British Film Institute - London Film Festival

Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases

Search cinema listings

Browse cinemas A-Z

Search 20,000 reviews

 

The American Nightmare (2000)

Director: Adam Simon

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

A thorough, intelligent and stylish study of the superior brand of horror movies that emerged from America in the late '60s and '70s. The basic thesis, connecting classics like Night of the Living Dead and Texas Chain Saw Massacre to social and historical phenomena (notably the Vietnam war and its aftermath), is very familiar, but the judicious and generous use of archive footage and clips, coupled with interviews with the likes of Romero, Hooper, Craven and Carpenter, and a number of critics and cultural commentators, makes the argument all the more persuasive. 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.

Author: GA

Time Out Film Guide


  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields





Top Stories

A Bond a day: No. 11 'Moonraker'

A Bond a day: No. 11 'Moonraker'

Time Out revisits the 21 Bond movies day by day to celebrate the release of 'Quantum of Solace'

The essential guide to the London Film Festival

The essential guide to the London Film Festival

Get the inside track on the all the films and events you'll want to catch at the Times BFI 52nd London Film Festival

Terence Davies: interview

Terence Davies: interview

Wally Hammond talks to visionary British director Terence Davies about his deeply personal and long-awaited new documentary ‘Of Time and the City’

W.

W.

Read our early review of Oliver Stone's George W Bush biopic, 'W.', playing at this year's London Film Festival

Ten friendly ghost movies

Ten friendly ghost movies

To celebrate the release of 'Ghost Town' in which Ricky Gervais plays a New York dentist who can see dead people, Time Out counts down ten great friendly ghost movies.