'VFW' (2019)


It's been a busy old day today. Okay, a 'busy old half a day'; I slept through the first half of today, all of it, and I don't regret a single snore. If the guy hadn't turned up to fix my intercom thing (he couldn't but I did get a new doorbell), there's a strong possibility that I'd still be asleep right now. But anyway...

For those of you that are interested, the rest of my day involved trying to get my kids to do what they were told (pro-tip: don't play 'Exploding Kittens' with a 10 year old and a seven year old that can't stand each other, just let them play on their DS' instead) so tonight was about kicking back with a movie and letting my brain check out for a while. Little did I know it, but the evening would also be about not believing everything the back of a DVD case tells you...

A typical night for a group of war veterans at the local VFW (an organization supporting 'Veterans of Foreign Wars') turns into an all-out battle for survival when a teenage girl runs into the bar with a bag of stolen drugs.

Suddenly under attack from a gang of punk mutants looking to get back what's theirs -- at any cost -- the vets use every weapon they can put together to protect the girl, and their VFW, in the biggest fight of their lives.

This is the Amazon blurb, the DVD blurb differs slightly but is the same in one key point. Let me explain...

Words are powerful, just one word in the right place can direct your thinking and colour your outlook. A word like 'mutants', placed in the middle of 'VFW's blurb, for instance. I don't' know about you but that word got me thinking 'post-apocalypse' or 'changed by drugs into something not quite human anymore...' The kind of thing then that I love in horror so would definitely pick up the DVD if that's what's on offer.

Reader, that wasn't what was on offer. 'VFW' is a solid film in it's own right, more on that in a bit, but had no mutants whatsoever. Which makes you wonder why the word 'mutants' went in when there was really no need for it to be there. This is no judgment on the film itself (that's coming), more me being baffled by an odd choice of wording. It's also a word of warning to anyone like me who sees that word and is up for buying a copy of the movie. 'VFW' is not the film you think it is.

What is 'VFW' then...? Well, it's 'Assault on Precinct 13' (the John Carpenter one, never saw the other one) but with more drugs, more bloody death and absolutely no little girls being shot while trying to buy an ice cream. Can you tell that moment still haunts me? Anyway... 'VFW' isn't a bad movie at all but the concept is so similar that I couldn't help but think that if I had wanted to watch 'Assault on Precinct 13' then I'd be watching that instead.

But it works though, that's the thing, and that was more than enough to keep the movie ticking over and me watching. It has a very good mix of tension (built up slowly through the introduction of differing levels of threat) and the kind of camaraderie, between the veterans, where you see what's coming and feel sad for particular veterans about a quarter of an hour before they die (so, in a good way then). You know how it's going to end but you stick around because you want to see who makes it, I wanted all of them to make it but unfortunately...

And it's made up of some great performances that are all the more intense because of how understated they are. I honestly can't choose between any of the veterans (and Lizard) and even Boz, a character where you'd almost expect hyped up, cartoonish evil, is all the more powerful because of how laid back his evil is. Boz doesn't have to work at it, he just is what he is.

From where I'm sat, 'VFW' will always suffer a little for coming across all 'Assault on Precinct 13' but there's a lot more going on here that will keep you occupied and watching, not least the film's willingness to soak you in gore at just the right moments. Worth a look but seriously, there are no mutants, not one ;o)

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