This twisted little number boasts some nifty variations on the killer family framework laid out in Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but despite some often interesting ideas, the end result is only a modestly effective horror outing.
The set-up works very well, and the isolation of the island our ultimately doomed party finds themselves stuck on makes the unlikely scenario play out as plausible. Things get a bit tricky when they encounter their murderous hosts, however, and the film stumbles a bit by not capitalizing on a great opportunity to build some suspense once our future victims find themselves in the family's lair. Our first introduction to Ma and Pa is pretty much enough to reveal that something is clearly out of whack with them, and once we meet their certifiably insane daughter Fanny it gets hard to believe that our protagonists would opt to stick around and let their impending fates play out. The film would work much better if it initially presented the homicidal clan as deceptively benign, and there might be some actual scares on hand if the macabre and sickening truths of the family were less thinly veiled. This seems like a wasted opportunity, and it's one of the main reasons this otherwise entertaining offering stays mired in the "decent" category.
Once the predictable slasher elements begin to unfold, American Gothic loses some of the steam it builds up to that point. While the film's first death is certainly an original and mirthful bit of mayhem, the killings that follow it are largely rote, textbook fare and offer nothing that will get fans of the genre too excited, unless you've been jonesing to see someone have their eye gouged out by the lance of a pewter knight figurine. The splatter on hand is disappointingly paltry, and only Fanny's eventual come-uppance generates any shock value on that front.
Far more impactful are some of the grisly nuances of the family's skewed domestic existence. Fanny's "baby" is a horrifying addition to the proceedings, as is the incestuous implications of a particularly unsettling conversation between her and one of her dim-witted brothers. Ma and Pa's brimstone-spewing religious zealotry is likewise a nice touch, and adds another portion of mental instability onto their already full plates.
The film loses itself at times, especially in regard to Paul, the lone member of the stranded group who remains at their campsite instead of venturing into Ma and Pa's picturesque house of horrors, who isn't mentioned or checked on until after the gang has spent a full two days soaking in the family's sickness. It isn't until things get totally screwy and the body count has already begun that any of our unfortunate castaways even think of him, and by that point in the film, we've pretty much forgotten about him as well. Since he isn't noted during the course of events that play out in his absence, the eventual discovery of his body doesn't really pack all that much of a punch, even though he is granted one of the grislier deaths in the film.
Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of American Gothic is that it is the only movie in the 80's slasher canon that features two actors with Oscar-winning fare on their resumes, Rod Steiger and Michael Pollard (from In The Heat Of The Night and Bonnie And Clyde, respectively). Predictably, their performances are the strongest of the ensemble, although Sarah Torgov ably holds her own as our lone survivor and heroine. Janet Wright should also be mentioned for her indelible rendering of Fanny, who pretty much steals the show as the most disturbing character in the film.
The thoughtful back-story given to Torgov's Cynthia makes the rather abrupt shifts in her character easy to swallow, and seeing her align with the group responsible for slaughtering her friends becomes the most chilling aspect of the movie. Unfortunately, her eventual emergence from this trance to get revenge on Ma and Pa and their backwoods brood unfolds in a terse and hurried manner, so we don't really get as much of a payoff as we end up hoping for, save for the afore-mentioned brutalizing of Fanny. While Cynthia's rage toward Ma and Pa's "little girl" makes sense in the course of the story, from a viewer's standpoint the balance of revenge seems just a bit uneven when you consider how relatively easy her sadistic necrophiliac brother Teddy gets off.
The film ends on a nicely bleak note, again echoing Texas Chainsaw Massacre by picturing our heroine as damaged beyond repair as the credits roll. This subtle and untidy finish leaves a sour taste behind, and provides a fitting denouement to a movie that relishes in its most unpleasant aspects.
American Gothic is not a must-see, but in its best moments it is a largely intelligent and sufficiently original take on a tested formula. There are enough ghoulishly engaging moments to ensure that this film won't be forgotten as soon as you eject the disc, and for that alone it stands out amidst a very crowded decade for the genre. Definitely worth a look, but don't expect to find a classic here.
The set-up works very well, and the isolation of the island our ultimately doomed party finds themselves stuck on makes the unlikely scenario play out as plausible. Things get a bit tricky when they encounter their murderous hosts, however, and the film stumbles a bit by not capitalizing on a great opportunity to build some suspense once our future victims find themselves in the family's lair. Our first introduction to Ma and Pa is pretty much enough to reveal that something is clearly out of whack with them, and once we meet their certifiably insane daughter Fanny it gets hard to believe that our protagonists would opt to stick around and let their impending fates play out. The film would work much better if it initially presented the homicidal clan as deceptively benign, and there might be some actual scares on hand if the macabre and sickening truths of the family were less thinly veiled. This seems like a wasted opportunity, and it's one of the main reasons this otherwise entertaining offering stays mired in the "decent" category.
Once the predictable slasher elements begin to unfold, American Gothic loses some of the steam it builds up to that point. While the film's first death is certainly an original and mirthful bit of mayhem, the killings that follow it are largely rote, textbook fare and offer nothing that will get fans of the genre too excited, unless you've been jonesing to see someone have their eye gouged out by the lance of a pewter knight figurine. The splatter on hand is disappointingly paltry, and only Fanny's eventual come-uppance generates any shock value on that front.
Far more impactful are some of the grisly nuances of the family's skewed domestic existence. Fanny's "baby" is a horrifying addition to the proceedings, as is the incestuous implications of a particularly unsettling conversation between her and one of her dim-witted brothers. Ma and Pa's brimstone-spewing religious zealotry is likewise a nice touch, and adds another portion of mental instability onto their already full plates.
The film loses itself at times, especially in regard to Paul, the lone member of the stranded group who remains at their campsite instead of venturing into Ma and Pa's picturesque house of horrors, who isn't mentioned or checked on until after the gang has spent a full two days soaking in the family's sickness. It isn't until things get totally screwy and the body count has already begun that any of our unfortunate castaways even think of him, and by that point in the film, we've pretty much forgotten about him as well. Since he isn't noted during the course of events that play out in his absence, the eventual discovery of his body doesn't really pack all that much of a punch, even though he is granted one of the grislier deaths in the film.
Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of American Gothic is that it is the only movie in the 80's slasher canon that features two actors with Oscar-winning fare on their resumes, Rod Steiger and Michael Pollard (from In The Heat Of The Night and Bonnie And Clyde, respectively). Predictably, their performances are the strongest of the ensemble, although Sarah Torgov ably holds her own as our lone survivor and heroine. Janet Wright should also be mentioned for her indelible rendering of Fanny, who pretty much steals the show as the most disturbing character in the film.
The thoughtful back-story given to Torgov's Cynthia makes the rather abrupt shifts in her character easy to swallow, and seeing her align with the group responsible for slaughtering her friends becomes the most chilling aspect of the movie. Unfortunately, her eventual emergence from this trance to get revenge on Ma and Pa and their backwoods brood unfolds in a terse and hurried manner, so we don't really get as much of a payoff as we end up hoping for, save for the afore-mentioned brutalizing of Fanny. While Cynthia's rage toward Ma and Pa's "little girl" makes sense in the course of the story, from a viewer's standpoint the balance of revenge seems just a bit uneven when you consider how relatively easy her sadistic necrophiliac brother Teddy gets off.
The film ends on a nicely bleak note, again echoing Texas Chainsaw Massacre by picturing our heroine as damaged beyond repair as the credits roll. This subtle and untidy finish leaves a sour taste behind, and provides a fitting denouement to a movie that relishes in its most unpleasant aspects.
American Gothic is not a must-see, but in its best moments it is a largely intelligent and sufficiently original take on a tested formula. There are enough ghoulishly engaging moments to ensure that this film won't be forgotten as soon as you eject the disc, and for that alone it stands out amidst a very crowded decade for the genre. Definitely worth a look, but don't expect to find a classic here.