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Low budget films face an uphill battle. They don’t have the resources that their well-funded major studio counterparts have during production, and whatever money they are able to scrape together is usually gone when shooting wraps or perhaps beforehand. This is why advertising is rare for small movies, so they need to have a hook of some kind to get attention.
An A-list star or high-profile director or producer would certainly help a film stand out amongst the dozens of releases we now see every month. In the case of VFW, their ‘big names’ unfortunately won’t resonate with a general audience. Fans of Don’t Breathe and Avatar will know Stephen Lang while cult cinema aficionados may recognize director Joe Begos, but using their names to advertise a movie isn’t going to sell millions of tickets or DVDs.
What a modest production like VFW needs to attract an audience is a decent title. Veterans vs. Gangsters or The Last Drug War are far more descriptive than a set of initials and give moviegoers an idea of what to expect. In a list of film titles, three letters say nothing at all except to those who happen to know what they stand for, so the movie’s prospects of finding viewers are really limited by a title that’s easy to ignore.
For those wanting to know what the acronym means, patience will be required as the film doesn’t reveal that until well into its second act. One of the antagonists eventually mentions that VFW stands for ‘Veterans of Foreign Wars’, which is a real life organization for soldiers who fought in overseas conflicts. What the movie doesn’t mention but implies is that locations where veterans gather, such as the bar in which most of the action takes place, are also called VFWs.
Before director Joe Begos gets to the explanation for the title, he introduces a night club run by the drug-dealing Boz (Travis Hammer), a leather-clad gang leader. We know right away he’s the main antagonist because he abuses his power over addicts who are hooked on a particularly potent narcotic called Hype. The drug reduces users to a feral state, making people behave like rabid animals. When a disenchanted follower, Lizard (Sierra McCormick), steals from Boz and flees to the nearby VFW, the gang leader unleashes his legion of ‘Hypers’ to reclaim his property and take down anyone who gets in the way.
Many outlets refer to VFW as a horror film, and the behaviour of the horde definitely makes a case for that categorization. The Hypers don’t speak, simply snarling and gnashing their teeth as they charge at their quarry. Most of Begos’s movie plays like a zombie siege film as the heroes attempt to fortify and defend their watering hole against the crazed attackers.
VFW also earns its horror stripes with some extreme violence. Impaling, severing of limbs, and exploding heads will delight fans of gore and further cement the film’s place as a midnight movie. Begos is clearly influenced by films of the ’80s when practical effects ruled all of cinema, and the director uses them liberally to give his movie a very visceral touch that has yet to be equalled by digital effects.
This is not to say that VFW is wall-to-wall action. The film spends time with the veterans who see their evening’s plans derailed, giving them a trait or two to help viewers connect with the characters. Fred (Stephen Lang) is the proprietor of the VFW and taking charge comes easily to him. Walter (William Sadler) likes a good joke and isn’t afraid to get up close when the fighting starts. Lou (Martin Cove) prefers to haggle his way out of difficulties which would explain why he became a used car salesman. Doug (David Patrick Kelly) is fiercely loyal to his friends while Abe (Fred Williamson) loves sharing war stories. These old soldiers enjoy drinking in each other’s company and are easy to get behind even if they are caricatures.
Where the film stumbles is in its depiction of the setting and the Hypers. We learn at the outset that the film takes place in a dystopian near future where gangs and drug users dominate the city, and the police are too afraid to intervene. Boz’s club with its decrepit interior and drug-addled users suggests that a wasteland lies beyond the doors. Instead, we see Walter and Fred driving to the VFW, scanning rundown streets that look very much like old neighbourhoods that are ripe for gentrification. The movie may at the beginning hint at a city in ruins like in Escape From New York or Omega Man, but we end up with very familiar urban areas that could do with a facelift.
As for the Hypers, they’re supposed to be a zombie-like army, mindless and utterly savage. They behave that way until the veterans need to be lulled into a false sense of security. Rather than mill about the exits to the VFW, the Hypers remain quiet and out of sight when the former soldiers attempt to sneak out. This strategy dispels the illusion of the addicts being unthinking beasts. We also rarely see more than a handful of Hypers together, which doesn’t make them much of a horde. While VFW was released in early 2020, it was finished before COVID-19 restrictions came into effect, so the lack of extras can’t be blamed on the virus.
As a siege film, VFW is adequate but doesn’t bring anything new to the table. It often feels like a movie that’s reaching beyond its grasp and could stand to edit out some details, such as the society-on-the-verge-of-collapse setting. VFW entertains during its intense moments but is ultimately empty calories that leave you craving something more filling.
Score: 5.5/10; Streamed on 2023-Mar-15.