The Countdown To Halloween Day 26 VFW (2019)

 

VFW is described as a splatter action film.  Which  sounded good to me so I went all in.  The film is directed by Joe Begos who also directed Bliss, that I saw and really enjoyed.  He also directed the Christmas horror film Christmas Bloody Christmas that I have not gotten around to yet, but I heard it’s a lot of fun.  VFW is also fun.  Starring as the older veterans of foreign wars (what VFW stands for) is Stephen Lang (Avatar and Don’t Breathe) as Fred the owner of the bar, Martin Kove (The Karate Kid original trilogy and Rambo First Blood Part 2) is Lou, William Sadler (The Shawshank Redemption and The Mist) is Walter, David Patrick Kelly (The Warriors and 48 Hrs.) stars as Doug.

Also appearing is George Wendt, you know, Norm from Cheers, as Thomas and Fred Williamson (From Dusk Til Dawn and Starsky & Hutch) as Abe.  All these men were in the Vietnam War and meet up regularly.  Also, there is a younger veteran of Desert Storm, Shawn, played by Tom Williamson (All Cheerleaders Die and The Fosters).  Shawn, an Army Ranger, has just come home on leave and wants to see his wife.  When a young girl runs into the bar trying to get away from the street gang that she stole drugs from the night turns deadly.  The men try to protect the girl as well as defend the bar which is being attacked by the drug gang.

This is a splatter horror for sure, I mean there is lots of blood spilled so you have been warned if that isn’t your thing.  The street gang, high on their drug they call Hype, are a deadly force that the older men must fight off.  This is a clever film driven by the veteran’s knowledge of warfare and how to protect themselves.  There are certainly some creative moments here.  There’s not a lot to the story but what is there is done very well.  I will give this three and a half gun trucks out of five.  Let the drinks and the blood flow!