Not exactly a highly original 80's horror movie, this 'American Gothic', but a mildly entertaining one that is stuffed with unsubtle satire towards the hypocritically religious Americans and their unhealthy conceptions of family values. The main problem is that this has all been done before, much better too, and what remains is a passable horror comedy with adorably grotesque performances by Rod Steiger and Yvonne De Carlo. The film's most ingenious finding probably is the title and VHS cover-art that are inspired by Grant Wood's famous painting of the same name. Steiger and De Carlo play a married couple, exclusively referring to each other as Pa and Ma, and live on a remote island far away from decaying civilization. When a plane full of sinners; a group of twenty-something friends on holiday; strikes down on the island with engine trouble, it's time to re-teach them some moral and religious standards! Ma and Pa also have an uncanny offspring, two elderly males and a female that behave like young children and play lethal games with the island's guests. There's a sub plot involving one of the stranded people being a psychiatric case too, due to the tragic bathing accident that killed her own child. "American Gothic" opens rather slowly and the first murder was a long time coming. Moreover, only this first murder is really worth mentioning, since it's an inventive death-by-swing sequence, whereas all the other murders are fairly ordinary and not at all gory. There's a minimum in tension, exclusively supplied by the eerie Janet Wright as the overweight adult portraying a child, but most of the film's intentions miss their target, like the sarcasm towards society and the supposed "shock ending". John Hough's directing is more than competent, but this nevertheless remains one of his most mediocre achievements, languishing for the better days of "Twins of Evil", "The Legend of Hell House" and "Escape to Witch Mountain". Overall, this film isn't a must-see but there surely are worse ways to kill an hour and a half of your time.
Review of American Gothic
