WFG RATING: B+

VMI Worldwide and Vantage Media present a Salem House Films/Millman Productions film in association with Ron Lee Productions and Otsego Media. Directed by Robert Michael Ryan. Produced by Jeff Miller, Robert Michael Ryan, Nathan Todaro, Alysa Blasetti, and Alexander Tucker. Written by John Doolan; story by Jeff Miller, Robert Michael Ryan, and Cuyle Carvin; based on the characters created by E.C. Segar. Cinematography and edited by Korey Rowe.

Stars Sean Michael Conway, Elena Juliano, Marie-Louise Boisnier, Jeff Thomas, Mabel Thomas, Steven McCormack, Paul Konye, Clayton Turner, Richard Lounello, Angela Relucio, Scott Swope, with Sarah Nicklin, and Jason Stephens. 

The Sailor Man unleashes major chaos in an abandoned canning factory in the third of the Popeye public domain films, and perhaps its best one. 

Dexter Carter is a college student who is planning to make a documentary about the urban legend of the Sailor Man, a mysterious presence who is believed to be living near the docks in an abandoned spinach canning factory. He brings along best friend Lisa, crush Olivia, Lisa’s crush Seth, and their friend Katie. En route to the factory, they head to pick up Katie at her job when they run into her obsessive and possessive boyfriend Joey and his friends Terry and Jesse. 

A paranoid Joey thinks Katie is fooling around on him and decides to follow them to the factory. Meanwhile, Mr. Harrigan, the owner of the property, is planning to sell the factory to have it demolished but there may be a snag when a two-decade secret about the facility may end up causing the sale to not go through. Soon enough, everyone will learn that the Sailor Man is more than an urban legend. He’s real and he’s going to unleash hell. 

After seeing both Popeye’s Revenge (which turns the character into a Freddy/Jason meshing) and Shiver Me Timbers (where Halley’s Comet turns an old sailor into a mutated younger Popeye), having finally come around to seeing this, if there is to be a ranking of the Popeye public domain horror films, then this one is by far the best of the trio. It has the core elements that make Popeye who he is but adds some amazing graphic kills and a backstory that results in some major shocking twists. 

Kudos goes to Jason Stephens, who not only shows the physicality of Popeye (called the Sailor Man in the film), but unlike the others, gets to have a few lines including the trademark “I yam what I yam”. His motive of killing includes disembowelment and a lot of Mountain-style head crushing. Game of Thrones fans will know what that means. When you see him appear, then you know it’s going to get real. 

What’s interesting here is that usually in these types of films, there is usually one faction of victims. However, in the case of this film, there are three. First, there’s the documentary team led by Sean Michael Conway’s Dexter and Elena Juliano’s Olivia. The second faction is the unscrupulous owner and his head of security along with an attorney for the prospective buyer. The third is led by that one character that you want dead one way or another, in this case Steven McCormack’s Joey, the possessive and paranoid boyfriend of documentary crew member Katie, played by Mabel Thomas. Along with his cronies Jesse and Terry, they head to the factory for all the wrong reasons. 

The final twenty minutes of the film delves a bit as to who the Sailor Man was and how he came to become the urban legend with a shocking twist that changes the course of the film in a Texas Chainsaw 3D kind of way. Could there be a sequel for this film? Honestly, it could go either way. 

Popeye the Slayer Man is the best of the Sailor Man’s public domain horror films. While the other two had their moments, this one takes the cake thanks to utilizing the core elements of the character with a fun performance from Jason Stephens, some great kills (some unexpected) and a finale that takes quite an unexpected turn but in a good way.