POPEYE THE SLAYER MAN (2025)

New On Demand from Vantage Media!
Directed by Robert Michael Ryan.
Written by Jeff Miller, Robert Michael Ryan, John Doolan, Cuyle Carvin.
Check out the trailer here!!

A group of college kids doing a paranormal investigation on a spinach factory comes head-to-head with a local legend known as the Sailor Man, which has been rumored to haunt the factory for ages.

OK, this is far from a good movie. But compared to the other Popeye public domain horror flicks, this film is CITIZEN KANE. POPEYE THE SLAYER MAN has a coherent storyline, a few characters worth investing in, a bit of creativity, and a somewhat creative way of using the Popeye property. Everything I’ve criticized all of these public domain horror films about seems to be addressed in one way or another in POPEYE THE SLAYER MAN. The film utilizes bits and pieces of the Popeye property and at least tries to convert them through a horror lens. This is completely different than simply cut-and-pasting the lead character, Popeye, into the role of a slasher. The folks behind POPEYE THE SLAYER MAN at least knew who the character was, understood the character, and tried to mold a slasher movie around that, rather than simply smooshing the public domain character into the slasher template.

Out of all three Popeye horrors I’ve checked out this week, POPEYE THE SLAYER MAN is the most well put together than the rest. It’s not necessarily good, but it’s the best of the bunch with some semblance of filmmaking prowess shown as well as attention to suspense, tension, and atmosphere. The story basically plops a bunch of young kids in an abandoned factory with a killer Popeye wandering around and knocking them off one by one. It’s a simple slasher format, but the kills are distinct and some of them actually come off as quite clever as one man causes his own death only to set up the death of another who dies similarly, but humorously. It’s this type of thought behind the kills that most horror films, even those outside of the public domain horror genre, need to do more of. It actually feels as if writers Jeff Miller, Robert Michael Ryan, John Doolan, and Cuyle Carvin did a little research, giving Popeye some of his gruff character, remembering his catch phrases like “I yam what I yam!” and even addressing his taste for spinach. All of this is worked into a plot about the owners of a contaminated spinach plant trying to sell off the property for a cheap buck. It’s not brain surgery. It simply seems as if someone actually watched a Popeye cartoon or two before writing the film. Imagine that? There’s even a Wimpy reference in this one, unlike all of the other ones.

The kills are pretty brutal. The atmosphere is decent with the dark factory serving as a good place to kill a bunch of twenty-somethings. POPEYE THE SLAYER MAN is not charting new territory, but at least doing the slasher thing well. The way this Popeye looks is more cartoonish than the other two with a very animated look to the mask. None of the films really know how to make Popeye look scary and really leaning into the uncanny valley effect of a cartoon character come to life. This one at least articulates well, despite looking like Popeye with blood splattered all over him.

Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a huge recommendation, but if you’re seeking out a Popeye Public Domain horror film to see, POPEYE THE SLAYER MAN is the one to go for.