American Nightmare

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this. The first 30 minutes of the movie were somewhat boring, and the lighting during the movie just seemed way too bright and detracted from it appearing like a horror film. It got some better in the last hour, but the ending was out there and hard to make any sense of. The acting was mid-line quality, not great but not horrible. I think some of the characters could have been cast better. It must be said that the movie did contain a few really unique things in the script. All in all, not a bad movie per se as far as low-budget goes, but not a "scary" horror film for most viewers.

You can have the shower scene in Psycho, if you want, but I will take Rebecca Stacey anytime. The Psycho scene is her greatest fear and she joins six of her friends who express what they fear the most while a killer (Debbie Rochon) is listening in.

"Don't you get lonely" Sure, I do, Debbie, and you can tie me up and do your stuff and I will die a happy man.

But, I wasn't real happy with what I thought was going to be a slasher flick, and it turned out to just be a mind game.

The ending was weird, too. But Debbie Rochon was pretty much in the whole picture, so it was a treat.

My friends and I rented American Nightmare expecting that it would be pretty cheesy. In fact, we have spent many weekends watching (and enjoying)cheesy horror films that are obscure, usually for good reasons. However, American Nightmare was probably the worst movie I have seen in a long, long time. Now, there are horror movies that are so bad they are good because they are funny. (Evil Dead is a great example) After a while, American Nightmare wasn't even funny anymore. The plot didn't make any sense AT ALL, and although most of the actors were fairly decent (and that might be a stretch), the dialogue was so poorly written we spent more time laughing at what they were saying than watching their performances. (one of my favorites- "Go to www.I killed your friends.com"- and yes, there was a web site by that title in the film, but it never got explained) At first I hoped that the bad script was just tongue in cheek due to the whole, predictable concept... but it's doubtful after watching it progress. The film is just taken very seriously by it's actors/director for what it actually is. The beginning of the film- the flashback to the original killing spree- starts a trend in the movie of just not making ANY sense. Although I fully believe that audiences should not have things spelled out for them, a little help would have been nice to make the movie watchable. The movie played on every cliche in the horror movie book (the characters, needless nudity, really typical scenes), which if used properly can make for a pretty decent(funny)film. But as the movie employed every bad horror film technique there is, it also tried desperately hard to be an "artsy" or "innovative" film, by not explaining the murderer's motives at all, and then giving a "twist" ending that didn't answer any questions. The whole thing seemed like a bunch of poorly made movies seared together without any explanations. If we don't know anything about these people, why should we care? You never find out why the murderer is killing this lady's friends, and the "she's just psychotic" thing doesn't work. (even with a really bizarre knife scene) If motives were given, I missed them due to the poor audio quality in some parts. The really standard sound effects were not very balanced with the dialogue. This movie lacked organization, A PLOT, characterization, creativity, and was really over the top and melodramatic. (and it didn't resolve anything) It just sucked, very badly. My friends have made more developed, interesting movies on a cam-corder in the middle of the night. Watching a marshmellow in the microwave is more climatic. And on a technical note, most of the lighting was so strange, it just made the whole thing even worse. AVOID THIS FILM. It's not even good for a laugh.

This movie can cause spontaneous narcolepsy in all viewers. The only thing this movie does that is scary is present itself for rental at your local video store. If your ideal of horror is watching a couple of T&A shots, and a chick that can masturbate with a knife then it is for you!

There is no story line at all: supposed crazy nurse likes to kill folks on Halloween and do lots of drugs, ranting, and slink around looking good (with the obligatory tit shots). Even attack of the killer gummy-worms had more of a story line. No motivation for the killing, what few shots of them are supposed to be done. Very bad fake blood shots, and an ending that is as boring as the start. The nurse goes home and cries ? what, she wanted her mommy ?

Actors: What actors, someone mentioned K-Mart, and I guess that is where you find bad actors? Although I must say that with no more of a story line than this movie had, and no on set drugs, then the only smell of fear I could sense from them was the fact that people were going to see them in this movie.

Overall: this movie should be shown to film students to give exact and precise examples of the things you SHOULD NOT do in a movie.

When it comes to horror movies, I am more than willing to suspend disbelief, ignore sub-par production values, and overlook plot holes in the interest of a good scare. This movies simply has no good scares to offer. It can't even be enjoyed as camp. Bad dialogue, bad acting, bad direction, the kills were predictable and poorly staged, the music was annoying, the camera work was wretched, even the costumes were bad. I felt really bad for the actors, who were obviously trying, but who had to deal with terrible, contrived dialogue and an obvious lack of direction. I doubt they got any rehearsal, either. It's embarrassing to watch, and so boring than making it through to the contrived "surprise" ending requires tremendous endurance. It's quite easily one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

I don't normally write reviews, but this one was so bad that I felt compelled to warn others. This movie is a complete waste of time. If you must watch this movie, don't miss the "Making of"-featurette. The writer/director seems to be under the impression that making the killer a woman was kind of bold, daring move. (Seen it.) He and the cast spend half an hour deconstructing this film as if it's a new-age "Citizen Kane." It's like listening to a group of third-graders take you behind the scenes of their Christmas pageant. They truly think they've created something of substance. It's sad, really… The only reason I gave this movie a "2" is because I think "1" should be reserved for true atrocities, like "Manos: Hands of Fate" and "Space Mutiny." So "American Nightmare" isn't the WORST movie I've ever seen, but I'd have to say that it's somewhere in the bottom fifty.