Trying to cram more than a hundred years of cinematic, societal, and political history into an hour and a half documentary is no mere feat, but NIGHTMARES IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE: THE EVOLUTION OF THE AMERICAN HORROR FILM attempts to do just that. Through a generous sampling of genre clips and a slew of talking heads ranging from iconic directors to bespectacled academics, NIGHTMARES IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE admirably distills some of the most salient interpretations from academia's analyses of horror into concepts even the most detached genre fan will find intriguing; moreover, NIGHTMARES IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE frequently illustrates points not just with the tired and true landmarks of the genre, but lesser known exemplifications of each era's topical obsessions. To translate, for every segment on NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD or THE EXORCIST, we're treated to discussions of films like DEATHDREAM (never mind that it was actually a Canadian film), IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, TARGETS, THE STUFF, and SHIVERS, all films informed by a societal or political subtext but perhaps not known (or recognized) by fledgling or modern genre fans.

The thesis of NIGHTMARES IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE, as evidenced by the film's unwieldy subtitle, is that the horror film is a malleable entity that, throughout our country's history, has been uniquely able to both reflect and project our fears as a society. Tracing the genre from Lon Chaney Sr.'s post-World War I mutilated deviants of the 1920s to the "new normal" of post-9/11 paranoia, NIGHTMARES IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE can also offer steadfast genre fans fresh interpretations of genre classics without the dry, academic prose of much of film history's professorial tomes. For those reasons, NIGHTMARES IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE doubly serves as a great springboard, not just for fans hungry for new titles to unearth, but for fans who find themselves intrigued by the historical lens through which the horror genre becomes even more vibrant and important.

Despite the general disdain for the horror genre in academia - some of the Ivory Tower's old guard are dismissive, if not outright hostile, of mining horror for cultural meaning - there is a richness of remarkable academic and historical research available to light the path for any curious traveler. NIGHTMARES IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE does owe much to books like David J. Skal's The Monster Show and Stephen King's Danse Macabre, but it also incorporates lesser-known interpretations; for instance, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is discussed as an embodiment of the counterculture's confrontation with Nixon's "silent majority," the events of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE as by-product of economic turmoil, and FRIDAY THE 13th's Jason Voorhees as a not just a symbol of Puritanical hatred, but oddly connected to naturalism. Fans get the rare opportunity to perhaps look upon their favorite genre films with renewed curiosity and an appreciation for their depth.

A major success, to my mind, of NIGHTMARES IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE is the demonstration of the horror genre's self-reflexive nature, a tactic that, if appropriated by viewers and fans, can cultivate an openness to greater scrutiny and analysis of the horror genre. A primary tenet of academia's disregard for the horror genre is pure snobbery, a sense that something as mainstream or lurid as horror must therefore be bankrupt of meaning or art; NIGHTMARES IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE easily erodes such intellectual dishonesty and encourages viewers to do the same. Whether illustrating via THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT or THEY LIVE, NIGHTMARES IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE makes sure to point to the films and filmmakers who are consciously creating parables, metaphors, and allegories for contemporary life.

Similarly, NIGHTMARES IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE frames the classic milieu of horror and the modern, more exploitative horror sensibilities very well. I would be lying if I said this documentary didn't play like it's creators were rabid fans of modern horror - there's an extended montage of spectacularly bloody death scenes from the FRIDAY THE 13th films - but true to its subtitle, NIGHTMARES IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE offers an evolutionary take on the genre's changes, viewing them less as clashes in style and sensibility and more as gradual shifts in reflecting an American consciousness. Whereas other films might depict the classic Universal monsters as far cries from the flesh-singed histrionics of Freddy Krueger, we're instead asked to considerable how both strangely elicit self-identification by the disenfranchised in light of the violence they both commit. While Frankenstein's monster might be a pitiable outcast hated by society, Freddy is a societal reject who has gained strength and charisma precisely through that rejection. In doing so, NIGHTMARES IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE succeeds in illustrating historical continuity throughout those hundred years plus of horror cinema, and that's no small feat.

Also, it helps there are some particularly good talking heads throughout the film to offer illumination; specifically, directors John Carpenter and George Romero offer excellent analyses, joined by genre legends Roger Corman, Joe Dante, Brian Yuzna, Larry Cohen, Tom McLaughlin, Mick Garris, and, oh yes, some wonderful, gravelly-voiced narration by ALIENS vet Lance Henriksen (who has also been lending his distinctive voice to TV ads for Verizon's Droid phone).

A freshly-minted Video-On-Demand premiere, NIGHTMARES IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE became available today via that platform but won't hit DVDs until September. To me, NIGHTMARES IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE has something to offer genre vets as well as newbies, and it helps it is a solidly constructed film that makes extensive use of clips and stills from a staggering amount of genre films. If you're a fan of the horror genre - and presumably, if you're reading this, you are - I think you'll come away with something valuable from NIGHTMARES IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE, even if it is nothing more than a greater appreciation of our country's endless creative capacity for murder. What could be more American than that?