Legendary horror directors reveal the inspirations behind their groundbreaking films of the 1960s and '70s in this thought-provoking documentary from filmmaker Adam Simon. Through film clips and interviews, masters of mayhem George Romero, Tobe Hooper, Wes Craven, David Cronenberg, John Landis, John Carpenter, and Tom Savini discuss how their disturbing cinematic creations were a direct social commentary on the real-life political horrors happening in the U.S. during that turbulent era, including Vietnam, the Cold War, racial segregation, political assassinations, and the Kent State shootings. By placing seminal films like NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, SHIVERS, THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE in their proper historical context, THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE finally gives the horror genre the credit it so rightly deserves as a barometer of the American sociopolitical landscape.