Leader claims to be Jesus Christ reincarnated, Stryker simply replies, "No, you're not." It was all I could do to muffle my laughter and not wake up my roommates. http://www.movieswithmark.com

"Thou Shalt Not Kill...Except" is a Rambo-style revenge yarn with a little Charlie Manson thrown in for good measure. Sargeant Stryker, a 'Nam vet, and his patrol, are harassed back in America by a cult headed by hippy-looking Sam Raimi, the future director of "Spiderman". They hatch a plot to take bloody revenge on the cult members and gore follows. Unfortunately, since this film is captained by Josh Becker, the director of the awful "If I Had A Hammer", the passable "Running Time", and the execrable "Lunatics - A Love Story", the execution is flawed. The acting is deliberately over the top and inconsistent, and the special effects are cheesy, but the main problem with "..Except" is its uneven tone and pacing. Though a tale of vengeance, it has long, boring passages of puerile, pretentious dialog and the action sequences are unconvincing. It's like Becker decided he didn't want to be associated with an exploitation film, so he tried turning the rig around during shooting. The result is a very questionable "cult" film.

This cheesy, low-budget piece of revenge action from the Evil Dead gang might be technically sub-par, clumsily written, and poorly acted, but thanks to a genuine sense of fun, plenty of mindless violence, and a memorably OTT turn from Sam Raimi as a Charles Manson style cult leader with bad hair and even worse teeth, it actually proves to be very entertaining stuff. The predictable story sees cigar chompin' Sgt. Stryker (Robert Rickman) and his tough Vietnam veteran buddies going to war one more time against a gang of bloodthirsty hippies who have attacked the sarge's girlfriend and killed her grandfather. What this plot lacks in originality, it sure makes up for in violent, gung-ho, exploitative action, as Stryker and company proceed to blast seven shades of crap out of anyone who looks like they might have dodged the draft or worn flowers in their hair. Of course, Stryker's War will be of most interest to horror fans keen to see what the creators of The Evil Dead got up to next: not only does the film star its director Raimi (who proves he cannot act, and yet somehow steals the show anyway) and his brother Ted (as a Mad Max style villain wrapped in chains), but it was also co-written by the chin-tastic Bruce Campbell, produced by Scott Spiegel, and features a rousing score by Joseph LoDuca.

"Stryker's War", a.k.a. "Thou Shalt Not Kill...Except", is solidly amusing low budget action nonsense that definitely delivers in the laughs department. In fact, it's silly enough for one to believe the filmmakers had their tongues firmly in their cheeks. It's admittedly rather rough, in both the acting and technical departments, but this adds to the appeal if you totally dig wild and wacky B cinema. From a story co-credited to Bruce Campbell, and a screenplay co-written by Scott Spiegel, Josh Becker directs this goofy fun flick that takes place in 1969, after young man Jack Stryker (Brian Schulz) has returned from Vietnam after an honourable discharge. He's soon visited by his wartime comrades, played by Robert Rickman, John Manfredi, and Timothy Patrick Quill. It's a good thing they're around, as soon Jack will go to war with a Manson Family type cult led by an absolutely priceless Sam Raimi in a hilarious hippie wig, after the cult murders Jack's good friend Otis (Perry Mallette) and abducts his old girlfriend Sally (Cheryl Hausen). While this remains agreeable viewing throughout, it might require patience on the part of some viewers to stick it out through the first half before we finally start getting to the really good stuff, with a lot of hysterical gore and sadism. These cult members are going to get what's coming to them, and THEN some. One can see that this is a labour of love for the filmmaking family including such talents as Raimi, Spiegel, Becker, and Campbell (the last having also worked in the sound department). Raimi's actor brother Ted also turns up as the goon wielding the chain. Clocking in at a reasonable 83 minutes, "Stryker's War" makes for good enough entertainment, no matter if it's not a particularly good film. It earns points more for its heart than anything else. There always is something appealing about watching something made on a low budget by people just wanting to make a movie and have some fun. Seven out of 10.

Not a good movie by any means. But, it is very cool to see the early no budget work of some of the guys that went on to bring you such favorites as Evil Dead, Darkman & Xena. If your a fan of Renaissance Pictures & Sam Raimi, this one's well worth checking out.

Thou Shalt Not Kill...Except(1985) is an exciting and entertaining action flick. The style of the film and the action has the flavour of Hong Kong action films of the late 1980's. The opening scenes reminded me of the Vietnam prologue in The Exterminator(1980). The four marines behave like the goon squad in William Lustig's Vigilante(1981). The final twenty minutes drift into Last House On The Left territory. Sam Raimi does a good job at playing the cult leader. It is refreshing in the way it pokes some fun at the vigilante movies.