KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Scott LeBrun "Stryker's War", a.k.a. "Thou Shalt Not Kill...Except", is solidly amusing low budget action nonsense that definitely delivers in the laughs department. In fact, it's silly enough for one to believe the filmmakers had their tongues firmly in their cheeks. It's admittedly rather rough, in both the acting and technical departments, but this adds to the appeal if you totally dig wild and wacky B cinema. From a story co-credited to Bruce Campbell, and a screenplay co-written by Scott Spiegel, Josh Becker directs this goofy fun flick that takes place in 1969, after young man Jack Stryker (Brian Schulz) has returned from Vietnam after an honourable discharge. He's soon visited by his wartime comrades, played by Robert Rickman, John Manfredi, and Timothy Patrick Quill. It's a good thing they're around, as soon Jack will go to war with a Manson Family type cult led by an absolutely priceless Sam Raimi in a hilarious hippie wig, after the cult murders Jack's good friend Otis (Perry Mallette) and abducts his old girlfriend Sally (Cheryl Hausen). While this remains agreeable viewing throughout, it might require patience on the part of some viewers to stick it out through the first half before we finally start getting to the really good stuff, with a lot of hysterical gore and sadism. These cult members are going to get what's coming to them, and THEN some. One can see that this is a labour of love for the filmmaking family including such talents as Raimi, Spiegel, Becker, and Campbell (the last having also worked in the sound department). Raimi's actor brother Ted also turns up as the goon wielding the chain. Clocking in at a reasonable 83 minutes, "Stryker's War" makes for good enough entertainment, no matter if it's not a particularly good film. It earns points more for its heart than anything else. There always is something appealing about watching something made on a low budget by people just wanting to make a movie and have some fun. Seven out of 10.

Mark Heiliger Story by Bruce Campbell, produced by Scott Spiegel, starring Sam Raimi, and directed by Josh Becker - the crew that made The Evil Dead. This is like a movie a couple of drunken friends would make over a weekend. Not a single thing is believable about it, from the main character's limp to the 30-year old they got to play a high school student. This is NOT a good movie, yet I can't call it totally un-enjoyable.The story starts with some day-for-night, Midwest-for-Vietnam battle scenes in which Stryker gets his leg shot in a disastrous attack on an enemy village. This information could have been relayed quickly in any number of ways, but the first 20 minutes of the picture is devoted to this. It's all padding and has nothing to do with the rest of the movie, except for Stryker's fake limp and his Marine buddies showing up later on. Cut to Michigan years later. Stryker is coming back to his hometown at the same time a maniacal cult is cutting up the locals. But nobody notices until the Cult Leader (played by Spider-Man director Sam Raimi) kidnaps Stryker's potential girlfriend. Then he and his military pals bring on the violence.The violence in this movie is so poorly executed, it's laughable. The squibs are visible underneath the actors' clothes, the blood is obviously red syrup, and the fight scenes are the least exciting I think I've ever seen. It's a rare movie that's so bad it's good (and funny). Most movies that people recommend for the same reason are usually so bad they're just bad. I don't expect anyone to rush out and see this based on it being a terrible movie. Most of the dialogue attempts to be taken seriously, but the occasional brilliantly stupid line comes up. "Don't touch the sacrificial fluids! Okey-dokey?" Or when the Cult Leader claims to be Jesus Christ reincarnated, Stryker simply replies, "No, you're not." It was all I could do to muffle my laughter and not wake up my roommates.http://www.movieswithmark.com

Coventry Like all the other reviews stated clear already, "Thou Shalt Not Kill … Except" offers more interesting trivia details than actual good cinema. The film is somewhat of a side-project of the "Evil Dead"-team; only the roles and duties were exchanged for this once. Bruce Campbell (co-)wrote and Sam Raimi (nowadays the acclaimed director of blockbusters such as "Spiderman") stars as a thoroughly depraved, sneering and serial killing gang leader. He's totally awesome in a tacky kind of way! That means Raimi is a downright lousy actor, but if you see him go over the top here and then subsequently picture him sitting in the director's seat of a $200,000,000 box office hit … it's just a priceless image! The plot is familiar revenge/exploitation camp but ever more violent, senseless and uncompromising than it is usually the case. Four buddies that fought side by side in Vietnam reunite in their Michigan hometown for some random hard-drinking, sex with minors and blasting the hell out of wooden outhouses with shotguns. Meanwhile, there's a murderous gang of bikers active in the area. They're self-acclaimed messiahs, already killed several entire families and always clad nightmarish messages on the wall in human blood. You know, lovely stuff like "The Bloodbath is Coming!" Real-life scum as practice-shooting targets were just what our 'Nam buddies needed and it even gets personal when it turns out that the gang killed Stryker's befriended bartender and kidnapped his high school sweetheart. The body count in this film is enormous and each separate killing is somewhat imaginative. Unlike most Vietnam-themed retribution/vigilante flicks, like for example "Rolling Thunder" and "The Exterminator", the avengers here weren't depressed, embittered or dehumanized after serving in the war. Quite the contrary, they love bringing up memories about their tour together and literally enjoy shooting up the enemy… ANY type of enemy! Much more than the other entries in this sub genre, "Thou Shalt Not Kill … Except" is a pure glorification of violence. The filming style is gritty and very cheap, the editing and sound effects are really clumsy and the forced "happy" ending is truly hilarious. In other words; pure & genuine exploitation that won't get appreciated by everyone, but if you like this kind of trash and/or you want to see the other - more secret - side of Sam Raimi, "Thou Shalt Not Kill ... Except" comes with my highest recommendation.

polysicsarebest This film has Sam Raimi as a Charles Manson-like figure with a big gang taking on a Vietnam veteran and his gang in Bruce Campbell's backyard. Tons of blood, death, and some nice gore happens. What more do you need to know? I really have nothing else to say that could make you see this. You've already made up your mind. This film is filled with tons of hilarious segments, including some army men doing kung-fu. The last 30 minutes or so of this film is just violent scene after violent scene, and here's the thing: it never gets old. I've seen so many films where the action gets pretty old after a while. After 500 explosions or so, I usually get tired. In fact, war films are probably the most notorious for this, featuring way too many deaths and action scenes and not enough compelling moments. But this film is actually entertaining in so many ways that I can't not recommend it. It's another film you'll want all your friends to watch. Just a straight-up good time.Even though it's listed on IMDb as "Stryker's War", my copy is indeed known as "...Thou Shalt Not Kill, EXCEPT" which is probably the best movie title in history. Get this today. Also, check out "Intruder" which also has Sam and Ted and Bruce. Man, they used to all be doing such interesting, awesome things. Now... Spider-Man? Come on.