American Gothic

Cynthia (Sarah Torgov) leaves a mental institution, where she stayed after losing her baby in a bath accident. Her husband decides to join a group of friends and fly from Seattle to a camping in a small hydroplane. The craft has a problem and it lands in a lonely island in the middle of nowhere. There, they are hosted by Ma (Yvonne de Carlo) and Pa (Rod Steiger), a very religious couple, who lives like they were in the beginning of the Twentieth Century. When the group meets the two sons and the daughter of Ma and Pa, they realize that they are in the middle of very demented persons, who start hunting them.

"American Gothic" was a great surprise. Although having a low rating in IMDB, it is indeed a good and original horror movie. The scary story has many funny situations, and the direction and performance of the cast are very good. The contrast in the behavior of such a nice Ma and Pa when the secret of that weird family is disclosed, is really frightening. Highly recommended for fans of horror movie. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): 'Os Anfitriões' ('The Hosts')

Note: On 23 Sep 2022, I saw this film again.

I couldn't sleep the night I watched "American Gothic" for the first time. (I've seen it twice more since.) Unlike "Nightmare on Elm Street" which could only happen in a nightmare, this movie was so real...highly unusual, but real.

It's possible to be stranded on an island and meet strange seemingly "backwards" people who seem innocent enough, but have a twisted view of what's right and wrong, and an insane idea that they are in charge of other people's actions. I've known people like Ma and Pa, who you wouldn't want to mess with if you pulled off the faux sheep cover.

Every inch of this movie could have happened to any one of us, the insanity, the self-righteousness, the hideousness, the out-of-this world notions--well maybe not every piece. I mean, what parents would allow their adult children to behave that way?

The most amazing way that this movie affected me, was that I cheered Cynthia on in the end---and that scares me, because, like I said-- "It could have happened to me....or you!!"

If you want to be baffled and scared to death, watch "American Gothic". It will make you think twice about the people you come in contact with.

American Gothic is a horror movie that is truly horrible and scary: Because what it portrays is a completely psychotic and homicidal family living on an isolated island in the Pacific Northwest who become the only beacon of help for several young people who become temporarily stranded on the island. The lighting in the film is almost nonexistent; it seems as though it were filmed in a basement, which adds to the creepiness. Even though there are some extremely cheezy elements in the film, there's a constant suspicion that something not just bad, but terrible and downright terrifying is going to happen. Rod Steiger and Yvonne de Carlo are absolutely brilliant in this film as "Pa" and "Ma" and are so extreme in their character portrayals that they almost become parodies of themselves and are therefore on the threshold of being humorous. But the 'kids' (who are actually 3 deranged siblings in their 40's and seemingly quite comfortable in their maritime never never land) are so creepy that they make not only your skin but lining of your bones crawl. On a scale of 1--10, I'd give this an 8.5.

AMERICAN GOTHIC is a bit of a surprise, especially if you're expecting just another movie about inbred hillbillies on a rampage. The main antagonists, Ma and Pa (Yvonne De Carlo and Rod Steiger) are an interesting pair of hyper-religious maniacs. Their brood of homicidal offspring add even more madness to the proceedings.

A group of young people arrive in order to be terrorized and killed. These unfortunate visitors, while fairly dumb, aren't as annoying as most such human prey.

There are some cool twists and disturbing circumstances throughout. This all leads up to a scorched-earth finale with a big surprise for Ma and Pa.

Recommended for those looking for something off-the-wall and refreshing in the genre...

The theme of religious fanatics who live in complete isolation and consider any contact with the outside world "contamination" has been done to death in the horror genre, but here they give it another go. Apparently they decided that wasn't enough, so they also threw in the "adults-behaving-as-kids" theme, which also has been done before (check out the REALLY twisted 1973 film "The Baby"). The result is a campy, silly, demented and thoroughly unpleasant horror film, but the production is fairly polished, the direction is competent and Rod Steiger gives a deliciously embarrassing performance as "Pa" (what the hell was he thinking when he decided to sign on for such a movie?) (**)