Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film (2009)

This is one of those DVDs that I was really excited to check out as soon as it arrived in the mail.  I love documentaries and I love horror movies (obviously) so a documentary that promises to look at the evolution of the American horror film was a must watch for me.  And when I saw who participated in the documentary I was even more interested in watching it. 

Basically thru interviews and narration Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue does a decent job of looking into the genesis of the horror film in America.  It starts off talking about World War I and the horrors that it brought home (wounded and disfigured veterans).  Then they talk about how that effected some of the earliest silent horror films.  Also covered are the Great Depression and the Universal monsters that it spawned, as well as several other eras of films and how they were a reaction to the culture and what was happening. 

Now to be honest the documentary doesn’t break any new ground and I’ve heard most of what it has to offer before.  I would also assume that to be true of most other fans of the horror genre.  But they do such a wonderful job of packaging it that I still had fun watching the proceedings.  They don’t spend too much time on any one era or feel the need to hammer away on one subject, which gives the documentary a nice pace.  I also thought that the narration from genre vet Lance Henriksen was very well done and was worth listening to.  Plus they have a crazy amount of directors and producers that show up to be interviewed. John Carpenter, Larry Cohen, Joe Dante, Brian Yuzna, and Darren Lynn Bousman all show up to give their opinions about the American horror film.  And as if that weren’t enough a pair of legends, and personal favorites of mine Roger Corman and George A. Romero make appearances as well.  I’ll tell you this if nothing else the people responsible for Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue really did get an impressive list of interviews for this documentary.  That said I do think that I have seen a couple of these used elsewhere, so it might not all be new material. 

All in all I think this is a documentary that is worth watching at least once.  Again much of what is here has been covered by other documentaries and written materials that I’ve checked out.  But some of it isn’t including their brief mention of H.G. Lewis, who never seems to get the credit that he deserves.  I would also say that if you wanted to get someone excited about the genre this would be a good place for them to start.  I’m going to recommend Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer

© Copyright 2010 John Shatzer