The Daily Dig: The American Scream (1988)

If National Lampoon had gotten into the slasher business in the eighties, “The American Scream” would have been their prototype film.

A family vacationing in the mountains is terrorized by local wackos. Let’s dig into 1988’s THE AMERICAN SCREAM, directed by Mitchell Linden!

As I See It

What this film lacks in structure, it makes up for in absurdity. Somehow, they hit both the vibe of a Friday the 13th film and a John Hughes outdoor comedy like The Great Outdoors or even Carl Reiner’s Summer Rental.

It’s not your typical spoof film, although it does suffer from the same scene-stacking composition. Not much makes sense as far as storytelling goes, but it didn’t detract from the experience being a real hoot.

George “Buck” Flower pulls off one of the cleanest and funniest decapitations in film history. I haven’t internally chuckled that hard at such a scene since Hereditary, though that one was more out of shock.

Like any good spoof film, they pay homage to something from the pop culture zeitgeist. I certainly didn’t expect them to pull off a Back to the Future guitar scene. You’re probably not ready for that, but your kids are going to think it slays!

The fiddle-filled finale has it all: comedy, sex, ripped-off lines (“this town ain’t big enough for the two of us”), and blood. The only thing it was lacking was a comprehensive closure to the story. Who needs that when you’re just having fun?

Famous Faces

Pons Maar’s (Ben Benzinger) character work is a thing of legend. So many Elder Spooky Kids can claim to be terrified of him thanks to his performance in Return to Oz as the “Lead Wheeler”. He’s proven his versatility as Fu in the Eddie Murphy Fantasy/Comedy The Golden Child, the villainous, reptilian Saurod in the live-action Masters of the Universe, and as the Pool Zombie in the Joe Piscopo vehicle, Dead Heat. He also had a bit part in the remake of The Blob and was the performer in the Theodore Rex costume in the film of the same name, starring Whoopi Goldberg.

Matt Borlenghi (Brent) played a Jock in A Nightmare on Elm Street 5 – The Dream Child.

George “Buck” Flower (Ed Simpson) lives deep, deep in my heart thanks to his performance in Pumpkinhead. He was also “Red the Bum” in the Back to the Future films, a tramp in The Night Stalker (1986), a janitor in Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama, a Security Guard in Mac and Me, and a Drifter in They Live.

Bill Johnson (Roy) played Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.

Of Gratuitous Nature

Honestly, it all feels fitting for the time and place. A Peeping Tom is such an eighties trope (that was probably a throwback to the nineteen fifties, to be fair). The backwoods strip club was rife with crumpled dollar bills, cigarette ash, and too much groping.

Heartthrob

They do say the best way to a Ghoul’s heart is through laughter.

Ripe for a Remake

I have long thought the era of good spoof films was over. The recent remake of Naked Gun has me thinking otherwise. You bring the belly laughs, and I’ll add the gore.

Spawns

No progeny to report.

Where to Watch

Culture Shock Releasing put out a Blu-Ray in 2022, and it got a limited edition release from Vinegar Syndrome’s distribution.