American Nightmare Movie Review:


The Plot: Seven Friends call in to a pirate radio programme named American Nightmare on Halloween, not knowing that a killer is listening. The serial killer then begins carrying out their worst fears.

Jon Keeves is a veteran of entertainment journalism. He has, the website informs us, gathered some of the finest people in independent filmmaking to ensure the success and quality of American Nightmare. Therefore, it seemed like this would be a worthwhile investment of time and effort. Is there anything more satisfying (keep it clean) than a well made, thought provoking independent movie. Well, my personal opinion still remains no to that question. This movie is not an affirming reason though.

This film offered an interesting premise. A killer stalking upon the fears of a group of friends. In the right hands, this may have made an interesting study of fear and paranoia within a group of people. But after a very confusing start, everything goes from bad to worse.

There are many faults with the execution. For one, the start where the seven friends sit in a coffee shop listening to an oh-so-scary DJ asking fears of the punters is reminiscent of the lost Friends episode. The dialogue is false and contrived, the direction is muddled to say the least and is it ever a good thing when we see shadows of the crew as a chase through the woods takes place.

Debbie Rochon as the "every woman" serial killer was not only OTT but thoroughly unbelievable which in itself causes a major problem for a movie about a serial killer. This was not helped by Brandy Littles protagonist Jessie who seems to be trying to convey loss and despair but comes across only as an annoying cry baby who should have actually sat down and watched Halloween with the kid she was babysitting. The ending, which may have been an attempt at a clever twist, was not only obvious but could have been seen coming by a blind person on a very dark night.

Final verdict then is to forget it. There are better and much more deserving horrors out there.

David McCulloch

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