Sam Harper was a marine who was killed by friendly fire in the war of Kuwait. His body is brought back home around the time of the July 4th celebrations to be buried along with his parents. To his nephew Jody, he is somewhat of a hero and we wants to grow up to be just like him. But he's really the only one who sees him as a hero, as his mum, aunty and friends where afraid of him. But not too long somehow a burned flag landing in his grave has Sam suddenly rising from of his coffin. Where he decides to knock off someone that's dressed up as Uncle Sam and borrow the costume. Then he goes on a murderous rampage killing those who are unpatriotic and that try to stop him.<br /><br />Strange! Yeah, 'Uncle Sam' is rather peculiar to say the least. Being a fan of Larry Cohen and enjoying everything he has been involved in. From be it, writer to director or both, I've yet to see a flick I haven't liked of his. Well, that's me pretty much me being a one-eyed fan. Cohen teams up again with his buddy director William Lustig, who both brought us the terrific 'Maniac Cop' films that are a real blast, but here I couldn't hide that I was slightly disappointed about this project. I had an okay time with this ham, but the horror element felt mishandled and unsure. The weird thing is the horror moments come across as something of a second thought. I wouldn't be surprised if you're thinking that you're watching an anti-add campaign for the army to begin with. It takes an eternity for anything to happen and Cohen's script takes pot shots on the Desert storm war, Army and Government officials, and the shameless glory about it and how the word hero is loosely used in a very heavy manner. It shows the fixation of these topics perfectly. The last point is a good one, as we don't really know these people we supposedly call heroes. It also shows us how kids can easily be influenced in what they think is right. Damn that marketing ploy by the army in using toy soldiers in getting kids interested ;) Hell, I was a nut for plastic soldier figurines and creating battles when I was young.<br /><br />Cohen's thoughtful (though not perfect) screenplay is packed with many tearing satirical comments with a tongue-in-cheek approach, but the direction would've been bettered suited if it didn't come to be so hard pressed in delivering these scenes. There's nothing subtle about it. That's pretty much the first half of the story too and it does come across like a political drama, though at times it did feel and look like a TV soapy. The odd second half is when the 4th July parade starts and exploitation comes to boot with the killer being resurrected and knocking off victims who disrespected the American way of life and not supporting the troops. It picks up the pace here and strings some neat and inventive deaths. Damn it's particularly spiteful stuff, though not terribly gory, but it had its fair share of bloody moments. But still it feels like that they felt "Oh no, we got to add some bloody mayhem" and so they packed it all in the latter half. Sure it's nonsensical, right-o, but the wit we come expect from a Cohen script seemed absent. So it takes itself rather seriously by flinging about inspirational speeches and critical symbols and messages that are hard to overlook and since the actual context is absurd, it needed a bit more humour to soften it. The fun factor felt rather short. I just couldn't shake the feeling it was more interested in preaching than frightening. Actually trickles of it worked, but more often it passed me by. You could call the plot a slasher with a political opinion or just trash that will rot your teeth.<br /><br />I'll move onto another subject and talk about the quality the production. Low budget for sure, but actually the makeup and costume design for the killer is very well done. The bloodier moments are definitely up to scratch. The camera-work too was a bright light in the feeble mix. By adding enough showy angles that makes certain scenes stand out. Though sadly that's where the buck falls short. The atmosphere is non-existent and the same for the score. The b-cast is more then decent when you see the names involved. With the likes Issac Hayes, Bo Hopkins, Robert Forster, David Fralick, Timothy Bottoms and P.J. Soles. But even with these reliable names they all seem to be on cruise control and give rather soporific performances. The leading kid is a real doofus and the kid in the wheelchair seems to know so much about what's going on, even though he doesn't appear until later in the story. How does that work out? That's one of a few confusing things that crop up in the story that make you go "Huh?" The second rate direction by Lustig is rather tosh in patches and kind of restrained. The pacing is awfully uneven and torrid to begin with and the petering tension doesn't cause an ounce of excitement. I would've preferred to see Cohen behind the camera instead. There's a visible blooper that's plain abysmal towards the films' climax, which is very hard to miss.<br /><br />I didn't get much fun out of it liked I hoped I would, though I didn't think it was a total mess and it's something a bit different. But then again this is a Larry Cohen fan speaking here. I give it another try in the future, but I'll make sure next time I'm intoxicated.<br /><br />Side-note: There's also a blooper played at the end of the credits, nothing that great but worth a gander.