The following contains spoilers for Popeye’s Revenge, now available on home video and Prime Video.
One of the most popular characters is undoubtedly Popeye the Sailor. His journey began in one of the best comic strips in 1929. The sailor went on to romance Olive Oyl, feud with Bluto, and care for his adopted ward, Swee’Pea. In time, Popeye would be involved in cartoons, comic books, a manga series, and a 1980s movie starring Robin Williams and The Shining’s Shelley Duvall.
Interestingly, Popeye has now received the horror movie treatment, thanks to entering the public domain. It’s in the same vein as the Poohniverse movies where Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet and other A. A. Milne characters became ruthless killers. The 2025 film, Popeye’s Revenge, makes the character a brute who wants to murder people in Sweetville in the name of revenge. However, it’s botched so terribly that it doesn’t even have a Rotten Tomatoes score.
What Is Popeye’s Origin in Popeye’s Revenge?
Popeye Was Bullied and Killed By Sweetville Villagers
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In the original story, Popeye was a sailor who powered up and gained super-luck by rubbing Bernice, a “whiffle hen.” The comic strip then shifted to have him using cans of spinach to become superhuman and invulnerable. In Popeye’s Revenge, however, there is none of that.
The film opens with an animated sequence that confirms Popeye was a child who was born disfigured. His arms were bigger, giving him exceptional strength. However, he was considered a freak and was bullied in school. This led to him attacking one student and killing him. Popeye was hidden away in his parents’ basement, only to be slipped letters by his sister Olive to comfort him. Though not depicted as his crush like in the source material, Olive turns out to be the person who wants to save him.
Popeye’s Revenge Details
|
Writers |
Director |
Run Time |
IMDb Rating |
|
Harry Boxley, E.C. Segar |
William Stead |
79 mins. |
2.7/10 |
Unfortunately, Popeye’s story quickly takes a similar route to Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street. Freddy was a child killer who was burned and became a demonic being invading dreams. Popeye’s house is attacked by people in Sweetville. They burn the property down, killing his parents and scarring Popeye. The boy flees into the woods and ends up drowning in the lake and becomes a myth. Legend then has it that he revives and stalks the estate when the fog rolls in.
Much like Freddy, he invades the dreams of parents around town, making it clear they must rebuild his home and leave the land alone. It’s a task passed from family to family. Some might think it’s mass hysteria, but the movie wants viewers to think Popeye is a supernatural boogeyman like Freddy. This doesn’t resonate as much, however. At least the Poohniverse had some original ideas with all its monsters being lab experiments who set themselves free and vowed revenge. This ghoulish Popeye lacks inventiveness.
What Is Popeye’s Mission In Popeye’s Revenge?
Popeye Wants To Kill The Families That Burned His Home Down
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Popeye stalks young adults who visit the property. Tara, Dylan and their friends arrive to rebuild. They want to turn the spot into a haunted house attraction and make money. Tara’s mother, Lora, now owns the estate, with the former wanting to earn cash as they’re going broke. This leads to the story becoming more similar to Jason Voorhees’ in Friday the 13th, with the nearby lake clearly homaging Camp Crystal Lake.
Coincidentally, the flick becomes a sex-fueled romp, with people unaware Popeye is lurking. He arrives to maim people, with the death scenes being as gory as the Scream movies. Despite the obvious attempt at parody, the movie does miss the mark due to the lack of fresh vision. It comes undone when Tara’s parents and Dylan’s mother learn what the crew is doing and rush over. It turns out, Lora was the school teacher who tried to help Popeye back in the day.
Tara also befriended Popeye and tried to protect him in the bullying incident. He went into berserker mode, defending her. However, Lora lost all hope that he could be saved and simply feared for Tara’s life. Lora led the villagers to the house that night and burned it down. She feels guilty, but she thinks they did the right thing.
The Ending of Popeye’s Revenge Is Equally Bizarre and Disjointed
Dylan and Tara Seemingly Kill Popeye and Olive
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Lora and Tara had no clue Popeye would return as this vengeful soul, with Olive helping him on his spree. Popeye kills Dylan’s mother in a violent ending that also results in Olive being blown up by Dylan. In the end, Tara gets on a mower and grinds Popeye up to kill him. She tries to throw the key in the lake, but somehow, it reappears on land again.
The movie ends with Popeye showing up and attacking Tara, confirming that Popeye is a mystical being. It homages the Halloween movie franchise, where Michael Myers was the supernatural Shape who couldn’t die. Even villains like Leatherface have the same kind of energy, which makes Popeye feel a bit generic. It does tease a sequel, with Dylan and Tara either escaping, or trying to kill Popeye for murdering their friends and family.
With Olive dead, Popeye will be angrier with a stronger bloodlust. Should the couple die, there are more families in town who could visit and investigate who is missing. They were part of the pact to build the home for Popeye and let it be. This gives Popeye more victims to prey on and expands the franchise.
Popeye’s Revenge Also Has Weird Plot Holes
Popeye’s Revenge Never Explains Tara’s Memory Loss
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There are a couple of odd plot holes that could annoy moviegoers. Firstly, Tara doesn’t remember Popeye at all when they were in school together. Back then, he was Johnny. The movie never explains how Tara forgot their bond, how she stuck up for him, and why she couldn’t see this person with the big arms in the present is Johnny. That could have created a more emotional ending, with Johnny pursuing Tara and hunting Dylan out of jealousy.
If Johnny had invaded her dreams, messed with her memories and baited her over, Popeye’s Revenge could have crafted a tale akin to Dracula in Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu. Seeing him bitter over being rejected would explain his revenge. That could have had him targeting the couples around him due to him never being able to experience love. Hunting Tara would also have created conflict, appealing to the human within Johnny. If a sequel does happen, Tara and Johnny’s link should be the plot driver.
Additionally, the slasher never explains why the police didn’t come for Johnny at home once he killed his bully, or why his parents would think they could just leave him in the cellar. It also took days, which establishes a very huge inconsistency. The cops or the mob should have been there quickly after he strangled and popped someone’s eyes out, similar to the Mountain killing Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones. These inconsistencies weaken Popeye’s vengeance storyline.
Popeye’s Revenge’s Biggest Mistake Is Having No Identity
Popeye’s Revenge Fails to Use His Signature Sailor Elements Properly
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Perhaps the biggest error made is not giving the movie its own identity and horror aesthetic. It copies too much from more iconic horror villains, instead of finding new ways to reinvent or subvert more of Popeye’s core elements. He uses a boat anchor at times on land, but a better bet would have been having Tara’s pack come aboard his boat.
That would have played up his sailor arc more and given him tools to kill, such as hooks, fishing lines, boat fuel, and live bait. Outside the anchor, he could have had cans of spinach he lived off for sustenance. They could have also been used as weapons, along with his pipe to stab people. These are just some examples of staying true to the character’s more well-known traits.
All of these developments would have given the boat a purpose. Instead, it’s just randomly thrown into the movie as a base. It could have also explained how Olive hid out and became a junkie and a sidekick. This boat would have become their home and haven, adding nuance to the sailor trope. Ultimately, Popeye’s Revenge has potential, but it feels thin and laden with very basic filmmaking mistakes.
Popeye’s Revenge is available on home video and Prime Video.
