The American Nightmare (2001)

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The American Nightmare (2000) *** (out of 4)This documentary takes a look at the social issues of the 1960's and 70's and what impact they had on the American horror film. John Carpenter, Wes Craven, George A. Romero, John Landis, Tobe Hooper, David Cronenberg and Tom Savini are the famous faces on board to discuss films like NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE.If you're a fan of this era's horror films then you'll certainly want to check this documentary out as it has a great group of filmmakers being interviewed and it was great fun getting to hear their thoughts on their own movies as well as the movies of others. The three films I mentioned are the ones that get the most attention, for obvious reasons, and thankfully all three of the filmmakers are on hand here. Of course, watching these films today these interviews are all the more special since all three have since passed.For the most part I guess you could argue that there really isn't anything new here since we've heard Craven, Romero and Hooper discuss these three landmark films countless times before. Between the magazine articles and the documentaries and the commentary tracks, I'm sure most fans know all about these movies and what impact the social enviroment had on them.With that said, there's no question that this is a very fun documentary and if you're a horror fan you're always going to be interested in what people have to say about these types of films. Savini goes into great detail about what his days in Vietnam were like and how this leaked over into his work. All in all this is a very entertaining documentary that is very much worth watching.

You know, you really see movies differently when you hear the directors talking about what the movie meant to them or what they were trying to do with it. I really should watch more of those featurettes that come on the DVDs. I don't think I'll ever have the patience for audio commentaries, but the extra features on DVDs quite often have stuff like what you find in this outstanding documentary. Hearing the creators talk about their work really puts everything into a completely different perspective.I was especially surprised to see how affected most of them were by the Vietnam war, like Tom Savini, who served in the war and now does horror movie makeup, witnessed horrible atrocities and awful, bloody deaths, and then went on to incorporate those things into his movies. Kind of morbid, really, to think that he was an American soldier who, by his own words, would see dead bodies and would just detach himself from the immediacy and finality of it, and instead think more about how he could recreate something like that in a movie. Until I saw this documentary, I never once considered the idea of trying to recreate war deaths, at least by a soldier who is standing right there.Even directors who did not actually go to Vietnam were affected by the war, and it's amazing to see this powerful time in this country come across in what could easily be written off as just scary, gory horror movies. Good horror movies, but still nothing more than horror movies.In some of the clips that were shown, such as scenes from one of Wes Craven's first films, The Last House on the Left, I was amazed at how intense the horror is. I've been watching a lot of horror movies lately, things like the Friday the 13th movies, Nightmare on Elm Streets, Halloween, Child's Play, Texas Chainsaw, etc, and have started to think that I had just outgrown that sick feeling of fear and almost nausea that I would get as a kid just from walking around in the horror section, like the real raw horror movies turned into campy gore-fests by the time I got to the age I am now, but man, I must be going to the wrong video stores. There are some scenes shown in this movie that remind you what the real horror movies were like, back when they were meant to scare, not make tons of money. Back before the Japanese had to come in and show us how it's done, because we have obviously forgotten. Rob Zombie came out with House of 1000 Corpses last year, an underrated horror film that didn't set any box office records because it wasn't meant to. Like the directors in The American Nightmare, he is a lifelong horror fan and remembers what the real horror films were like. House of 1000 Corpses was his reminder to the world, now all these other directors are doing the same.While I loved hearing the directors talk about their movies and I loved watching all of the clips from their films, all the while trying to compile a mental list of movies that I need to rent, I have to say that I found the legitimacy of these horror films in the context of the society in which they were created to be the most interesting part. You don't really think about horror movies having too much social value or meaning, but these movies, as they say, are clearly a product of their environment. I found myself wondering at many points if we are going to see a new breed of horror directors eventually come home from Iraq

i think this documentary may have been the inspiration for danny boyle to use godspeed you black emperor! in "28 days later..." godspeed are used fairly judiciously in this film and "sad mafioso" is used during the clips of "dawn of the dead" which is the heaviest influence on "28 days later..." all that aside...the documentary covers six major horror films (night of the living dead, last house on the left, dawn of the dead, shivers, halloween, and texas chainsaw massacre) of the 60s and 70s. more than just rehashing them or talking about their influence on the genre, the film talks to the filmmakers about their influences and spends a good deal of time examining the cultural climate in which these films took place. everything from the cold war to civil rights to the sexual revolution to vietnam to the gas crisis is discussed by the filmmakers as the climate that facilitated these films. unlike "visions of light" which gave a fairly clinical view of cinematography's art and history, American Nightmare demonstrates a certain intimacy and love of the subject. visions of light certainly had interviewees who showed an immense passion for the subject, but the film itself did not exude that same passion. part of the way american nightmare does this is through its soundtrack (epically scored by godspeed you black emperor! and Karlheinz Stockhausen) and its ambitious style of cutting in source material with voice-overs. it's a good film and, like stone reader or visions of light, does a really good job of getting the audience into the material. after watching this i wanted to break out all my horror films and watch them on end. it's able to do this because the film itself is passionate about the subject, the interviewees are passionate, and the information relayed to the viewer is interesting, funny, moving and intelligent. B+.

Back before the dire imitators, genuinely superb horror films used to be made - horror films that represented the nation's feelings. One of the best examples is "Night of the Living Dead" and the Civil Rights movement metaphors.Adam Simon's documentary is amazing in the fact that it manages to interview some of the greatest horror directors (George A. Romero, John Landis, Tom Savini, Wes Craven, David Cronenberg, et al) and examine what their films REALLY meant.Admittedly I'm not a huge fan of the horror genre, but I love the horror masterpieces. This documentary covers every film I can imagine that represents greatness - it's definitely worth a look, especially if you're a fan of the films it encompasses (check out IMDb's references page for more info).