Frankie Dunlan is a depressed Vietnam veteran facing disturbing memories of his experiences during wartime. Now back at home in an urban combat zone, his nagging wife, mutant baby, and filthy slum-level apartment aren't helping matters. Driven to the brink of sanity, he decides to rid his neighborhood of its depravity by battling the lowlife with guns, guerilla warfare and the hand-to-hand combat he used in Southeast Asia. This grimy and disturbing Troma release, assembled by the hands of many members of the Giovinazzo family, comes off as a potent, skid row hybrid of ERASERHEAD and TAXI DRIVER.

DVD Features:

2-Disc Set
Region 0
NTSC
Keep Case
Director's Cut
Additional Release Material:
Music Video
Audio Commentary
Disc 1: American Nightmares / Combat Shock
Additional Release Material:
Buddy Giovinazzo and Jorg Buttgereit (Nekromantik)
Audio Commentary: Director's Commentary
Features - American Nightmares: Director's Cut
Features - Combat Shock: Original Theatrical Cut
Disc 2: Bonus Features
Additional Release Material:
Trailers: Original Theatrical Trailer
Documentary: Post - Traumatic, An American Nightmare
Featurette:
1. Hellscapes
2. Early Works Of Buddy Giovinazzo
Interviews:
1. Unscarred - Rick Giovinazzo
2. Der Combat - Buddy Giovinazzo, Actor; Lloyd Kaufman, Troma President;
3. Buddy Giovinazzo, Actor
Text/Photo Galleries:
Galleries: Press / Photo Gallery

Distributor Notes: Frankie Dunlan returns from Vietnam to find hislife a festering sewer of poverty, hopelessnessand violence. His wife is pregnant and hungry,his one year old son is sick and horribly deformedfrom exposure to Agent Orange, to make mattersworse, they're all being evicted from their run-down hell hole apartment.Frankie roams the streets looking for work but he'saccosted by a street gang and beaten up, hisfamily is threatened unless he pays back a debtlong overdue. His childhood friend is a strungout junkie, aborted fetuses litter the alleys,underage prostitutes work the streets; the entiresociety has flushed itself down the toilet. YetFrankie doesn't give up hope; maybe there's a jobat the unemployment office, maybe his father willhelp; not a chance! At the end of the day Frankie goes home where hiswife confronts him with the facts. She can't take itanymore and wants out. That's when Frankie hasan inspiration, a way out of the horror. In a tender,warm hearted, feel-good story of justice andredemption, Frankie finally makes his peace.

Ricky Giovinazzo: 
Nick Nasta: 
Veronica Stork: 

Buddy Giovinazzo: Director/Screenwriter

Buddy Giovinazzo: Director/Screenwriter

Buddy Giovinazzo: Director/Screenwriter

Ricky Giovinazzo: 

"[O]ne of Eighties American independent cinema's most powerful and uncompromising triumphs....Giovinazzo's harrowing vision remains undiluted."