Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except (1985)

Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except (1985)

aka

Strykers War

Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except

Du sollst nicht töten... außer

This cheesy, low-budget piece of revenge action from the Evil Dead gang might be technically sub-par, clumsily written, and poorly acted, but thanks to a genuine sense of fun, plenty of mindless violence, and a memorably OTT turn from Sam Raimi as a Charles Manson style cult leader with bad hair and even worse teeth, it actually proves to be very entertaining stuff.

The predictable story sees cigar chompin' Sgt. Stryker (Robert Rickman) and his tough Vietnam veteran buddies going to war one more time against a gang of bloodthirsty [cult members] who have attacked the sarge's girlfriend and killed her grandfather. What this plot lacks in originality, it sure makes up for in violent, gung-ho, exploitative action...

Of course, Stryker's War will be of most interest to horror fans keen to see what the creators of The Evil Dead got up to next: not only does the film star its director Raimi (who proves he cannot act, and yet somehow steals the show anyway) and his brother Ted (as a Mad Max style villain wrapped in chains), but it was also co-written by the chin-tastic Bruce Campbell, produced by Scott Spiegel, and features a rousing score by Joseph LoDuca. (IMDB  BA_Harrison)

Budget $200,000 (estimated)