American Nightmare (2002 Video) User Reviews

With a Better Beginning and Conclusion, This Weird Story Would Be a Good Low Budget Movie

[claudio_carvalho · 4/10 · 8 March 2005]

In Texas, seven friends meet in a bar to celebrate the Halloween night before going to a party. Meanwhile, they call the American Nightmare pirate radio for fun and confess their innermost fears. A serial killer, who is listening to their confessions, makes their nightmares come true, killing each one of them in a sadistic way. "American Nightmare" is a weird low budget movie that has a horrible beginning: without any previous explanation, a woman kills two couples in an isolated camping area, as if it were Friday, 13th. Then, the story shifts to a bar, where seven friends are celebrating Halloween. From this moment on, the story has a great potential, and the unknown cast has a very reasonable performance, showing also some beautiful breasts and naked bodies, as usual in this type of C production. However, the end of the screenplay does not provide any explanation for the killing instinct and motives for the behavior of the nurse Jane Toppan, giving the sensation that the budget ended before the finalization of the shooting. With a better beginning and conclusion, this weird story would be a good low budget slasher movie. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Agonia" ("Agony")

What do YOU fear the most?

[michaelRokeefe · 5/10 · 27 May 2007]

Seven friends meet in a favorite café before getting dressed for a Halloween party. Commemorating the massacre of four college students the previous year; host Caligari(Chris Ryan)of a dusk to dawn pirate radio show called "American Nightmare" invites listeners to call in and reveal their deepest and worst fears. The friends dare each other to call Caligari as they listen to the broadcast before going off to their fun night festivities. Also listening is the psycho responsible for the killings the year before. As the friends go their separate ways, they are taunted by sinister calls to the radio show. With fears at a feverish pitch the night becomes long and dangerous.

Not the best, nor the worst of flicks...but interesting enough. Some of the acting may be over-the-top; but the message is there. A person's own fears can be fatal. Starring are: Debbie Rochon, Kimberly Grant, Johnny Sneed, Kristin McCollum, Kenyon Homes and Rebecca Stacey. And being a former air personality myself, I was impressed like hell with Ryan, who actually is on the air in Dallas.

A lot of clichés, but somewhat scary and ok entertainment!

[Tellurian · 5/10 · 30 January 2002]

When I read the plot for the movie my expectations where pretty high. A bunch of people confessing their worst nightmares to a radio station and then having to live through these nightmares because a psycho murderer overheard their confessions. Wow, I thought this sounded cool, but it wasn't. Well, ok you get scared a bunch of times in the movie, but what really annoyed me is the way the movie is carried out. The scary feel of the movie never comes out due to the tempo of the movie and the constant switching of scenery from scary to safe. I want more scary and less safe! But hey, I think you should see it anyway as it might scare you, and that is what the movie is all about. My rating: 5 out of 10

Great horror flick.

[bfan83 · 19 December 2003]

Debbie Rochon gave the performance of her career in this chilling horror flick! The film I believe was shot on Super 16mm and It looks great! **POSSIBLE SPOILERS** A group of friends are terrorized bt Debbie on Halloween night. She terrorizes them by making them face their fears. It had an original plot and the acting was top-notch! Also, look for a cameo of Brinke Stevens. She appears in two scenes. I give this movie a 9!!

This is my game. We're gonna play by my goddamn rules!

[lastliberal · 5/10 · 26 July 2008]

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.

It's not the worst movie I've ever seen... but comes darn close.

[spazzztic · 2/10 · 1 July 2005]

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.

I'd rather be poked repeatedly in the eye with a pointy stick than be forced to watch this movie again.

[ditkarrific · 1/10 · 20 August 2002]

"American Nightmare" is officially tied, in my opinion, with "It's Pat!" for the WORST MOVIE OF ALL TIME.

Seven friends (oddly resembling the K-Mart version of the cast of "Friends") gather in a coffee shop to listen to American Nightmare, a pirate radio show. It's hosted by a guy with a beard. That's the most exciting aspect of his show.

Chandler, Monica, Joey, and... oh wait, I mean, Wayne, Jessie, and the rest of the bad one-liner spouting gang all take turns revealing their biggest fears to the bearded DJ. Unbeknownst to them, a crazed nurse/serial killer is listening...

Crazy Nurse then proceeds to torture Ross and Rachel and... wait, sorry again... by making their fears come to life. These fears include such stunners as "voodoo" and being gone down on by old ladies with dentures.

No. Really.

This movie was, in a word, rotten. Crazy Nurse's killing spree lacks motivation, there's nothing to make the viewer "jump," the ending blows, and--again--voodoo?

If you have absolutely no regard for your loved ones, rent "American Nightmare" with them.

If you care for your loved ones--even a little bit--go to your local Blockbuster, rent all of the copies of "American Nightmare" and hide them in your freezer.

Pitiable

[MBunge · 3/10 · 28 January 2011]

American Nightmare is supposed to be a suspenseful horror film. The only real emotion it provokes, however, is pity. Not self-pity because you watched such a cheap piece of crap, but actual pity. Not for the cast, because there are better actors out there who never get to be in any film, even a cheap piece of crap like this one. And not for the crew, because given the shoddy production values, all the folks who worked on this movie had to go back to their full time jobs in the food service industry when filming was complete. No, the person you feel sorry for when viewing American Nightmare is writer/director Jon Keeyes. That's because you can't help but imagine all the time and energy and struggle he put into making a film that does nothing but illustrate how absolutely talentless he is.

After a silly prologue that's notable only for featuring the fakest looking punches outside of a 1953 pro wrestling match, we finally get to the main story that's supposed to be about 7 friends confessing their fears to a radio DJ and then having a killer use those fears against them. I say supposed to be because only 4 of them actually confess their fears to the DJ and only two of them end up dying in a fashion vaguely related to their fears. One other character does die exactly in the way she was afraid of, but she never told the DJ about her phobia. It turns out the killer was in the same room with them, eavesdropping on their conversations, so the whole radio thing was utterly unnecessary. Yeah, this is the sort of movie that's so bad it doesn't even bother to follow its own premise.

I'm not going to bother going into the plot of this thing. Suffice to say that it involves a murderer who, in order to do everything she does, has to be super-fast, super-strong and possess the stealth abilities of a ninja. She plays a game of cat-and-mouse with her victims where both the cat and the mouse are mentally retarded. One character winds up in the midst of the world's wussiest mosh pit. Another spends most of the film sitting in a coffee shop cruising internet chat rooms like a lonely pedophile. And, of course, the whole thing ends with a twist that's supposed to make you wonder what it all meant. What you really wonder about is how much trouble it would be to track down Jon Keeyes and give him a tittie twister until he refunded the money you spent to watch American Nightmare.

The acting on display here is not good at all. It's like these performers signed up for the same acting class where the instructor was blind, deaf and talked with a lisp. One of these actors thought that someone in intense pain would look exactly like someone with the dry heaves. Another thought being afraid was the same thing as having an obstructed bowel. The movie is specifically set in Austin, Texas, yet only one member of the cast even attempts to pull off an appropriate accent and her dialect is about a steady as a drunk driver in the Daytona 500.

The camera work and dialog of American Nightmare is in fact worse than the performances, if you can believe that. The look of this film is 95% dollying the camera from one side of the set to the other, 3% panning the camera from one side to the other, 1% having close ups that are too far away and wide shots that are too close and 1% having something in the shot be out of focus. Based on this, neither the director nor the director of photography should be able to get jobs videotaping pet weddings. I have also seen pet wedding videos that had more memorable dialog than this thing.

Now, two of the actresses do take their tops off, so I suppose American Nightmare has some value to desperately horny social misfits that have moral objections to hardcore pornography. But then watching this would just be enabling their dysfunction, so even they should find something better to do.

Over-the-top rehash of 70's supposed horror flicks...

[dwpollar · 1/10 · 7 November 2004]

1st watched 11/07/2004 - 1 out of 10(Dir-Jon Keeyes): Over-the-top rehash of 70's supposed horror flicks like Friday the 13th(versions 1 thru whatever…). I can't think of much redeeming here except(or can I think of anything?)…The story revolves around a bunch of stupid people listening to a radio program one year after some kids were slayed in the woods as an 'homage' to this, supposedly. But, lo and behold, one of the stupid people, have connections to the actual event because her sister was one of the ones murdered(again, how stupid is this that she would even be a part of this). Guess what? The murderer is at it again and we're tipped off from the very beginning who it is(so there goes any mystery whatsoever). And besides all this, where are the 'cops' and why doesn't someone call them. I can't believe this movie was financed by someone and made. You would think that by now the American people would be judged a little higher, at least in their movie-going experience, but not so by this filmmaker.

Poor straight-to-video horror

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 18 January 2018]

AMERICAN NIGHTMARE is a poor straight-to-video horror flick from 2002 made on a tiny budget. Most of the running time is made up of padding consisting of characters sitting around on sofas in what looks like the coffee bar from FRIENDS. Occasionally there are cut-away sequences in which women are stalked and slashed by a mystery killer with a connection to the past of our protagonists. It's one of those cheesy little films which looks and feels rough around the edges and is only one step up from a base-bottom indie in terms of budget. There's a lot of nudity in the form of gratuitous showering and the like and some cameoing scream queens such as Brinke Stevens.

Utter Let Down

[C-Pollard · 5/10 · 12 February 2002]

I don't really feel how you can justify stating this film is of good quality. It's pretty damn awful, I totally disagree with those that say the acting is good - I've seen better acting from Family Affairs on Channel 5.

After reading a brief introduction to the story I was genuinely intrigued and really interested as the plot sounded half decent. This film could have been so much more but was really let down by the boring characters and the dull story line.

The overall corny feel to the film really didnt do it for me. Sorry but if this is the directors first film there is still alot to learn. Not gripping whatsoever.

A great directorial debut

[indyjones0517 · 8/10 · 14 February 2002]

Horror film buffs are very clear about what we expect. We don't expect Academy-Award acting or intricate plotting. So when a movie like American Nightmare comes along that gives us much more than we were expecting, we are very pleasantly surprized. Traditionally, Slasher films give us characters that are one-dimensional and only there to be killed off. "American Nightmare" breaks this taboo by giving us several likeable characters that we actually care about, making it that much scarier when they come face to face with the maniacal Jane (played wonderfully by Debbie Rochon). In addition, the actors all give 110% in their performances. Brandy Little is so believable, it's shocking to me that I haven't seen her somewhere else. As good as Debbie and Brandy are, my favorite performance has to be from Heather Haase as Melanie. My only major qualm is that some of the actors weren't given as much on-screen time as I would have liked. The movie is very masterfully plotted and directed. My only complaint is that there were too many times Jane should have been captured, yet no one pursued her. Also, I didn't much care for the very end, as it seemed rather illogical, almost as if it was just thrown in for shock value. Still, after providing me with 90 minutes of solid entertainment, I can't complain too much about the weak 30-second ending...

A pleasant surprise of a slasher film.

[Caustic Pulp · 7/10 · 22 November 2002]

This film is by no means a great film. What it is, however, is bordering on some of the best you can get in its genre with its budget (just $56k!), and I marvel at just how well-conceived this film is.

A lot of the dialogue is pretty cornball and self-referential to the point of nauseating, but the self-referential crap runs dry about a quarter of the way through as our slasher goes on the move. Where most good Hollywood films are just consistently witting and entertaining the whole way through, spread out evenly, this one moves almost in fits. There are lulls in the dialogue, and then absolute sparks of brilliance and a lot of tongue-in-cheek laughs.

The directing style is fairly utilitarian, which may or may not be your cup of tea, but suits me just fine. Some of the edits are poor, but most of it is dead on, and a scene where a character begins to space out and freak out is shot very well.

The script itself? Apart from the sometimes stupid dialogue, there are a lot of shining gems in the dialogue and indeed, while some of the characters may not be perfectly fleshed out, they're very realistically written. We don't really have stupid characters in this movie, surprisingly enough. They speak intelligently, and act intelligently and realistically, and I appreciate that.

In terms of gore - 'cause I know that's what all the rest of us horror fans are after - there isn't much. T&A? A decent share.

What's really on parade here is how well-written a lot of it is and how well-acted the film is as a whole. The plot has a lot of tweaks of inventiveness (a genuine female slasher!), a couple grisly scenes...the movie just works.

If you think you can get past its stumbles, I would strongly suggest you check it out. This film's a must-see for horror buffs.

Total waste of the $6.45 spent in the Blockbuster Bargain Bin

[PointXBlankXRange · 1/10 · 25 February 2007]

When I read the back of the DVD case, I thought that it sounded really interesting... so... I had my mom throw it into the pile of movies in the "4 for 20 dollars" section at Blockbuster. When we got home and popped in the movie... twenty minutes into it, we found ourselves turning to each other going "this sucks. Let's put in something else." I'll admit, a few of the lines from the friends at the café made us smile a little bit. But come ON, at least get some decent actors! Every once in a while in a movie, if the acting is bad and the movie isn't going at a painfully slow pace and actually seems interesting, I can gut it out and get a few laughs at how they're over(or under)doing their lines. But I can only take so much. Crying scenes looked like the actors were having hysterical fits of laughter, there was no delivery for their lines... amateur doesn't even come close to the acting in this film.

Anyone who came on here saying that this film was good had to have been on some REALLY good drugs while they were watching the movie. It's the most pointless thing I've ever had the displeasure of watching. DO NOT WATCH OR BUY THIS MOVIE!!!!!

Decent low budget thriller

[Katatonia · 15 October 2002]

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.

Not a good movie

[pur420 · 1/10 · 21 October 2006]

This movie had to be the worst horror movie I have ever seen. The acting was terrible, Horrible and cheesy and talk about a predictable plot! I will never watch this movie again nor will I recommend this movie to anyone. What a waste of time! First, as soon as the movie began I realized what I got myself into. All they did for this movie was copy scenes from many other horror movies out there and bunched them all into this one movie. The prank phone calls, halloween night, a psycho, and one knife! Its absolutely ridiculous. I was not scared at all during the movie, which I thought horror movies were supposed to do. As for the making of the movie, its pretty hilarious how they all talk about how this movie was so great and so scary. I mean how do you not realize that the movies is a cheap rip off of "Scary Movie" for example. At least get some good actors in there and then maybe it would have been pulled off as a good horror movie.

crap

[salsburysj · 1/10 · 10 August 2005]

this movie is outrageous. by outrageous, i mean awful. i had more fun watching the paint dry at my local hardware store on an august day while suffering from a migraine and heat stroke. the acting got progressively worse as the "movie" advanced, and the directors use of euphoric drugs became apparent as the final scenes approached. when misty was shot to death she decided that it would be prudent to blink post mordem. that was not intelligent. truthfully, stevie wonder could have caught that with his eyes closed. if you are deciding between playing with a nail gun while intoxicated and watching this movie, bear in mind that the nail gun will probably give you a better story to tell your friends.

The makers of this should be ashamed!!

[erra · 1/10 · 31 January 2002]

This piece ain't really worth a comment.. It's simply the worst "horror" movie i have ever seen. The actors are bad as bad can be and the whole plot is so silly it nearly made me cry. Shame on you I say!!

Horror???

[jakunenkami · 1/10 · 29 October 2003]

Without a doubt this is one of the worst films I've ever wasted money on! The plot is, erm sorry, did I say there was a plot? The scariest moment was when..., nope can't think of one! The best special effect that had me hiding under the bed covers was..., nope can't think of one for that either. You knew who the killer was right from the start. There was nothing scary about the whole movie, in fact the only two vaguely interesting bits were when you saw the kid sister, Misty, in the shower and when you saw Nurse Toppan take her top off. This film should only be watched to get an idea of how NOT to make a horror movie!!!

I Am Ride Or Die For Debbie Rochon...

[marc-21778 · 1/10 · 16 February 2024]

And I still found this movie boring and the ending beyond stupid. The writer basically just took a bunch of tropes and nailed them together end to end like Wile E. Coyote trying to cross a ravine by nailing boards together. The same thing happened to the plot that always happens to Wile E. - it fell into the canyon and went boom. Except it wasn't even funny to watch. The ending is just irritating. Not scary. Not funny. Not deep. Irritating. Stupid falls and everyone dies. Except Debbie. Though she might as well be a ghost for all the sense her character makes. Do not watch this movie. If it comes on, turn the TV off and spend an hour and a half hitting your fingers with a hammer. It will be more entertaining, hurt less, and seem to be over quicker.

The scariest movie I've seen in a long time

[Neal_D · 10/10 · 7 February 2002]

This is one of a very few movies where the acting was so believable that I was scared. The serial killer listens to fear confessions on a radio talk show and then fulfills their fears!

The acting made this movie! Where other horror movies rely on makeup or special effects to create scary scenes, the acting especially by the lead who played the serial killer made me afraid! American Nightmare is a perfect example of how you don't need special effects to create a scary movie, just great actors and a great story!

Interesting film, but a little slow at times and with some 'over acting'

[bhy1976 · 7/10 · 4 June 2006]

This film didn't knock me off my chair or anything, but it did hold my attention, and, towards the end, even had me speculating about how it might end, which, for me at least, is a clear indication that the plot has some depth to it. Nevertheless, though, the plot does drag in some places, as the serial killer and her victims get into a rather drawn out cat-and-mouse game, which is not very suspensefully depicted in the film.

For the most part the acting is believable but there are some weak links, particularly in the very last scene (why wasn't that cut?!) The soundtrack/score is noteworthy and supports the macabre mood of the film well.

Particularly noteworthy is the skillful use of lighting in the film for the purpose of supporting the story-line.

All in all an enjoyable film.

This movie can cause spontaneous narcolepsy in all viewers

[Slatan9 · 10 October 2002]

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.

This Is How You Do A Horror Movie!

[lagriff05 · 9/10 · 16 June 2007]

(written October 2006)

The first five minutes of this film had horrible acting and annoying, shallow characters, and I was afraid the entire movie would be like this. Luckily all of them die a few minutes later and we are introduced to the main cast, a year after that event. This movie is about a group of friends on Halloween night, calling into the spooky radio show 'American Nightmare' with it's enigmatic, raunchy host 'Caligari.' They begin to confess their fears, and then as the night goes on, they are all killed off one by one by a psychopathic, demented killer who knows their worst fears...

This movie has a bunch of flaws and by critical standards, it sucks. It's got a bunch of plot holes, the acting is rather sub par, and there are some pretty stupid lines in here, too. But this movie also packs an amazing amount of real horror atmosphere, real HORROR. It gave me the feeling that it really was Halloween, like in the movie. This is how you do a horror film. Sure, you can do it better with well trained actors and professional studio effects, but this film does a fine job on it's own of creating some very creepy moments. When the little girl jumps out from nowhere, that made me actually jump back in surprise. The scene at the party when the man had been drugged, that was excellent. And the final scene in the old hospital was extremely well done.

This movie has too many loose ends and plot holes. Who the hell is Caligari? What was the real motive of the killer? What happened to the woman's sister? These things bring the movie down a lot. It makes the movie less of a classic then it could be, but this is the HORROR genre, we're not supposed to go all pretentious and start caring about plot holes. If it scares us, then it's a fine movie. I'm a horror critic, but I was a fan long before that, and I know what I like. This movie is what I like.

As I mentioned before, the whole 'Halloween' feel is very present here. Watch it alone at night and be transported to October 31st, with trick or treaters, horror movies on TV, and Halloween parties late at night. This movie is very brutal and relentless, despite the fact that there is no blood. The killer is truly insane and does an adequate job on her performance. Despite all of it's flaws, this movie is a winner as a horror film. Am I overrating this film? Perhaps. But this is highly recommended to all fans of true horror, and there are not many other films out there that are like this one. It reminds me of Halloween crossed with more modern slashers like The Pool and Cherry Falls, with a bit of that Se7en/SAW touch blended in. Go rent it.

Watch Behind the Scenes FIRST. Then the movie

[HBgroopie · 6/10 · 20 May 2006]

When I first watched the movie I was disappointed. HOWEVER, I saw the "Behind the Scenes" and I must say that I like it for that.

For one, I wish that the actress had her hair like she had Behind the screens (she looks great, in the movie she looked like a mother figure).

I wish I saw the "Behind the scenes" before i watch the movie because I would have noticed the lighting (apparently Jane was in dark color, the friends were in bright colors. In the same screen Jane and a friend would be talking, Jane would be dark, the friend would be bright, but when the Jane would start to coax the friend to go with her, the friend would be dark as well. Pretty cool).

I like the story about the little girl actress. The movie was made at night and everyone kept falling asleep on set. This is the same for the little girl. The other actors need a little time to wake up and be ready for a scene. But not the little girl. The director would say ACTION and she was wide awake. As soon as CUT was called she would fall asleep where ever she was. Sweet.

BEST PART of the Behind the scenes was about the kissing scene between Brandy Little and Johnny Sneed as described by Johnny: "I had a kissing seen with brandy. That was a lot of fun. And Kyle, Brandy's husband, he was great. He's a big guy and he was always on the set sort of helping out. For the big kissing scene, I went over to him and said 'look, I just want you to know that I am dating someone and, no, I don't have any feelings for Brandy.' We had a nice man to man talk and he was great. Kyle is such a great guy, really kind hearted guy. Really understanding. And he said "Johnny, I understand you're an actor, she's an actor. I know how this works. And, ah, you know, if the kiss lasts longer than 2 or 3 seconds I am going to rip your head off.' So, I think he and I had an understanding."

Awesome.

BUT. I wish I knew more about Jane. Why was she rampaging? but, as in real life, not all answers can be rolled out to you. O D Well.