I can imagine a younger version of myself enthusiastically speaking about a movie like Onslaught, specifically because of its ingredients. It’s a mindset I might have to channel to explain why this movie is entertaining enough to warrant its abundance of vibrant violence. Director Adam Wingard might not return to horror with as much surprise as he did for The Guest and You’re Next, but he certainly has an admirable desire to fill the screen with cool stuff that doesn’t always connect but always looks exciting and weird.

The story itself is nothing that complex, despite how much room it has to explore broader concepts. Three super soldiers are developed at a secret desert military base, break loose, and brutalize a community. Not the most original idea, but what if I told you the mad scientist who made them was Dan Stevens putting on a German accent while dressed in white robes and licking the feet of his sexy wife, played by Rebecca Hall? What if the special agent trying to track down these soldiers was a horny Drew Starkey losing his mind and boasting a haircut that seems like a cross between a mohawk and a mullet you can wear to the office? And what if the community targeted includes a goofy cop played by Eric Wareheim and a sassy veteran played by Reginald VelJohnson? That’s the kinda pitch that’d make me fetch this film off the shelf.

Yet the film is so dazzled by all these elements that it rarely has time to center on its humane core with Celeste (Adria Arjona), an ex-sniper struggling to run a trailer park and be a good mom when her young daughter comes to visit. There’s a lot to work with there as the daughter becomes far too independent for her age, making Celeste insecure beyond the guns and booze she scrambles to keep hidden. Her backstory of war flashbacks and twitchy trigger finger makes her a compelling figure who is primed for the promised massacre in her community. But be prepared to wait, as it takes these bulky and masked super-soldiers some time to mosey on over to her trailer park.

While waiting for that gruesome finale, the film follows an absurd, bloody road, drawing inspiration from John Carpenter’s 1980s work. The intimidating presence of these shadowy soldiers with glowing eyes gives them a real sense of vicious menace for the way they brutalize the many people they encounter. There’s a slaughter at a gas station that arrives with the force of a truck, where limited ammo isn’t an issue for the crafty trio of killers. Butcher cleavers and chainsaws become fitting weapons for these horrific products of the American military. There’s some real terror and uncertainty with how these towering antagonists saw down doors, smashed through walls, and took several bullets before being declared killed in action. The odds are stacked against Celeste as she tries to protect her daughter from becoming a casualty.

Although Celeste is brimming with rage over the protection of her daughter, there isn’t much aggression explored in the depths of this plot, which twists into subversive detours amid its trim runtime. A betraying American government, with its secret weapons and the devaluing of soldiers, would’ve been fascinating to explore, but most of this is reduced to punchlines, with the frenetic opening sequence of the splattered archives of America’s military conspiracies feeling like the height of that fury. The fallback on the stylish violence keeps this film together, with more thought given to how soldiers would destroy a trailer park than to the faulty mechanisms that led to this state. Even the film seems content to just survive the killer carnage rather than fight further.

While not breaking any new ground, Onslaught stomps with just enough satisfying crunch and squish of regular soldiers versus super soldiers. It delivers mostly on what it promises, with some bizarre notes here and there of strange habits and a leather-bound sex party, proving that Wingard still has an ability to go to some odd places. For what could’ve been a forgettable foray into mindless destruction, there’s some charm to the style overcompensating for the substance, daring enough to be weird even if it doesn’t find many places to go beyond bodies being charred on flaming grills.

Not available on any streaming platforms.

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