Waking up from the American Nightmare

“I wanted something savage to happen”--John Carpenter

I know I am probably preaching to the choir of horror devotees out there, but if you haven’t already you should definitely look into IFC’s documentary on horror films from the 60s and 70s, The American Nightmare. The whole enchilada is available on YouTube and it’s a definite must see for any horror fan. Carol Clover, author of Men, Women and Chainsaws and the creator of the “Final Girl” theory in slasher films makes an appearance, and as you might have guessed from reading my sidebar I really enjoy her opinions on these leftist horror features.

They interview the major directors from this period as well including John Carpenter, George Romero, David Cronenburg, Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper, and Tom Savini. I particularly enjoyed Hooper’s explanation of the genesis of Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Was it Sears or Wards?). The opening of Nightmare is famous for splicing together scenes from horror films (Night of the Living Dead, Rabid etc.) and footage of actual violence from Vietnam and the civil rights movement.

Some fans may be disappointed with the YouTube version of the documentary because several scenes of nudity in the segment on the sexual revolution of the 60’s were censored to avoid its deletion (so ironic).

Comments

  1. Monsterscholar,

    I got this one from Netflix a while back on the enthusiastic recommendation of a friend of mine. It's a greta doc, and a very interesting look at an era that spawned some great horror films.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This doc kicked my passion for horror films into high gear. Good stuff.

    ReplyDelete

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