NIGHTMARES IN RED, WHITE AND BLUE: THE EVOLUTION OF THE AMERICAN HORROR FILM (2009) *** D: ANDREW MONUMENT
This interesting documentary looks at how the horror movie has evolved from the early days to modern times. However, it doesn't just simply discuss the history but also looks at how the genre was affected by the times.
Numerous luminaries of the genre and film scholars take part in the discussion. John Carpenter, Joe Dante, Larry Cohan, George A. Romero and Roger Corman are just some of the directors who discuss their films and their place in American culture.
For example, post-9/11 horror segued into "torture-porn" since it was felt that they had to find things that could really horrify an audience since what they witnessed goes beyond horrifying.
This documentary could have benefited from being much longer. It felt like that once they reached modern horror it was rushed through. While it cites many relevant examples of how a horror film relates to the time it was released, I would have preferred more than a Cliff Notes version of the subject.
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