Nightmares in Red, White and Blue is a fascinating exploration on the growth, development and fascination of American horror films. Narrated by Lance Henricksen and featuring interviews by such brilliant filmmakers as Joe Dante, John Carpenter and George Romero, Nightmares leaves few tombstones unturned by reviewing the early black and white silent horror films starring Lon Chaney right through to modern day horrors such as Hostel and The Mist.
Directed by Andrew Monument, Nightmares in Red, White and Blue weaves interviews, horror film scenes and trailer snippets which take us back in a time capsule to a time before most of us were born. We get to watch the evolution of horror and the social impacts that influenced the genre on screen.
In a segment titled Bugs, Body Snatchers and the Bomb, we learn of how fear of the atomic bomb and the impact of radiation gave us such great thrill-fests as Them!, Attack of the Giant Leeches and The Thing from Another Planet. There are some great vintage film scenes that will make you long for the cheesy and poorly crafted films of large creatures and Roger Corman creations.
Most casual or younger horror fans will discover how Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho catapulted the genre to new levels. After Norman Bates terrorized audiences, directors began pushing the limits to either keep pace or out shock the masterpiece. And then how the Vietnam War jump initiated a counter-culture movement that brought us films such as Rosemary’s Baby and Night of the Living Dead.
Things really pick up with a segment titled, Land of the Free, where Nightmares begins with showing us overlooked titles such as The Last House on the Left and Death Wish before the genre began angling towards mainstream big budget horror thanks to Spielberg’s Jaws in 1975.
The final quarter of the documentary is set in more familiar territory. Old Monsters and New Flesh focuses on more iconic films and villains as Friday the 13th, The Stuff and Freddy Krueger.
Some of the political parallel’s expressed in Nightmares in Red, White and Blue seem awkwardly forced – comparing Ronald Ragan and Freddy Krueger or how Leatherface is like Osama Bin Laden – but Monument doesn’t spend too much time on any one subject or film (with the exception of Friday the 13th which was a treat) for the film to get off base for anything more than a few sentences here and there.
With so much content and film references in Nightmares, it is hard to criticize the film for missing any particular film title. But I thought it was unfortunate that An American Werewolf in London, Child’s Play and any of the American remakes of Asian horror didn’t get their due.
But that is hardly a criticism. Nightmares in Red, White and Blue will take you through a century of horror and shines just enough light on each decade or period of the genre to make you wish that you grew up with each and every incarnation of the horror genus.
For any true horror fan, Nightmares in Red, White and Blue should not be missed.
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