I'm unsure as to whether Uncle Sam is pro-patriotism, anti-war or simply devoid of any subtext whatsoever; what I am sure of is that the film drops the ball when it comes to tone, neither cheesy enough to be a whole lot of demented popcorn fun, nor genuinely scary enough to be seriously unsettling. Uncle Sam - a war hero with a mean streak who returns from the dead to punish those who upset his sensibilities - makes for a memorable killer, decked out in silky stars 'n' stripes costume and creepy mask, but he only occasionally rises to the occasion when it comes to bloody mayhem. A severed head in a 4th of July barbecue is the grisly highlight, but most of the kills lack creativity.Written by Larry 'It's Alive' Cohen and directed by William 'Maniac' Lustig, the film has great horror credentials, and the cast is solid enough (P.J. Soles, Isaac Hayes, Robert Forster, Timothy Bottoms, Bo Hopkins), but the end result is a film that ultimately disappoints and confuses (what the hell is that final freeze frame supposed to imply?).4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for the peeping tom scene, which provides the obligatory female nudity.

So me and my Buddy's everyday, go too a local video store and deliberately rent terrible looking horror movies, usually ones from the 80's, rarely ever the 90's, especially 97. So yesterday Uncle Sam was on the list, being intrigued by it's creative cover on the VHS we decided to get Uncle Sam and too are surprise we didn't rent a terrible unwatchable movie, Uncle Sam's plot was good, the acting was not bad at all, but that Jody girl/boy really pisses me off. The main reason why I am commenting on this movie and this being the first, was because of the kills. Too me and my buddy's they were plain old rough and done extremely well, like when Uncle Sam pulls that guy all the way up the flag pole with the rope around his neck, that disturbed me, clearly seeing him making excruciating facial expressions and writhing in pain and squirming, and once at the top his neck breaks, that was done really really well, and the scene where that kid is in Sam's grave and Sam burries him alive, that was not cool man, thinking of the situation he was in, broken leg, isolated....6 feet deep. Rough man, very rough, mind you there were a lot of goofs in this movie but all and all it was a good laugh, and a good time. So get really stoned like we did kiddies, and this movie is a riot.

I was working for a video store when this movie came out. I remember it well because of its holographic cover. At the time I wasn't very familiar with William Lustig (except his Maniac Cop movies) but I was familiar with Larry Cohen whom is the writer for this movie. So I rented it then. Years later I looked back on this movie with some fond memories. So, I just bought it through "Blue Underground" and this is what I think of the movie now, 9 years later.The premise is pretty simple as a man named Sam Harper is over seas when he is killed by friendly fire in Kuwait. The army ships his body back to the states for his family to give him his respectful burial. It turns out though, that Sam Harper was not a liked man. He "wanted people to be afraid of him". This doesn't mean anything to an impressionable kid who happens to be Sam's nephew. The kid wants to grow up to be just like Sam. But that's besides the point. Sam, for some unknown reason, is able to return from the dead. Upon his return, he decides to kill any who is anti-patriotic, which includes loser teenagers, crooked politicians, people who cheat on their taxes, etc.The plot to the movie is somewhat funny. Obviously written by Cohen because it has his trademark style. The problem with the movie is the first half of the film is rather slow. I understand the need for character development but other then the Issac Hayes character, I could have cared less for the rest of the cast. Issac Hayes was cool because he seems to be the voice of reason for this bloodthirsty little nephew of Sam's. There were some characters that I couldn't wait to see get killed, though. The flag burning teenagers was quite a pleasure to see get theirs. Or the stupid, crooked politician was good also.All in all, this wasn't bad. I feel that after watching it, it was missing something. Maybe more gore, maybe more story, or maybe both. Look for the ending of the movie as it was made in respect to Lucio Fulci's "The Gates of Hell". 6/10

The 1990's were a truly weak decade for insane and bloody slashers, unless of course if you think "Scream" and all its uninspired clones qualify as good horror films. Luckily enough, there still was the companionship between William Lustig and Larry Cohen, who finished their "Maniac Cop"-trilogy and even pleased us horror fans with the entirely new and delightfully trashy "Uncle Sam". Naturally, this is a pretty insignificant film when it comes to plotting and building up tension, but it does deliver some great gore and splendid social sarcasm. Sam Harper was a loyal yet slightly deranged American soldier who got killed by friendly fire during operation Desert Storm. Some years later, his heavily burned corpse is brought back to the States just in time for the annual Fourth of July celebration in his hometown, where his young and naive nephew Jody still considers him to be a true role model. He comes back to life, obviously, and starts an ingenious killing spree dressed up like "Uncle Sam"; the symbol that used to recruit young men as American soldiers. "Uncle Sam" works well as a satire, criticizing the US Army forces that often don't really know what they're fighting for as well as typical blind patriotism, but foremost it's an exciting horror flick with several violent deaths and a cool, old-fashioned villain. The drama-story lines in Larry Cohen's screenplay (revolving on the aunt and mother trying to convince young Jody that warfare is actually a horrible thing) are surprisingly subtle and well-argumented. The two female leads (Leslie Neale & Anne Tremko) aren't very memorable and the young kid is rather annoying, but – and as usual – Lustig & Cohen could count on the presence of several B-movie veterans to star in supportive roles. Isaac Hayes is great as the retired army commander and Halloween's P.J. Soles appears as some kid's obnoxious mother. Good fun, recommended!