''The American Nightmare'' is a 2000

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

directed and written by

Adam Simon Adam Simon (born February 6, 1962) is an American director, producer, and screenwriter. His directing credits include ''Brain Dead'' (1990), '' Body Chemistry II: The Voice of a Stranger'' (1992), and ''Carnosaur'' (1993). Simon, along with pro ...

. The film documents the relationship between independent horror film directors such as

George A. Romero George Andrew Romero (; February 4, 1940 – July 16, 2017) was an American-Canadian filmmaker, writer, editor and actor. His ''Night of the Living Dead'' series of films about an imagined zombie apocalypse began with the 1968 film of the ...

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...

Tobe Hooper Willard Tobe Hooper (; January 25, 1943 – August 26, 2017) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work in the horror film, horror genre. The British Film Institute cited Hooper as one of the most influenti ...

and

Wes Craven Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. Craven has commonly been recognized as one of the greatest masters of the horror genre due to the cultural imp ...

and their relationship between the political and social changes of the era and the horror films of that time. The film was shown at the 2000

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

and was shown later on the

Independent Film Channel IFC (formerly known as the Independent Film Channel) is an American basic cable channel owned by AMC Networks, originally launching in 1994 as a TV channel devoted to independent films. The Independent Film Channel originally operated as a com ...

Production

Writer Adam Simon stated he wrote the film for audiences who enjoyed ''

The Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American supernatural horror film written, directed and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez (director), Eduardo Sánchez. It is a fictional story of three student filmmakers—Heather Donahue, Mic ...

'' to put independent horror films of the 1960s and 1970s into context. Simon described the film as a "way to sneak a history lesson in to young people who love horror movies. In that sense, I hope it will inspire a younger generation to get busy again, both as filmmakers and as citizens. For me, in some ways, the most distressing part of the movie was being forced to recognize how much more radical the press was, the media was, and film was than it is now. That was kind of depressing." Legal rights problems prevented inclusion of some titles, including those in the “

Friday the 13th Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. It occurs when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday, which happens at least once every year but can occur up to three times in the same year. ...

” series.

Release

''The American Nightmare'' was shown at the

in September 2000. The film was shown on the

shortly after in October 2000. The film was released on DVD on March 20, 2004.

Reception

"GM" of '' Time Out'' described the film as a "thorough, intelligent and stylish study of the superior brand of horror movies that emerged from America in the late '60s and '70s." and that the film was "Good solid stuff, though given some of the academic work done on how the films relate to concepts of family, ritual, sexual politics and so on, you sometimes feel the makers might have probed a little deeper." Brian J. Dillard of

AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...

compared the film to ''

Terror in the Aisles ''Terror in the Aisles'' is a 1984 American documentary film about horror films, including slasher films and crime thrillers. The film is directed by Andrew J. Kuehn, and hosted by Donald Pleasence and Nancy Allen. The original music score is co ...

'' noting that while that film "merely strung together the money shots from a wide variety of horror films" that ''American Nightmare'' "takes a specific subset of this enduring genre and convincingly argues a case about its historical context and sociological significance." The review concluded that the documentary "offers an appealing mixture of meticulous research, historical anecdote, and twisted humor." Eddie Cockrell of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' found that "Simon infuses pic with the same nervous enthusiasm displayed by the genre’s fans" as well as that "the sheer ambition of docu’s structure is also its downfall. Arbitrary and too-cute title cards (“Home Is Where the Hearts Are,” “Staying Alive”) butt up against inconsistent year markers, with pic losing much of its head after about an hour."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:American Nightmare, The American documentary films Documentary films about horror 2000 documentary films 2000s American films