poolandrews Review of The American Nightmare

The American Nightmare (2000)

"Everyone's going to die... so we are the living dead." Dull documentary.

[5/10 · 1 January 2006]

The American Nightmare is a 70 odd minute documentary that makes the comparison between a few classic horror films & the social & political struggles America has gone through over the past few decades. Written & directed by Adam Simon (who has directed a couple of horror films himself Brain Dead (1990) & Carnosaur (1993)) it was funded by the Independent Film Channel & I really didn't find much in The American Nightmare to enjoy, for a start the earliest film it discusses in any detail is Night of the Living Dead (1968) & the latest are Halloween (1978) & Dawn of the Dead (1978). That covers precisely 10 years, well I'm not being funny but the horror film has been a popular mainstay of the film going public since cinema began right up to the present day. A couple of early classics are mentioned but in little detail & are quickly forgotten about & absolutely nothing from the 80's, 90's or 00's are mentioned at all. The American Nightmare is also very limited in the fact that it only refers to six films, Night of the Living Dead, The Last House on the Left (1972), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Shivers (1975), Halloween & Dawn of the Dead. It seems to me that the film selection depended upon who they could convince to appear on camera. This is one of those documentary's that feature loads of college professor type people who seem able to read so much into a film it's untrue. Sure a film like Night of the Living Dead was made to change the entire lives of everyone who saw it & possibly change the course of the entire world as we know it, but on the other hand maybe it was made as a cheap horror film to make money. You decide... Am I the only one who thinks David Cronenberg (who, by the way, is Canadian not American so what's he doing in this?) is far too intellectual for his own good? Talk about boring! It's not without it's good moments & has lots of clips from the films mentioned but I didn't like it's approach & this whole 'I made such & such a film to rebel against the system & make a political statement' just doesn't wash with me, they were made to make money whatever anyone says...