At last there's a documentary that goes to the core of horror movies and analyzes them properly. Unlike "Stephen King's World Of Horror" or "Going To Pieces" where we would just hear certain people commenting on infamous scenes, saying how much the movie "rocked", "The American Nightmare" takes a closer look at the origin of some of America's most legendary horror movies.
Unfortunately, the inaccurate title might lead you to believe that this documentary actually tries to give you an overview of all the important American horror movies, which is not the case. Instead six different movies that where released between 1968 and 1978 have been picked (namely "Night Of The Living Dead", "The Last House On The Left", "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Dawn Of The Dead", "Shivers" and "Halloween") and commented on. George A. Romero, Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper, David Cronenberg, John Carpenter, Tom Savini and some bystanders (John Landis as well as various university professors) get to analyze the social movements that influenced those movies. It's a pretty interesting viewing, but at the same time it's frustrating that only so few movies are dealt with. Where is "The Shining"? What about "The Exorcist"? I know these movies appear in every other horror documentary anyway, but I feel like the makers of this one might actually have had something new and informative to say about those films.
Before watching one has to be aware of the fact that "The American Nightmare" is not so much a documentary about movie making itself, but about the connection between social circumstances and the movies. You won't hear anything about box office results or merchandise in this film, but you'll get some explanations of why certain things were put on celluloid and what they really mean beyond the obvious. Some theories seem a little far fetched, others aren't too mind-blowing or new, but all in all this documentary is the most insightful I've seen on the subject so far.
Now, to correct that little flaw, which is the movie's very limited running time (only 70 minutes), bring on a sequel, which includes "A Nightmare On Elm Street" and all the other great American horror movies that have seemingly been forgotten this time around.
Unfortunately, the inaccurate title might lead you to believe that this documentary actually tries to give you an overview of all the important American horror movies, which is not the case. Instead six different movies that where released between 1968 and 1978 have been picked (namely "Night Of The Living Dead", "The Last House On The Left", "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Dawn Of The Dead", "Shivers" and "Halloween") and commented on. George A. Romero, Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper, David Cronenberg, John Carpenter, Tom Savini and some bystanders (John Landis as well as various university professors) get to analyze the social movements that influenced those movies. It's a pretty interesting viewing, but at the same time it's frustrating that only so few movies are dealt with. Where is "The Shining"? What about "The Exorcist"? I know these movies appear in every other horror documentary anyway, but I feel like the makers of this one might actually have had something new and informative to say about those films.
Before watching one has to be aware of the fact that "The American Nightmare" is not so much a documentary about movie making itself, but about the connection between social circumstances and the movies. You won't hear anything about box office results or merchandise in this film, but you'll get some explanations of why certain things were put on celluloid and what they really mean beyond the obvious. Some theories seem a little far fetched, others aren't too mind-blowing or new, but all in all this documentary is the most insightful I've seen on the subject so far.
Now, to correct that little flaw, which is the movie's very limited running time (only 70 minutes), bring on a sequel, which includes "A Nightmare On Elm Street" and all the other great American horror movies that have seemingly been forgotten this time around.