Sage Stallone's VIC

I never met Sage Stallone, but I always thought of him as a kind of a brother. I would have loved to have had an opportunity to sit down and talk with Sage. Not to hear stories about his famous father, although that would have undoubtedly been entertaining and fascinating. No, had I the chance to talk to Sage, I would have wanted to discuss the films of Lucio Fulci. Of Ruggero Deodato and Umberto Lenzi. I would have liked to find out which version of Dawn of the Dead he preferred, the Romero cut or Dario Argento's.

You see, Sage Stallone was a gorehound. Like myself, he spent countless hours watching good and bad horror films. Sage was a partner in my favorite horror/exploitation DVD distribution company, Grindhouse Releasing.

As far as I am concerned, Grindhouse can't be beat. Oh, I love Synapse, Blue Underground, and all the rest, but Grindhouse is the best. The choices of films they made, the packaging, the great prints. Grindhouse rules them all. And Grindhouse doesn't go for any of that Serbian gorenography stuff. They specialize in classic Italian horror.

As you probably know, Sage Stallone tragically died on July 12th, 2012, of a heart condition. He was only 36 years old.

You might remember that Sage played his father's son in Rocky V. He also appeared in Daybreak with his father. But I'm here to talk about a film Sage Stallone made called Vic.

Vic is a short subject. It only runs a little over a half-hour long, so it hasn't been seen by a lot of people. Unfortunately the way movie distribution is set up, it's really hard to see shorts. The only way to see a lot of them is through You Tube, but thankfully Vic does not appear to be on the site yet.

Vic stars the great character actor, Clu Gulager. Horror fans revere Gulager for his unforgettable role in The Return of the Living Dead. Gulager was also in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge. He appeared in the Feast movies, which were directed by his son, John. Genre fans will also remember Gulager from such movies as The Hidden, Teen Vamp, The Offspring, The Initiation. Clu Gulager was a TV regular, appearing in dozens of shows and original TV movies. He was in The Last Picture Show.

My favorite Clu Gulager movies are both underrated and criminally underseen. One is Jeff Burr's Eddie Presley, which was about an Elvis impersonator down on his luck and struggling with emotional issues. The other is a cool action movie called Hunter's Blood, which still hasn't been released on DVD.

Gulager has always been good in any role he was given by filmmakers. He tends to steal the show away from the rest of the cast. But Gulager has never been better than in Sage Stallone's short, but incredibly potent, Vic.

VIC is a character study of an aging, out-of-favor actor named Vic Reeves. Reeves formerly made great movies, appearing beside John Wayne and other Hollywood legends. Now he is forgotten. Or, if he is remembered, it is with derision and laughing contempt. He is scraping by, desperately trying to hold on to his dignity, while taking nickle and dime roles in bargain basement horror movies.

Then, late one night, Vic Reeves receives a phone call. A hot young director wants him for a role in a film. Think Tarantino. Will this be the ticket back into the limelight for Vic? Or yet another devastating blow to his already deflated ego? Watch Vic to find out.

Though it's such a short movie, I was blown away by Vic. Gulager plays the role to perfection. Every nuance of the performance serves the character. The supporting cast, which features Carol Lynley, John Phillip Law, and and John Lazar, are also excellent.

And Sage could not resist a nod to his beloved horror films in the opening of Vic. He even has a cameo as a deranged killer. Thinking about it puts a smile on my face.

The movie, Vic, could be seen as a bitter indictment of the way Hollywood casts aside its elders, but I think it's more than that. That kind of thing is not limited to Tinseltown. It happens in nearly every aspect of today's society. We worship the young and we wish the aged would go away and not be seen. I've seen it in my own trade as a machinist. Older guys who busted their asses in the trade, and they only want to continue to contribute to it, but since they have become physically and mentally frail, they are ostracized. In fact, a small subplot involving an older female cashier Vic takes a shine to, also demonstrates this.

Vic is a painful movie to watch. It actually hurts to see the events in it transpire on the screen. If it wasn't a difficult experience, the point would be diluted.

Copies of the Vic DVD are being sold at the Grindhouse Releasing website. I didn't get a free review copy. I bought one and I'm glad that I did. It was the best fifteen bucks I've spent on viewing in a long, long time. I can not recommend it highly enough.