VFW

After the recent Bliss, the talented Joe Begos has made another decent effort, set in a pub that will be defended by a bunch of veteran cops (Stephen Lang!) against drug-addicted punks. It's kind of a simple grindhouse affair that feels like it's straight out of the 90s and serves up a really decent helping of gore, with limbs flying through the air and blood splattering all over the pub. Decent fun for one viewing and the most brutal film of 2020 so far. I would have liked more polished visuals here, but it’s still good. 6.5/10 (16/02/2020)

VFW is an American production that is nothing more than a simple horror-action B-movie and any other expectations can surely only lead to bitter disappointment. However, it is quite gory, and the characters are OK, even if their lines and dialogues are not world-beating. Plus, there are enough action-packed scenes to keep you from getting bored. (25/03/2020)

Joe Begos is obviously a very big fan of John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 (which is a good thing, of course) and his crew of veterans is awesome. But he could have done with a bit more money, because the action, though intense and grindhouse-like, is also pretty slow. The VFW ultimately works better in those moments when Stephen Lang, Fred Williamson, William Sadler, Martin Kove and the rest are sitting in a pub reminiscing about the time they fought for a better world than when they have to slice up an army of drugged-up crazies who want to ransack their place. But as a throwback to the B-movies from the 80s, it's very cool. (03/04/2020)

Joe Begos was visibly riding the wave of John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 with this movie, which is already quite obvious from the style of the opening credits and the choice of the main theme music, not to mention a practically identical plot premise, gracefully relocated to a bar for a group of old American war veterans besieged by a deranged drug dealer and his relentless army of drug-addled punks. And so the slaughter begins. Unlike Bliss, Begos's second movie in 2019, VFW draws on predominantly likable characters performed by seasoned veterans of (not only) B-movies, and it was fun to watch their interactions and exchanges. Apparently, every single actor enjoyed the filming and, in some scenes, it even seems that their momentary outbursts of laughter and shaking of their heads were a spontaneous reaction to the action on the set and the crazed over-the-top delivery of the other actors. If I have to blame Begos for anything, it's again an exaggerated emphasis on style-over-substance. The darkened shots plus blue and red lighting seem superfluous in some scenes, and at times the action is quite confusing precisely because of that, although I understand that this, on the other hand, could cover up the flaws of a lower budget and make fake-blood look like real blood. In any case, I like and enjoy this type of B-movie-shaped fun once in a while. (20/02/2020)