American Nightmare is a 1983 Canadian neo-noircrimeslasher film directed by Don McBrearty and written by John Sheppard, based on a story by John Gault and Steven Blake. It stars Lawrence S. Day, Lora Staley, Tom Harvey, and Neil Dainard, with appearances by Michael Ironside and Lenore Zann. It tells the story of a pianist investigating the disappearance of his estranged sister in an urban decadence as a serial killer targets prostitutes. The screenplay was influenced by the rising crime rates in American cities throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. Principal photography took place in Toronto, Ontario on an independent budget of CAD $200,000. The film initially received a small theatrical release in March 1983 before finding a market on VHS in 1984. American Nightmare largely fell into obscurity in the decades following, but a 2012 DVD release has since built the film a small cult following.
Plot
Isabelle smokes a joint on a cheap motel bed while talking to a man puts on latex gloves. After insisting she was unaware of blackmailing videotapes, the man exits the bathroom wearing only a towel and the gloves and graphically kills her. Isabelle's estranged brother Eric, a best-selling pianist, arrives at her apartment after she sent him a frightened letter. Her cross-dressing neighbor Dolly informs him that Isabelle is a stripper and prostitute under the name "Tanya" but she hasn't been seen in several days. Eric walks the city streets until finally arriving at Blake Industries, where his estranged father Hamilton Blake is CEO. Eric asks for his father's help in finding Isabelle, but Hamilton rejects both Eric and Isabelle. Once Eric leaves, Hamilton pulls a photo of his daughter out of his desk to fondle. Eric locates the strip club his sister worked at and speaks to her coworkers, including Louise and Andrea. With no answers, Eric goes to the police station to file a report with Sgt. Skylar, who is dismissive of a missing prostitute. Later, Andrea is murdered in her own bathtub, but her killer is spotted by Dolly. Louise does not believe that Andrea committed suicide as the police are reporting, and after a near-fatal encounter with the killer she teams with Eric. Hamilton's right-hand man, Tony Shaw, asks Eric to play the piano at his father's UniSave Fundraiser, but Eric refuses until Isabelle is found. By tracing numbers in Isabelle's apartment telephone, Eric and Louise see several calls made to a cheap hotel. Later, as Dolly tries leaving town he is stabbed in an alley. Eric saves Louise from a mugging, prompting the two of them to have sex in Eric's hotel room. As Louise sleeps, Eric sneaks out to the cheap hotel that Isabelle's calls came from; he strong-arms a hotel manager to tell him that a man named The Fixervideotapes prostitutes having sex with their tricks. After spending hours searching for The Fixer, Eric finds him in an adult movie theater and forces him to reveal the videotapes’ location. Tina, a stripper who worked with Isabelle, is murdered and her boyfriend Mark becomes a prime suspect. Eric retrieves the videotapes from a locker and watches them in a state of shock: The videos reveal Isabelle and Hamilton having intercourse. Eric confronts Hamilton with the evidence of incest, which has been happening since shortly after their mother’s death. Eric leaves never wanting to see his father again, and a distraught Hamilton commits suicide. Once Eric realizes that the person who killed Dolly was wearing a UniSave pin, he races to the Blake Industries headquarters. There, as Louise auditions for a UniSave advertisement, Tony attempts to kill her to protect his boss' secret incestuous affair. Eric arrives, and after a short struggle on the roof Tony falls to his death.
Brett H. from Oh, the Horror! gave the film a positive review, writing, "American Nightmare will impress some and turn off others, but its decaying and seedy aspects are undeniable". Jacob Helgren, writing for the Hysteria Lives!, also gave the film a positive review, stating, " is one I definitely recommend. How this one passed by without getting noticed, I'll never know…but I'm very happy to have this flick proudly posted on the shelf with all my other favorites!" Rhett Miller of Canuxploitation!, wrote, "American Nightmare is a uniquely Canadian perspective on the depravity of . While the message may be a tad too pessimistic, and the overall feeling of the film may be gritty, dark and depressing, it is nevertheless a quality motion picture. The giallo film in Europe was a way for filmmakers to comment on the physical and moral decay of its city streets, and has done something brave in reviving the fundamentals of the genre to offer a similar critique on America."
