Only a movie

Speaking of politics, fans of modern-day horror can get a smart new perspective on the freaky masterflicks of the last four decades, this Friday the 13th (ooo, dats skairy) at 10 p.m. That’s when “The American Nightmare” premieres on the Independent Film Channel. Clips from such crap-in-your-pants fare as Night of the Living Dead, Last House on the Left, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween are presented in the political contexts of their times (e.g. the civil rights struggles of the ’60s and the Vietnam War). Sharp interviews with directors George Romero, Tobe Hooper, Wes Craven, John Carpenter, David Cronenberg, Tom Savini and John Landis, as well as film scholars Carol Clover, Tom Gunning and Adam Lowenstein, make this a cinema grave-robber’s dream. Directed by Adam Simon, the documentary will be repeated on Thu., Oct 19 at 11:30 p.m., Sat., Oct. 28 at 10 p.m. and Tue., Oct. 31 at 10 p.m.; it kicks off IFC’s annual Indie Screams festival of horror. Fright classics featured this October include: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Martin, Rabid, The Brood, Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, Sisters and Re-Animator. See www.ifctv.com for more info.

George Tysh is the Metro Times arts editor. E-mail him at [email protected]