October Horror Movie Challenge - Uncle Sam (1996)

You can find this slasher on Tubi. 

A military unit finds a US chopper that was downed by friendly fire years ago. One of the soldiers in the wreckage reanimates, kills the unit. A few weeks later his body is returned home. The body is kept at the home of Sam's sister and her super patriotic son, Jody, until burial. Throughout the film the reanimated Sam kills those he deems "un-American." Jody also learns that Sam is not the hero he thought he was and teams up with military vet, Jed, to stop Uncle Sam once and for all.

One the surface this has a very conservative stance, especially if you watch the trailer. Sam kills those that cheat the system, desecrate the flag, and conscientious objectors. However, when you look at it a bit deeper, there's more to it. Jed, played by Isaac Hayes, tells Jody that war was simpler in his youth (when enemies like Hitler, were obviously evil). He also talks about there are no heroes in war, and those that are good at killing, fighting only to hurt others, not for country (like Sam). These messages aren't too unexpected, when you realize the film was written by Larry Cohen (who had a history of critiquing society in his films).

This film was directed by William Lustig, the director of the Maniac Cop series, and in a lot of ways, it feels similar. The film is a bit of a slow burn slasher, but has some great kills and a really creepy antagonist. The film also goes some places a didn't expect. For example, Jody's mom reveals (without using the direct words) that Sam raped and abused her when they grew up. I know it's a horror film, but I wasn't expecting something that dark and real from a cheesy slasher.

Isaac Hayes is the best part of this film. I love his character Jed. He's just a cool old vet, and the ultimate hero of the flick.

Finally, this may sound silly, but I will admit it was a bit upsetting to watch Jody burn G.I. Joes at the end.

In Your Game: A kill happy soldier revenant makes a great villain for a Vigilante City or Dark Places & Demogorgons game. In a DP&D game you could use him as is. In Vigilante City you could make Sam a test subject for a government project to reanimate soldiers.

Sam isn't really shown to have any powers, but ignores small gun fire. That's why I decided to give his stats ridiculously high toughness. I mean, it does take a direct hit from a cannonball to take him out.

Uncle Sam/Sam Harper

Armor Class: 15

Hit Dice: 3

Move: 12

Actions: 1

Attack Damage: By Weapon

Special: Toughness +10

Bonuses: +5 to Melee Attacks, +2 to Damage

Morale: 10

Terror: 12

HDE: 4

New To Me Movies Watched: 9

Total Movies Watched: 17