Uncle Sam (1996)

I don't seem to recall July 4th ever receiving the slasher treatment up until this so I guess "Uncle Sam" has SOMETHING going for it. Aside from that, it's another incredibly unremarkable 90s genre flick. Man, did Bill Lustig completely drop the ball after "Maniac"! I can't even believe he was attached to this fucking thing!

A 12-year old boy is obsessed with his uncle Sam - the war "hero" - whose helicopter was shot down in Kuwait. After his body is transported home, it comes alive for some unexplained reason and starts killing people around town during a big Fourth of July celebration...

Once all the 80s slasher shit died down it seemed like the pre-"Scream" 90s were there to scoop up any dumbass, gimmicky idea that was left and turn out some truly unmemorable toilet waste. Not that I would go about crediting Wes Craven for having improved anything as far as I'm personally concerned, but I don't think killer snowmen and Clint Howard grinding people into ice cream was really raking in those box-office horror bucks at the time so, of course, SOMETHING had to give. It's no wonder Lustig abandoned directing after this. "Uncle Sam" sums up the early-to-mid 90s perfectly with it's unenthusiastic approach and total lack of 'style'. The performances are horrendous and the kills are much too often bloodless and lame. That's pretty much all I got on this one...