For this Fourth of July, we decided to post a review of the most patriotic horror film ever; Uncle Sam. Released in 1996, it brings much of the quality you would expect from a '90s horror film. It's cheesy, has a ridiculous story, some over-the-top gore, and some interesting kills. It was directed by William Lustig (Maniac Cop 1, 2, and 3) and written by Larry Cohen (I'ts Alive, The Stuff).
The story is about a military pilot named Sam Harper (David 'Shark' Fralick), who is discovered dead in the pilot seat of his downed chopper, which seemingly went down from friendly fire during the Gulf War. His body is brought back to his hometown for burial, but instead, he is resurrected on the Fourth of July. For some reason, his sister has his casket in her living room, and after he senses some kids messing around at his empty grave, he gets bored in the casket and comes back to life to go on a killing spree.
Reiterating what we said previously about the quality being what you would expect from a '90s horror film, that doesn't mean it was great by any means. The film is not bad by holiday horror standards, but lacks quality in some areas. The production is somewhat good, but they focus on just about everything but Uncle Sam most of the time. When you do see him, it's usually worth the wait, but they definitely could have squeezed some extra kills in between character-building. Once he "acquires" his costume from a guy on stilts, he does look pretty creepy and has some Michael Myersesque moments where you can spot him in the background staring at people. The last 30 minutes or so are probably the best. Uncle Sam shows up to the town's Fourth of July celebration and just starts wrecking shop. He's out to get revenge and kill the people who left him to die, and pretty much anyone else in the way.
Overall, Uncle Sam is a pretty decent '90s slasher if you are looking for something themed around the Fourth of July. Some newer films like The Purge are based on the same holiday, but they are bad in their own way, and we would probably recommend Uncle Sam over those.
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