Thou Shalt Not Kill… Except aka Stryker’s War

Josh Becker, USA, 1985, 35mm, 1.66, colour, 84′

THU September 18 / 23.00 / Slovenian cinematheque

After taking a couple of bullets in Vietnam Jack Stryker (Brian Schultz) is honourably discharged and sent home to resume his civilian life. Meanwhile his girlfriend Sally has been kidnapped by a religious cult lead by a vicious Manson-like cult Leader (Sam Raimi!) on a murderous rampage. Stryker teams up with his marine buddies and sets out on a revenge mission to annihilate the gang of crazed killers.

Becker’s ultra-low-budget and no less hilarious action-horror trashsploitation was made by many of the same DIY creative team who bought us Raimi’s cult classic The Evil Dead (1981), including Bruce Campbell and producer Scott Spiegel who co-wrote the story, while most of the interiors were shot in Campbell’s garage in suburban Detroit, with Raimi himself taking the part of the messianic cult leader, or as he puts it, “I’m the Except.”

“Unbridled, unrated carnage and gleeful slapstick are the order of the day as the cast and crew enthusiastically demolish rural Michigan. Schulz is fine in the stoic lead, but the first thing anyone thinks of when this film is invoked is Raimi’s wild-eyed, scenery-chewing performance as the nameless cult leader: he and his followers (including brother Ted Raimi as ‘Chain Man’) manage to score multiple laughs with their antics but, lest anyone mistake them for “lovable,” they’re also responsible for multiple atrocities both on screen and off (what do you think is going to happen to Stryker’s dog, for instance?), the better to sweeten their inevitable graphic comeuppance. The film does everything to please the hardcore micro-budget audience that Raimi had no small part in creating…”
– Shane M. Dallmann, Video Watchdog

“What would happen if Charles Manson met Rambo?”
– Variety