In the realm of childhood-IPs-gone-horror, our beloved spinach-eating sailor has turned to murder in Salem House Film’s Popeye the Slayer Man.
A curious group of friends sneak into an abandoned spinach canning factory to investigate the legend of the “Sailor Man,” who is said to haunt the factory and local docks.
Popeye the Slayer Man, IMDB
I’ll just get to the point and say how great this movie was. I was totally not expecting to like Popeye the Slayer Man as much as I did, especially after watching Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey. Without giving away too much, the storyline is plausible (as plausible as it can be) and I can easily see how the characters could progress through the horrors they encounter at the abandoned spinach factory. Olivia (Elena Juliano), Dexter (Sean Michael Conway), and the Sailor Man himself (Jason Robert Stephens) are the breakout stars here, pulling the story forward with heart and a massively overgrown set of forearms.
Plus, we get a callback to 80s horror with a Popeye The Slayer Man-specific metal song. It’s catchy as hell and I couldn’t get it out of my head for hours after.
As promised, Popeye the Slayer Man delivers the infamous sailor crushing body parts left and right. Special Effects, under the supervision of R. J. Young, are the perfect mix of gross and freaking awesome; the kills here really put this film solidly into the horror genre, and there’s no mistaking it for its past live-action movies.
While Popeye the Slayer Man is clearly jumping on the public domain hype train, it still feels like a movie made with love — for horror fans, by horror fans. You can tell the amount of effort that went into making this movie, from Popeye’s prosthetics to effects and cinematography. If Popeye the Slayer Man is any indication of how these beloved characters will be treated in horror reimaginings, I’m totally here for it.
What I thought would be a rather once-and-done movie turned into a movie I’d highly recommend watching with a group of friends. Popeye the Slayer Man is fun, bloody, and surprisingly heartfelt. If you think about it, Popeye would likely be the best fit for a cartoon character gone to the dark side! And if you don’t like that, deal with it… as the tagline says, he is what he is.
Popeye the Slayer Man is currently out in select theaters across the US and available on VOD. Visit the VMI Worldwide website or follow the film on Instagram for more information.
