Okay so the movie starts off with a prison transport van car accident which kills the driver and 6 of the 8 convicts. The accident really didn't' look bad enough to kill anyone, but okay.

-1 Star for the neck stabbing / cauterizing crap....that's really not something one walks away from....

Ahh they made the opening accident make a bit more sense later on.

-1 Star Because I hate False Accusers....False Accusers should be ripped apart slowly and be kept alive as long as possible while their parts are slowly separated from their bodies....but I digress.....

Okay this movie was pretty bad. But I have definitely seen worse....

3/10

Didn't see a movie this bad in a long time. The title obviously refers to the iconic painting by American regionalist painter Grant Wood (probably because painting and movie share a farmer couple as theme),but it's really an insult to Wood and to his painting. The title also hints at a horror-like story, but it's no horror at all, just a lame uninspired wannabe thriller. Everything about this movie is mediocre, silly, amateurish or just plain bad.

We've seen the premise many times before: a couple of convicts escape and seek refuge in some house that they stumble upon and harass the family that lives there. The convicts are tied together at their feet with an iron chain and are not armed. It's preposterous to watch the overlong scene where the farmer couple lets themselves be overpowered by these two, they easily could have made a run for it because the convicts can hardly move, let alone run while tied together, but they just stand there like dumb statues, while all the time we see a gun hanging at the wall behind the farmer!

When the plot-twists start to come in, my rapidly dropping expectations were momentarily rekindled, but not for long: the twists were just too much and the makers obviously were so proud of their inventions that they didn't bother anymore about logics: I just went from one amazement to the other. It didn't help that the dialogues were on the brink of stupid, as was the script. And I hesitate to call the acting by that name: the farmer husband, the female cop, the older convict, they all seemed like inexperienced extras plucked from the street for their first job. Only the mean convict came close to real acting. The farmer wife had a decent creepy look, but that was about it, she as well as the daughter behaved like drilled robots.

Don't trust the few raving reviews here, they're obviously from persons concerned with this project. Just believe the reviewers that took some of their precious time to warn you.

'American Gothic' drew me into seeing it, with a cool poster/cover, an intriguing and quite creative premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive.

It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws are here present in those films, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. 'American Gothic' is terrible, with a plethora of problems (huge ones too) and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There is very little to recommend, but still a couple of qualities in 'American Gothic'.

Lets start with the positives. The scenery is atmospheric and spooky, despite the rather direct to video schlocky way it's generally shot (apart from the odd nice one) and edited, it was very clear that the film was made in a rush with no care or enthusiasm.

First ten minutes at least doesn't make one want to turn off.

Going on further to the negatives, the story does feel over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less unsettled and never gaining momentum. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their annoying and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrates.

Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The effects are ropy at best, the sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions) and all of the acting is lacking mostly.

Dialogue can be stilted and rambling while the pace and film drags on forever, never recovering until finally getting slightly intriguing to the ending when something finally happens. Even the ending however is botched, due to being so incomplete-feeling, illogical and rushed. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense.

A lot of 'American Gothic' has underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you shocked are far from creative or unsetling

There is not enough threat here and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, while the psychological elements are unimaginative and are more odd than scary, completely failing to show any sense of horror. Some badly sagging momentum too. The direction is leaden, got the sense their heart was not in it, and the music doesn't really fit.

Concluding, terrible. 2/10 Bethany Cox