V/F/W (at Monster Fest ’19)  ★★★

THE names Stephen Lang, William Sadler, Martin Kove and Fred Williams might not be familiar to you.

But think of the bad guy in Avatar, the bad guy in Die Hard 2, the bad guy in The Karate Kid and Frost in From Dusk ’til Dawn and the faces start to emerge.

Throw in George Wendt from Cheers and David Patrick Kelly and these six guys have nearly 900 credits between them.

Sure, most of their films have been B Grade fare or below, but you’re not around a camera for decades without becoming at the least a reliable character type.

In the horror/action film V/F/W, which stands for Veterans of Foreign Wars, they play a group of tough, old Vietnam and Korean War veterans who are forced to fight off a horde of attackers driven into a frenzy by a ravaging new drug called Hype.

Lang’s character, Fred, runs a veterans’ bar and his mates have gathered there to help celebrate his birthday. A young teenage girl suddenly bursts in chased by several men and a deadly fight ensues.

The girl has stolen the neighbourhood drug dealer’s stash, in retaliation for him talking her sister into jumping off a building to her death, and he will stop at nothing to retrieve it with an army of desperate addicts at his command.

So, the good stuff first. All the performances are fine and the natural and often humorous banter between the veterans builds strong empathy with the characters.

Equally Travis Hammer, as the drug dealer, resists the urge to go over-the-top and become ridiculous, as happens often with this type of film.

Despite being a 2019 release, the film has the grainy look of classic ’80s actioners and a Western aesthetic that makes it even more enjoyable to a specific audience.

But here’s the problem. The action and gore are good but bloody hard to see and follow and ultimately dropped the film down in my rating as a result.

It has obviously been made on a limited budget and director Joe Begos chooses to focus on close-ups that are highly edited and badly-lit to hide the perceived shortcomings in the make-up and special effects.

It’s a shame because in every other aspect this is a film that could have been a minor cult classic.