OverviewReviewCastProduction CreditsAwards
   
American Gothic
Plot Synopsis by Cavett Binion

This eccentric, amusingly sick Canadian production involves a group of annoying yuppies who charter a plane for a camping getaway, only to find themselves making an emergency landing on an isolated, forest-covered island. They are taken in by the only inhabitants, the rabidly-religious "Ma & Pa" (Yvonne De Carlo and Rod Steiger), who seem trapped in a Norman Rockwellian time-warp and are invited to stay the night. This proves to be every bit as unpleasant as it seems -- especially after the hapless campers are introduced to the psychotic, middle-aged "children" (Michael J. Pollard and Janet Wright) -- who appear to be pushing 50. Before long, it's crazed crackers 1, campers 0 and counting, as the warped, scripture-spouting yokels take sharp objects in hand... until one of the campers (Sarah Torgov) reveals her own homicidal potential and goes completely berserk. Despite delightfully weird performances from a top-drawer cast, this campy romp is slightly spoiled by a poorly-scripted climax that suggests a sudden loss of creative inspiration.

» View DVD Releases
Similar Works
Deadly Blessing  (1981, Wes Craven)
Flowers in the Attic  (1987, Jeffrey Bloom)
The Maddening  (1995, Danny Huston)
The Dark Secret of Harvest Home  (1978, Leo Penn)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre  (1974, Tobe Hooper)
The Wicker Man  (1974, Robin Hardy)
Invasion of the Blood Farmers  (1972, Ed Adlum)
The Toolbox Murders  (2004, Tobe Hooper)
All the Kind Strangers  (1974, Burt Kennedy)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?  (1991, David Greene)