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Gothic Short Leaves a Viewer Wanting
MOVIE: American Gothic

DIRECTOR: Carlos Batts

CAST: Not Available

THE QUICK HIT:

A tale, of sorts, of violent marital disharmony interspersed with metal videos of giant cockroaches crawling around and giving birth near an undead buried body, odd broads in strange garments, zombie girls at play, an old man painting himself bloody and reading some kind of suicidal be-bop, and…well, that’s basically it. GRADE: C-

THE BIG PICTURE:

Sort of a beat/goth/Headbanger’s Ball kind of presentation this is, featuring lots of stereotypical imagery with CGI effects and scenery (including animation and video collage) over a grind metal soundtrack featuring the likes of Buzzov*en, Mastodon and Agoraphobic Nosebleed. Kind of an interesting presentation, but I don’t smoke enough pot to be overly entranced. The redundant statements about death and decay and the abundance of zombie-like creatures may be some kind of statement on modern family life, but this manages to be simultaneously ponderous and fleeting, leaving a hint of dissatisfaction in the viewer. And aside from the spoken word/poetry narration that protracts any project, some of the scenes really do seem to drag on for overly long periods in what is essentially a short (21 minutes) film. So, points on the music, digital manipulation and a few good shots, but as a complete viewing experience American Gothic still leaves something to be desired.

TECHNICAL MUMBO JUMBO:

The DVD has some nice clips that come with an optional director’s introduction, as well as with some of the bad poetry action as above. Also comes with a gallery of digitally enhanced photographs. (Thanks to Exploitation Retrospect – www.dantenet.com)

Review by Tom Crites

INFLUX MOVIE REVIEWS www.influxmagazine.com
	*Gothic Short Leaves a Viewer Wanting* MOVIE: American Gothic
	DIRECTOR: Carlos Batts
	CAST: Not Available
THE QUICK HIT:
A tale, of sorts, of violent marital disharmony interspersed with metal videos of giant cockroaches crawling around and giving birth near an undead buried body, odd broads in strange garments, zombie girls at play, an old man painting himself bloody and reading some kind of suicidal be-bop, and…well, that’s basically it. GRADE: C-
THE BIG PICTURE:
Sort of a beat/goth/Headbanger’s Ball kind of presentation this is, featuring lots of stereotypical imagery with CGI effects and scenery (including animation and video collage) over a grind metal soundtrack featuring the likes of Buzzoven, Mastodon and Agoraphobic Nosebleed. Kind of an interesting presentation, but I don’t smoke enough pot to be overly entranced. The redundant statements about death and decay and the abundance of zombie-like creatures may be some kind of statement on modern family life, but this manages to be simultaneously ponderous and fleeting, leaving a hint of dissatisfaction in the viewer. And aside from the spoken word/poetry narration that protracts any project, some of the scenes really do seem to drag on for overly long periods in what is essentially a short (21 minutes) film. So, points on the music, digital manipulation and a few good shots, but as a complete viewing experience American Gothic* still leaves something to be desired.
TECHNICAL MUMBO JUMBO:
The DVD has some nice clips that come with an optional director’s introduction, as well as with some of the bad poetry action as above. Also comes with a gallery of digitally enhanced photographs. (Thanks to Exploitation Retrospect – www.dantenet.com)
Review by Tom Crites