Southern Comfort [1981]

The barely functional unit of city boys and macho rednecks invade the environs of the local Cajun trappers and poachers, "borrowing" the locals' boats and sending bursts of blank rounds over their heads in a show of contempt. Before they know it the dysfunctional strangers in a strange land are on the losing end of guerrilla war. The swamp rats kill their commanding officer (Peter Coyote) and terrorise the bickering bunch as they flee blindly through the jungle without a map, a compass, or a leader to speak of. Hill directs with a clean simplicity, creating tension as much from the primal landscape and the Cajuns' unsettling reign of terror as from the dynamics of a platoon of battle virgins tearing itself apart from rage and fear. Ry Cooder's eerie and haunting score and the primal, claustrophobic landscape only intensifies the paranoia as the city boys splinter with infighting (sparked by a bullying Fred Ward), blunder through booby traps and ambushes, and finally turn just as savage as their pursuers in their drive to survive. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com

Were it not for its similarity to Boorman's film, this would seem a masterpiece, as tough character actors like Fred Ward, Powers Boothe and Keith Carradine squabble their way through various chases and standoffs deliberately modelled on Vietnam. In the end, because 'Deliverance' went into full-on nightmare, it sticks more in the mind. But few of Walter Hill's movies are dull, and this is tense and nasty, with superbly atmospheric camerawork and a typically vivid score from Hill's frequent musical collaborator Ry Cooder.

Not many features on this DVD, but it deserves a place in your collection, either as a less painful version of 'Deliverance's harsh message, or a brutally effective suspenser in its own right.


Class movie   May 23, 2004
Karl Carroll
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

This movie has received an unbelievable mix of reactions from my mates, some love it some hate it.
Personally I love it, its the kind of movie you can watch over and over again. Think of Deliverance with more atmosphere, more violence, more fear and soldiers.
the characters (while not great actors) are better than Deliverance. When they go nuts individualy you can see why.


Southern Comfort is a taut and truly masterful thriller.   June 10, 2000
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

Walter Hill is probably one of America's finest,but most under-rated Action director. Southern Comfort,alongside The Warriors, 48hrs,and Streets Of Fire, is one of his best pieces. Tightly edited and broodingly atmospheric, it's greatest strength is it's all male ensemble cast headed by Keith Carradine, Powers Booth and Fred Ward. The script is economical, self deprecating and acerbic. Ry Cooder's rural score is haunting. The scattered outburst's of violence are quite poetic. Southern Comfort is a reminder of how potent American films once were.


"Godamn you Spencer, I'm trying to do my best!"   July 5, 2006
T. A. Vidamour (Washington, Tyne & Wear)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

This is a film about incompetence more than anything else, and it's not too different to Walter Hill's earlier film: 'The Warriors'. Nine men being hunted relentlessly through a hostile environment, and being picked off one-by-one. The action barely lets up from the first fifteen minutes. There's almost as many arguments as there are in 'Who's afraid of Virginia Wolf' as the bickering characters battle their way to survival. Often compared to John Boorman's 'Deliverance', this is film-making at it's brilliance to equal the latter. Casper is my favourite character because he behaves like a spoilt child and reminds me of so many incompetent team leaders I've known in the past. Ry Cooder's score set's the atmosphere throughout. The knife in the groin still makes my eyes water even after about thirty views. One last comment: If these are America's finest reserve - God help them!!


'Deliverance' in the swamplands.   July 11, 2000
4 out of 10 found this review helpful

Walter Hill ('48 Hours', 'The Warriors' and co-producer of Alien) has produced a disturbing look at life in the USA's southern swamplands, with a team of US National Guard troops getting disoriented during a training exercise (I mean, how do trained soldiers manage this ! ) in an area where you really don't want to get lost.

Following an accidental altercation with a couple of the 'locals', the troops are relentlessly picked-off one-by-one by the irrationally malevolent local 'hicks' (very much in the vein of John Boorman's Deliverance), and it is up to 2nd in command Keith Carradine to lead the fight for survival, with the grisly climax located in the murderer's eerie village.

The climatic 'knife in the scrotum' scene will make all grown men cross their legs for several hours after viewing, and the overtly aggressive nature of the 'hicks' leaves you with the distinct impression that all such 'country types' are insane, repressed murderers who kill 'outsiders' for sport. The culture clash scenario is thus perhaps a little OTT (although perhaps without it, there would'nt be much of a film !)

After watching this together with Deliverance, it's enough to put you off meeting the 'good old country folks' of the USA for good ! Overall, not a bad effort and entertaining throughout, but the whole idea is very unoriginal and this type of scenario was handled with more aplomb by Boorman.