I hadn't seen John Hough's AMERICAN GOTHIC since a video rental on its original release. Caught it again on DVD after nearly thirty years and was pleasantly surprised to see it has improved with age. A United Kingdom/Canadian co-production and one of the tiny handful of late British bids to expand the post-HALLOWEEN slasher roster.
A popular theory began to develop among fans during the mid 90s, that maybe Hammer Horror's decline had coincided with (and been hastened by) a brash new style of British terror filmmaking via Walker/McGillivray/Warren/Larraz/Smedley-Aston etc. - it's convincing in hindsight but never really occurred to anyone at the time. And as it turned out, the 1980s proved as much of a struggle for these Young Turks as it did for the old guard. John Hough had emerged at the same time as this new breed but was oddly never considered part of it, seen as more of a traditionalist - but tellingly his 1980s were more productive than any of his UK competition, with WATCHER IN THE WOODS, INCUBUS, HOWLING IV, a smattering of impressive Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense shows for TV, and AMERICAN GOTHIC - almost as much genre work as his key competitors could offer combined!
I've got a strange admiration for films where the opening shot is mirrored by the fade-out (and indeed my own debut solicited feature screenplay, commissioned circa 2000 but ultimately never produced, made a point of doing the same 'visual book-end' thing!) and Hough offers a clever take on the form in this movie. In between, he offers a peculiar and satisfying cross between the 'crazy family' flick and the 'isolated location' slasher yarn, somehow getting you (or at least me!) to root for the colourful island-dwelling clan as they bump off the rather more bland 'teen' victims. Now, Justin Kerswell's stalk-and-slash themed website 'Hysteria! Lives' adds a body count at the foot of each individual film review, citing the gender of the deceased and the method of their demise (e.g. "Male stabbed with pitchfork"); AMERICAN GOTHIC's parade of deaths are so very bizarre that they almost defy such capsule description ("Female killed by being repeatedly bashed over the head with empty tin bassinette"?"; "Male dashed against rocks after cliff fall when ropes are cut as he is coerced into playing on a child's swing"?; "Male jabbed in eye by tiny pointed lance on an ornamental statuette of a knight on horseback"? Small wonder that Justin's largely comprehensive site has yet to offer an entry on Hough's film!). The performances of the adult 'kids' are a highlight, in particular the splendid Michael J. Pollard who appears to relish taking on a BLUE REMEMBERED HILLS-like acting challenge. And for once much of the mayhem takes place in daylight, another notable touch. An unexpected pleasure catching up with this one again.
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