Nightmares in Red, White and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film
Nightmares in Red, White and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film
- NIGHTMARES IN RED, WHITE AND BLUE: THE EVOLUTION O (DVD MOVIE)
Horror and sci-fi veteran Lance Henriksen (Alien, Near Dark) takes you through a fascinating look at the history of the American horror film, analyzing the early monster movies of the silent era up to the scariest modern-day masterpieces. Highlights include interviews with genre masters Roger Corman, John Carpenter and George A. Romero, plus clips from classic films like The Exorcist, Night of the Living Dead, Friday the 13th, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, Hostel, Rosemary’s Baby and many more!
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Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue,
From Thomas Edison’s FRANKENSTEIN to Eli Roth’s HOSTEL, the new Horror documentary NIGHTMARES IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE covers the full spectrum of genre films beginning with their early inception through today’s current trends. Filmmakers Mick Garris, John Carpenter, George Romero, Joe Dante, Roger Corman, Darren Lynn Bousman, and many others grace the screen as they discuss the social and political significances that each of the film eras held, while also philosophizing over the inspirations and motives behind each of their own films. The thoughtful and engaging commentary by Horror’s most prolific filmmakers offers a great amount of insight into each of the major movements that have occurred over the past century. Unfortunately, NIGHTMARES’ 96m run-time limits director Andrew Monument into covering only the most mainstream and recognizable genre entries, with a few surprises like SHIVERS or ONE DARK NIGHT popping up along the way. As an all-encompassing overview, however, Monument has selected the absolute best that Horror has to offer, and has formed an intelligent presentation that would be quite informative for anyone that is unfamiliar with the genre. Notable examples that are covered include FRANKENSTEIN, THE LEOPARD MAN, THE THING, THEM, PSYCHO, BLOOD FEAST, THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, DEATHDREAM, STRAW DOGS, THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, THE EXORCIST, CARRIE, HALLOWEEN, DAWN OF THE DEAD, THEY LIVE, FRIDAY THE 13TH, THE HOWLING, CANDYMAN, SCREAM, the recent remakes, and more recently, SAW and HOSTEL. Unlike many of the Horror documentaries made in the past, NIGHTMARES is superbly edited, with key conversation that rarely strays off topic, an even amount of video clips and cast commentary, and smooth transitions from one topic to the next. NIGHTMARES IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE will be mostly review for hardcore audiences, but the documentary is a resourceful tool for any uninitiated fans that are interested in the history and background into the Horror genre.
-Carl Manes
I Like Horror Movies
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|A lot of Fun But it Needs Some Work,
Having been born in 1952 I’ve seen much of what is talked about in this documentary, and my dad filled us kids in on the early Universal movies, so seeing this was a real trip down memory lane.
This is sort of a Reader’s Digest version of the history of horror films. The talking heads are comprised of both horror film directors and horror film historians so the viewer gets a decent cross section of how the genre has transpired. It shows a lot of footage from many of the famed movies and juxtaposes them against their respective social/ historical periods to help make sense of their subtexts.
This has a one hour and thirty six minute running time so it is rather concise. The history of horror films is long and contains thousands of films. One would need much more time to do it justice. The producers do what they can in the allotted time but it left me wanting more. And it got a bit jumpy at times. The transition from one period to the next wasn’t always that smooth. It were as though they didn’t always know how to get from A to B. Plus, as in any other discipline, broad strokes don’t always work. The films they show might fit a certain trend but I’m sure there were others in the same period that did not. Like any other field, not everything is black and white. And some important films, notably Eraserhead, were given no where near the attention they deserved.
All in all this is still a good watch. It was a lot of fun and gave some very good insights. The talking heads also brought a lot to the table. It helped flesh out the written script which was narrated nicely by Lance Henriksen. If you’re a fan of the genre you will probably have a good time with this.
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|Enjoyable documentary.,
Nightmares in Red, White and Blue is a surprisingly good horror documentary. I watched it a few weeks ago and really enjoyed watching the transformation of horror and the changes the business model has gone through. From the first US horror movie, a ill-received Frankenstein by Thomas Jefferson’s film company, to the more recent popular films such as Hostel and Saw. The most interesting portion of this was examining horror through a sociology-political lens. The 60s and 70s were the most prominent in this, naturally, but they also brought up movies like Hostel in the light of a ‘Post 9/11 World’ and the Us Vs. Them mentality that is the meat and potatoes of horror films. It also dabbles a little in the world of German and Japanese horror, bringing up some interesting parallels and differences. If you’re at all interested in horror films, check this out.
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