Icky is the only word that comes to mind when one watches American Nightmare. The sleaze basically oozes from every gritty, murky frame. For a Canadian slasher, it sure feels more like one of those downbeat NYC movies from the late 70's and early 80's like Maniac or Don't Go in the House. There's nothing truly fun or thrilling about American Nightmare except for maybe a flamboyant drag queen character who shows up whenever things get too depressing. The rest of the movie is a somewhat gross and nasty time with a bunch of strippers being murdered by some nutso with a straight razor. It's never incredibly gory, but the atmosphere alone makes the murders more unpleasant than they should be.
The twist during the film's finale at least attempts some type of social commentary about people in positions of power and how things get covered up, so it makes the whole film a bit more redeemable than other movies of this sort, but American Nightmare is still a great contender for "feel bad movie of 1983."
The twist during the film's finale at least attempts some type of social commentary about people in positions of power and how things get covered up, so it makes the whole film a bit more redeemable than other movies of this sort, but American Nightmare is still a great contender for "feel bad movie of 1983."