A rowdy group of young adults take their friend on a weekend getaway only for their small plane to have engine trouble. Landing on a small island to try and determine the issue.
They search the island and come across an empty house. While exploring the house, they are startled by the homeowners, Ma and Pa. The couple offer them a place to sleep for the night, with Pa saying a friend is coming to the island who could help them with the plane. Ma and Pa seem a bit trapped in the past and a bit on the wacky side of religious.
But the biggest surprise is the couple’s three grown children Fanny, Woody and Teddy. While clearly pushing 50, the three behave as if they are children.
The next day, we discover that the kids are not merely mentally imbalanced…they are homicidal. As the young friends begin to disappear, the friends think that tragic accidents have befallen them until the eccentric family’s darkest secrets are revealed.
American Gothic is one of those films that I found back in the days of VHS. It never seemed to achieve the notoriety of other 80’s horror…but it has a solid twist at the end and boasts great creepy performances from Yvonne DeCarlo (known best for her role as the sweet and kind Lily Munster) and Rod Steiger as Ma and Pa, as well as the “children” played by Janet Wright, Michael J. Pollard and William Hootkins.
American Gothic is one of those good little horror films that I feel deserve wider recognition.
Bill Condon (God’s and Monsters, Mr. Holmes, the upcoming Beauty & The Beast) took over the franchise with Farewell to the Flesh. The setting moves from Chicago to New Orleans just before Mardi Gras, and focuses on a young teacher Annie and her family. Her father died the year before in what appeared to be a Candyman Murder. Her brother gets in trouble when he threatens an author who wrote a book on Candyman and said author is gutted.
Tripping Through Gateways 