Why don't you try...American Gothicagent31 takes a walk down memory lane to revisit the cult TV show American GothicRoots of American Gothic Some images are so well known that they have become part of popular culture : “the one with that girl with the weird smile” (Da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’), “the one where the dead-lookin’ guy is frightened” (Munch’s ‘Scream’). And, to those two, you can add “the one where that weird bald guy holds a pitch fork” (Wood’s ‘American Gothic’). Gothic was unveiled to the world in 1930, and, over time, the painting developed a life of its own, coming to represent a kind of emotional short-hand for the raw, slightly off-kilter, white-washed American heartland. It was this feeling of buried menace, of small-town America turning rotten, that Sam Rami – the uber-talented director of the Spiderman movies – was aiming to capture when he premiered the follow up to his cult-favourite Evil Dead trilogy : the weird and wonderful ‘American Gothic’. Unholy Trinity Gary Cole chews up the screen as Sheriff Lucas Buck; ensuring that the lives of the inhabitants of his personal fiefdom – the back-water town of Trinity – are all too aware that he runs the show, whether they like it or not… Focusing on Buck’s nefarious attempts to gain custody of his estranged son Caleb Temple (an astonishingly confident and nuanced performance from the confusingly named Lucas Black), and the myriad of ways the assorted towns-people get drawn into the Sheriff’s thrall, Gothic was cruelly cut down in it’s prime after only one season, and has taken a good few years to get to DVD – but the wait is finally over. DVD review The crisp DVD transfer perfectly highlights the sickly greens of the ominous forest surrounding Trinity, and does wonders with the reds of… well, lets just say that the Sheriff like to get his way, one way or another. The sound is suitably discordant and sparse, too, effectively drawing the viewer further and further into a world that, much like the painting from which it draws its inspiration, seems both stagnant and dangerous. Cult classic The fact that American Gothic was like nothing else on television at the time did not – perhaps unsurprisingly – stop its cancellation, but it did ensure that the show rapidly developed a devoted cult-following. It’s small but loyal audience tuned in each week, eager to discover the truth about the Sheriff’s rumoured satanic associations; to learn more of the mysterious backgrounds of Caleb’s protectors (town doctor Dr Matt Crower, and cousin Gail Emory); and to witness Caleb’s dead sister, the ghostly Merlyn, fight for Caleb’s soul with the charismatic, amoral Buck. Yes – this is a show that prominently features visions of the dead, battles of good vs. evil, and a man with supposed supernatural powers; but this in no X-Files knock-off – nor is it a darker take on Touched By An Angel, with a glowing being from above helping to save the day. Rami and his production team have instead crafted an unsettling mixture of Americana and Film Noir – flipping over the idealised town of the American Dream, examining what is festering below all the smiling, shining surfaces, in the towns’ putrid, shadowy belly. American Gothic won’t be for everyone; there are no absolutes in Trinity, and its shades of grey will frustrate those who dislike the kind of languid ambiguity that is Gothic’s stock in trade. For those that have the patience, however, the show is a slow-burning treat, filled with intriguing, morally-conflicted characters and a brilliantly creepy, underplayed sense that all kinds of horror wait just beyond those familiar, all-American white picket fences…… IF YOU LIKE THIS, WHY NOT TRY… Profit (TV Show, 1996, New World Television) Blue Velvet (Film, 1986, DEG) Weeds (TV Show, 2005, Lions Gate Television) Stephen King’s The Stand (TV Show, 1994,) Greengrass Productions) Twin Peaks (TV Show, 1990, Lynch / Frost Productions) |
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