Popeye's Revenge

Of course I was not expecting much of anything from this movie, as I sat down to watch it. Why? Well, seriously? Just look at the title and the contents of the movie. Doesn't exactly scream stellar entertainment. But still, on account of it being a movie that I hadn't already seen, I opted to give director William Stead's 2025 movie a fair chance.

Writer Harry Boxley didn't really put together a particular thrilling or overly entertaining script. And basing a horror movie such as this on the work of E. C. Segar just was a far stretch. Sure, I made it through the movie, but I have to say that "Popeye's Revenge" feels like it is a movie that is mostly suitable as a background movie; you know, the kind that plays while you're doing something else and only pay half an ear and eye on the movie. There isn't a proper storyline to follow, and it feels like you just watch a whimsical Popeye going from one random scene to the next, killing whomever happens to be in that scene.

I have to say that "Popeye's Revenge" comes off more as being a comedy than an actual horror movie. Why? Well, because everything was just so comically stupid and a horror movie based on the Popeye character is just silly. It just makes no sense whatsoever that the killer had to be Popeye.

The only face on the screen that I was familiar with was actress Danielle Scott. Yeah, I've seen enough shoddy low budget horror movies to be familiar with her. The acting performances in the movie were actually fair enough.

The effects in the movie were fair, but nothing extraordinary really.

The production level of the movie was actually rather good, taking into consideration the premise of the movie in general.

"Popeye's Revenge" is not a movie that I would recommend you to waste 79 minutes on watching. It just simply wasn't worth the effort. Just like the "Winnie the Pooh" horror movies, Popeye was something that never needed to be blended in with horror.

My rating of "Popeye's Revenge" lands on a generous two out of ten stars.

Move along....there's nothing to see here! If you're reading reviews to actually figure out if you want to watch this or not, then don't. This is just a run of the mill slasher movie where the slasher happens to be Popeye. I thought maybe somehow with the character being Popeye, this might be somewhat entertaining, but it wasn't.

The premise is that a bunch of twenty-somethings go to the house where Popeye was drowned as a kid to fix it up. Terror ensues, and Popeye, who stalks the place, kills everyone. While watching this, all I could really think of was Friday the 13th with Popeye instead of Jason. Then at the end they tell you a back story that sounds a lot like the Nightmare on Elm Street story.

I had hope for this. Even when taking on the obvious low budget it place, Popeye's Revenge is so so lacking.

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From what i could tell, Popeye's Revenge borrows much from a number of other superior horror movies:

Monster (Popeye) appears with the fog - The Fog (1980) House on a lake - Friday the 13th (1980) Death by wood in eye - Zombie Fleash Eaters (1979) Car fails to start - This age old tension builder has appeared on numerous occassions.

The script is lacking. Throughout there is an overwhelming sense of down time.

I doubt we'll be seeing much of the cast in the future, although the blonde had talent.

There was something about the female who goes topless, i thought she had talent also.

The guy with the Beanie hat, he possed talent also. That's my take.

Sometimes bad horror movies can be proped up by decent death blood speial FX.

Sadly, Popeye's Revenge lacks decent blood special FX.

Popeye's Revenge opens with an animated backstory to the film's killer which looks like it has been drawn by a ten year old. And not a very talented ten year old. The slipshod nature of this introduction is a very good indication of the film's overall quality: it's cheap, amateurish garbage.

The plot, for what it's worth, sees the young Popeye bullied by his peers until he snaps and retaliates with lethal force. An angry mob pursues Popeye, leaving him for dead at the bottom of a lake. Fifteen years later, a group of friends arrive at Popeye's old home to renovate the place and come face to face with the homicidal sailor.

Borrowing from A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th, there isn't an ounce of originality or invention in the script: it's a series of unimpressive kills, punctuated by scenes of sheer banality, most of which feature unattractive silicone-enhanced bimbos in various states of undress.

I have no problem with dumb, brainless horror in general, only when it is executed in such an uninspired fashion. Popeye is just some dude in a cheap sailor suit, and what little prosthetic make-up has been used on the actor is so poorly applied that it can be seen dangling off his face. The writers of this trash miss the opportunity to have the killer deliver amusing one-liners, the acting all round is atrocious and the characters are all thoroughly obnoxious.

The film's kills are the biggest letdown, completely lacking in creativity and devoid of cartoonish over-the-top splattery special effects. Popeye's nautical background could have resulted in some really inventive death scenes, but the obvious lack of budget means that most of the victims are simply splashed with a bit of blood. It's all very underwhelming.

I rate Popeye's Revenge 2/10.

Popeye's Revenge (2025) is another horror movie take on a childhood character that started off with Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023). While I have unironically enjoyed all the Twisted Childhood Universe movies, I really hated watching this movie.

Positives for Popeye's Revenge (2025): The movie is less than 80 minutes long.

Negatives for Popeye's Revenge (2025): This is the childhood horror movie that turned me off the most. There is nothing worth watching this movie for as the filmmakers get everything wrong about the horror genre. The acting is absolutely atrocious and no one is even trying to give a decent or okay performance. This horror movie version of Popeye looks like a very cheap cosplay that cost only 10 cents. There are no good kills, no blood or any food practical effects being used here. Despite being less than 80 minutes, the movie was horrible pacing as it drags the story on for so long that it wasn't even funny. And finally, this is the type of horror movie that will turn off people to the genre and it makes me sick to my stomach.

Overall, Popeye's Revenge (2025) is easily the worst horror movie of 2025. I just hope there are other filmmakers who will actually put effort into these childhood character based horror movies.