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'VFW' Movie Review

In With the Old, Out With the New

By Will LasleyPublished 4 years ago Updated about a year ago 3 min read
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VFW is about a group of aging veterans hanging out in their local VFW bar: Fred (Stephen Lang), Walter (William Sadler), Abe (Fred "The Hammer" Williamson), Lou (Martin Kove), Doug (David Patrick Kelly), and Thomas (George Wendt). While the gang is celebrating Fred's birthday, a teenager (Sierra McCormick) seeks shelter from an unknown assailant. They then learn that she stole from a gang leader (Travis Hammer), whose new drug H.Y.P.E., has thrown the whole city into chaos. Now the bar is under siege from a band of raving H.Y.P.E. tweakers, and it's up to the old pros, along with a newly-returned younger solider named Shawn (Tom Williamson), to fend off the lunatics.

This movie is very clearly an homage to low-budget grindhouse movies, what with its grungy aesthetic, copious blood; even a lot of its plot elements (ravaged cities, gangs, drugs, etc.) are common among films like that. I've always been a big fan of those movies. Even when they aren't very good, there are usually at least a few enjoyable components, be it the gore, the action, the effects (good or bad), or the badass one-liners. Most of our main cast consists of staples of grindhouse action and/or horror, so again, the film wears its influences on its sleeve. It’s things like that that made me love this movie. It’s exactly what it wants to be, and it’s a damn good time. One thing that I didn't really expect was the fact that, while it certainly isn't pretentious or pretending to be anything more than a genre film, it never becomes tongue-in-cheek. While I do love movies like The Expendables, Red, and The A-Team (2010), I was really impressed that VFW never goes in that more comedic direction that I was expecting. It's clear that director Joe Begos and writers Max Brallier and Matthew McArdle saw the potential for a more reverent tribute, rather than a jokey send-up, and went all in. Begos' first film, Almost Human from 2014, was a hybrid of alien horror and slasher horror, and was a similar sort of B-movie homage. While I do think that VFW is a better film, I would recommend checking that one out, too.

Most genre throwbacks these days tend to have characters that are fun, yet mostly disposable. In VFW, however, there are actually a few more layers to our main characters than one might expect. Obviously, being veterans (most of them from Vietnam), these men have seen some devastating sights, and Stephen Lang gets a really cool monologue about that. With Lang, Kove, and Sadler, in particular, you get to see these guys run a gamut of emotions as each of them has developed different personality quirks as a result of their post-war trauma. And a lot of the more serious parts are subtler than the rest of the film, which is brutal and energized. The film takes a moment to let the audience become invested in the more somber/contemplative scenes, and it gives the actors a chance to carry the scene with their acting, rather than the carnage. It was really neat to see a movie like this allow itself the chance to have moments like these.

The look of this film is very cool. The scenes inside the bar really feel authentic, as there is no attempt to give the scene a more “Hollywood” look. It just looks and feels like a dive bar, and the neon really dominates the coloration of those scenes. Even when outside, the movie looks as if it’s being lit entirely by the street lights and flashing signs. You truly feel immersed in the seedy backalleys of the city. I also can’t rave enough about the effects. All of the gore is 100% practical; no CGI whatsoever. And it looks fantastic! Again, the attention to detail when creating the retro look and feel is outstanding.

VFW is the kind of genre throwback that grindhouse fans crave. The cast of veteran character actors knock it out of the park, adding an unexpected degree of nuance amidst the carnage. And thanks to some fantastic effects and a grimy atmosphere, VFW is a remarkable and unbridled action-horror hybrid.

SCORE: 5/5

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About the Creator

Will Lasley

I’m an actor and director of stage and screen. But I also dabble in standup, and on this site, horror movie criticism. I’m just a guy who loves horror movies, and I like to share that love with the world.

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