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Nightmares In Red, White And Blue: The Evolution Of The American Horror Film

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Short Essay Two: Visual Argument Essay on the Documentary
Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film, directed by Andrew Monument, is a documentary that shows viewers the history of horror films. It goes from the first silent horror films to the first decade of the 21st century to explain the popularity of the genre. Monument argues that the major purpose of the horror genre is not only to entertain and make money, but also to reveal man’s deepest fears from specific American cultural time periods. The use of narration, directors’ and film historians’ commentaries, and the choice of film clips, effectively make Monument’s argument.
Monument uses narration to his advantage during Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue to mirror the narration that would be found in a horror film. The narrator speaks in a slow, low pitched voice while ominous music plays in the background; exactly like a horror movie …show more content…

This sets the tone for eerie events and information, and informs the viewers that something important or eventful is about to happen; and in this case that is being informed that horror movies come from real world fears. The narration also mostly occurs while information about political events is being given. For example, when mentioning the earliest horror films the narrator describes wounded WWII veterans coming home with missing limbs and disfigurations; which is shortly followed by an explanation that monsters in the first horror films were often regular people that had the misfortune of becoming disfigured, and being treated terribly by society. Using the narrator to describe this period of history gives the sense that it was a truly horrific period in time. Explaining that monsters were often disfigured people, like veterans, makes a very

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