When I saw the cast for this movie, I must admit that I was impressed, and it was definitely a movie that I had to sit down and watch. So I must admit that I had some expectations to the movie.

And now that I've seen it, I can say that the movie was adequately entertaining. However, the script and storyline was weak and offered nothing new to the audience. In fact, it was sort of not really enough to sustain a whole movie on. And with that being said, I must state that it was the cast and their performances that salvaged the movie, as the script and storyline had massive shortcomings.

"VFW" is the type of movie that you watch once and take in the impressive cast ensemble, much like "The Expendables", and chances are that you will quickly forget about the movie, because the storyline was so flaccid and mediocre.

There is a good amount of action and violence in the movie, which definitely was one of the reasons why the movie also was bearable to sit through, aside from the casts performances.

This 2019 movie is adequate for a single viewing, but ultimately it ended up as being a very mediocre experience when you look at the movie as a whole. As such, my rating of "VFW" ends on a five out of ten stars.

VFW is the latest horror/action hybrid to act as an '80s throwback in the wake of the popularity of hit show STRANGER THINGS. This one feels more like a tight '70s thriller in some respects, with ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 in particular an obvious inspiration. A squad of former soldiers find themselves holed up in a bar and under attack from drug-addicted gang members who come on in waves. Our heroes have to use their skills and their wits in order to survive the relentless onslaught.

In filmic terms, this is basic stuff, with indifferent direction and action sequences that aren't the best or most exciting you'll see. There's a plethora of gore effects, but sometimes such moments are handled in a slightly fumbled way. The bad guys are rather ridiculous and the plotting is basic indeed, so don't go looking for much insight or cleverness there.

Where this does excel is the cast, which is an ensemble of old-timers doing their bit: Stephen Lang is assured as the on-edge hero; Martin Kove brings a bit of darkness; William Sadler recalls the glory days of DEMON KNIGHT in a rare hero turn; David Patrick Kelly and George Wendt are fun in bit parts; best of the bunch is the great Fred Williamson, pretty much reprising his FROM DUSK TILL DAWN part. Not a great film, then, but a great cast goes a long way in making this fun.

"VFW", also an abbreviation that I was not familiar with before watching this movie, is an American action horror (according to imdb) movie from 2019 and I would say that these 90 minutes also have components from thriller films, even if this is not officially a genre here. You could certainly say that this is a relatively simple film. The action takes place almost in the same location from beginning to end and if it doesn't, then it is still outside and not too far away from that location. A pub by the way. And the introduction is also spot-on and very specific and focused as we know that this is apparently part of a city that local police have given up on and it is run by drug dealers now, one in specific. Also, the drug this is all about is fictitious, so there are also some science fiction, maybe even fantasy, elements in here. The city/town is apparently also fictitious. But first things first: The director is Joe Begos and this is apparently the fourth full feature film from his career. Also 2019 was a very prolific year for him as he made a second film the exact same year, but then again he directed nothing else since 2015, so he probably had enough energy. And if not, then the solid screenplay and cast here helped him for sure with his motivation. He also wrote some of his movies himself, but here two other men came up with the screenplay. Brallier and McArdle are also pretty interesting, not because of previous scripts from them, on the contrary, but instead because of other projects they worked on in the past that are really something you maybe would not have expected them to be a part on looking at this film here, but also because of the positions they filled. I already said they weren't prolific writers, almost rookies even, but they gained decent experience in areas where (again) you would not have expected them to contribute to films. Look for yourself into their bodies of work if you want to know more. So much for the basics. If you take a look at the cast, you will find some fairly famous and very experienced actors in here. The key cast is older because this movie is about a bunch of tough war veterans, so it only makes sense, but even the two younger protagonists also have a great deal of experience, maybe more than you would expect looking at their age, especially if we focus on the really young and pretty stunning Sierra McCormick here.

The star, however, is of course Stephen Lang. What can I say about him. You all know him from Avatar I guess and there he is one of the best aspects from the entire film, but lately he has been in some smaller horror movies, sometimes as the bad guy (is it bad to defend your home with all means necessary) in that movie where he plays the blind guy next to the chick from "Suburgatory", another really hot redhead, probably even hotter than the one we have here, and herre Lang plays the leader of the good guys. They brutally kill many characters, but there is never any doubt that they are the good guys, even if Lang's character really violently assaults the only female from the villain group. But to me, I am not sure if I liked Lang the most. I found it a bit of a pity really that george Wendt was the first to get killed by the bad guys because I like the actor. Oh well, not my choice. Williamson was also pretty cool and I wish he could have lived. Same is true about Martin Cove. His negotiation scene really was among the very best, also how it was written, not just depicted, from the entire film. really well done there. But of course, he acts against Lang's character, he must die. No surprise in that. Actually, I understood pretty quickly that probably in the end, nobody except Lang's character and the two young guns are going to live. But it's alright, it does not take away from the suspense either. It was not 100% assured, just likely and when they had the other good guys go out in style like Sadler's with the truck explosion on the bad guy or Williamson with his final words before dying, I am all for it. The pretty rough humor from the old people was maybe what the film was most watching for. Just three examples: The constant talk about the very special event they want to go to that night. Secondly, on one occasion when the lights go out,one character jokes about being unsure if he is having a stroke. Or when that really big strong guy from the villains (I think tank was his nickname) is finally killed by our heroes and one calls him a "prehistoric creature". I laughed. The entire fight thing with him wiping the floor with everybody as if he was Thanos and they were the avengers was also really interesting to watch. Already the introduction with how he uses one of the junkies (well his head) to open the door was pretty brutal. Yeah, there is a great, great deal of violence in this movie, but it all felt real and therefore it felt right and necessary. Good choice. To me, all these junkies felt a bit like walkers from "The Walking Dead". Of course, they were still alive, but also how we find out literally nothing about them except that they are really many contributed to that thought for me. There was a pretty accurate quote early on from the villain leader saying something they may be an army of brainless creatures, but they are still an army. I liked it. In general, this actor also did a decent job and seemed like a good choice and held hos own well against our war veteran heroes. Here and there (especially during the aforementioned "prehistoric creature" scene and the "car deal" scene) I thought that maybe I could give this film four stars out of five even because it really rocked during these sequences, but eventually there are minor flaws or scenes I did not like too much and so I have to say that it is a good, but not great movie. These weaker scenes where perhaps Williamson's character taking the drugs for no reason really, the girl and her motivational speech for Lang's character and how he has his big comeback immediately afterwards when he walks out of the loo and maybe two or three other moments like Williamson's death and the comment that folloed immediately afterwards from the young soldier and how it was a bit predictable who will live and who won't. With keeping Williamson's character alive, they could have changed this perception and made my criticism futile, but yeah I elaborated on that earlier already. I still think that, despite these minor flaws, they did a really good job all in all with the screenplay and also with the dialogue writing especially. Makes me curious what the two writers will work on in the future. It's nice they got the chance here to come up with the story for this film, which is really not a low-profile project. They delivered and so did everybody else, not just those in key positions in front of and behind the camera. If you can deal with really bloody violence, they give this film a bloody go. It's a thumbs-up for me. Positively recommended!