REVIEW: VFW (2020)

Run Time: 90 Mins
Rated: R
What To Expect: Kreese, Lang, Sadler holding off waves of pissant junkies attacking their bar

A new movie buried in the quiet grounds of VODland has my favorite film scene of 2020 so far; bar owner Stephen Lang witnesses a young girl stumble onto his premises with murderous thugs in chase.  After one of the assailants cripples someone with an axe, Lang, behind the bar, pulls out a double barrel shotgun and blows not only the man’s head off, but everything from the sternum up.

The premises is VFW, a hang out for Veterans of Foreign Wars.  Lang plays Fred Parras, establishment owner.  He is about to close the bar and leave with his friends (Martin Kove, David Patrick Kelly, William Sadler, Fred Willimson), all Vietnam Vets, to celebrate Parras’ birthday elsewhere.  They do not leave however, as the aforementioned young girl has brought valuable drugs onto the premises, the owners of which have surrounded the building and want it returned, along with everyone inside dead.  Human waves of pissed-out junkies attack the building, as the Veterans have their own ‘Night of the Living Dead’.

This movie is desperately cheap, with filming limited to an actual dead-end bar.  It’s also poorly lit (really needlessly dark too often) with pretty poor Z-listers as the main antagonists.  The upside is that it clocks out at 90 minutes, knows its own limitations, avoids shaking the camera and has a heck of an ensemble.

Familiar faces from Commando, The Karate Kid, Die Hard 2 etc show up to have fun, not get a quick cameo-con paycheque.  And that makes all the difference.  From there, all that is required is serviceable violence.  As cool music (the sound in that regard is surprisingly good, with some good synth too) plays, you will root for Stephen Lang’s dismembering of drug dealing scum and you will listen intently to Martin Kove’s lousy jokes.

Give this movie a try.