- Actors: John Marley, Lynn Carlin, Richard Backus, Henderson Forsythe, Anya Ormsby
- Directors: Bob Clark, David Gregory
- Writers: Alan Ormsby
- Producers: Bob Clark, Geoffrey Nethercott, Gerald Flint-Shipman, John Trent, Peter James
- Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Colour, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
- Language English
- Region: Region 1 (US and Canada DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 1.85:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: R (Restricted) (US MPAA rating. See details.)
- Studio: Blue Underground
- DVD Release Date: 29 Jun 2004
- Run Time: 88 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00026PA70
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 59,597 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Deathdream (AKA Dead Of Night, The Night Andy Came Home) is a great little intelligent horror film.
Whilst George Romero was scrabbling around for another good idea to follow on from his seminal, brutal and scathing Night Of The Living Dead, Bob Clark seized the opportunity to amplify the sense of disillusionment and nihilism of Romero's masterpiece with this tale of an ordinary boy who comes back from Vietnam to his family profoundly altered. You see, Andy's dead and has become a murderous ghoul who needs to inject human blood to stave off the inevitable necrosis and preserve his boyish good looks.
His arrival as a monosyllabic shadow of his former self perplexes his family (who had been told he was dead), then leads to a total disintegration of their relationships with each other.
Deathdream plays with themes of the effect of Vietnam on combatants, the generational strife their trauma created with older Americans who didn't distinguish Nam from WW2 and Korea, the drug addiction some returning GI's succumbed to and a ghastly Oedipal power struggle between Andy's overprotective mother and more distant father.
A great cast plays out this melodrama with conviction, and it's all wrapped in a delicious horror coating with Andy slowly becoming more menacing (at one point he strangles the family dog in front of some neighborhood kids) homicidal and zombielike (great make up effects by Tom Savini in his first film outing.)
A real gem, it feels harsh to only give 4 stars, but I'm doing so in recognition of the fact that grainy low budget early 70's Nam allegories aren't going to appeal to everyone.
Whilst George Romero was scrabbling around for another good idea to follow on from his seminal, brutal and scathing Night Of The Living Dead, Bob Clark seized the opportunity to amplify the sense of disillusionment and nihilism of Romero's masterpiece with this tale of an ordinary boy who comes back from Vietnam to his family profoundly altered. You see, Andy's dead and has become a murderous ghoul who needs to inject human blood to stave off the inevitable necrosis and preserve his boyish good looks.
His arrival as a monosyllabic shadow of his former self perplexes his family (who had been told he was dead), then leads to a total disintegration of their relationships with each other.
Deathdream plays with themes of the effect of Vietnam on combatants, the generational strife their trauma created with older Americans who didn't distinguish Nam from WW2 and Korea, the drug addiction some returning GI's succumbed to and a ghastly Oedipal power struggle between Andy's overprotective mother and more distant father.
A great cast plays out this melodrama with conviction, and it's all wrapped in a delicious horror coating with Andy slowly becoming more menacing (at one point he strangles the family dog in front of some neighborhood kids) homicidal and zombielike (great make up effects by Tom Savini in his first film outing.)
A real gem, it feels harsh to only give 4 stars, but I'm doing so in recognition of the fact that grainy low budget early 70's Nam allegories aren't going to appeal to everyone.
!!!WARNING. MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!
When the Brooks family sit round the dinner table, a false jockularity masking an unspoken fear, there is a knock at the door. A knock that they had been dreading for some time. Charlie and Christine Brooks are informed that their son Andy has been killed whilst fighting in the Vietnam War. Christine just cannot believe that this is the truth, and her prayers are answered when late into a dark night a visitor comes to the Brooks' house. Andy has returned from the war, but soon the celebrations turn sour, as Andy is a very different person from the one that left to fight for his country.
'Be careful what you wish for' seems to be the moral of this superb low budget 70's horror film, a highly succesful updating of Poe's 'The Monkey's Paw'. This is a tremendously adult affair , made back in the era when horror films were made to scare the audience rather than to aim a knowing post modern nudge towards the jaded audience. It's a film that explores the reactions of middle America towards the Vietnam conflict through the eyes of this one family and their fragile emotions towards the return of the prodigal son. Long hidden tensions within the family erupt to the surface when unpalatible home truths come to light.
John Marley is excellent as the tortured father Charlie who fears the worst but cannot bring himself to act on his fears. Lynn Carlin is equally good as the mother who wishes her son back. The real star however is Richard Backus who is terrific as the haunted, angry Andy, a difficult part that requires a lot of physical presence and non-verbal expression of emotions.
The two standout sequences are the scenes that bookend the film. The afore-mentioned family reunion, and the horrific climatic scenes at the drive-in. There is also a great bit in the middle of the film, where Andy delas very abruptly with the family pet in front of an audience of incredulous children.
There are plenty of great extras on this Region 0 Blue Underground release. Two entertaining commentaries from director Bob Clark and script writer Alan Ormsby, and some entertaining featurettes too.
An essential purchase for fans of 1970's horror, or just horror film fans in general. 5 out of 5
When the Brooks family sit round the dinner table, a false jockularity masking an unspoken fear, there is a knock at the door. A knock that they had been dreading for some time. Charlie and Christine Brooks are informed that their son Andy has been killed whilst fighting in the Vietnam War. Christine just cannot believe that this is the truth, and her prayers are answered when late into a dark night a visitor comes to the Brooks' house. Andy has returned from the war, but soon the celebrations turn sour, as Andy is a very different person from the one that left to fight for his country.
'Be careful what you wish for' seems to be the moral of this superb low budget 70's horror film, a highly succesful updating of Poe's 'The Monkey's Paw'. This is a tremendously adult affair , made back in the era when horror films were made to scare the audience rather than to aim a knowing post modern nudge towards the jaded audience. It's a film that explores the reactions of middle America towards the Vietnam conflict through the eyes of this one family and their fragile emotions towards the return of the prodigal son. Long hidden tensions within the family erupt to the surface when unpalatible home truths come to light.
John Marley is excellent as the tortured father Charlie who fears the worst but cannot bring himself to act on his fears. Lynn Carlin is equally good as the mother who wishes her son back. The real star however is Richard Backus who is terrific as the haunted, angry Andy, a difficult part that requires a lot of physical presence and non-verbal expression of emotions.
The two standout sequences are the scenes that bookend the film. The afore-mentioned family reunion, and the horrific climatic scenes at the drive-in. There is also a great bit in the middle of the film, where Andy delas very abruptly with the family pet in front of an audience of incredulous children.
There are plenty of great extras on this Region 0 Blue Underground release. Two entertaining commentaries from director Bob Clark and script writer Alan Ormsby, and some entertaining featurettes too.
An essential purchase for fans of 1970's horror, or just horror film fans in general. 5 out of 5
Just to let fans know about the extras on this very worthwhile disc.It has 2 audio commentaries,one from producer/director Bob Clark(Black christmas) and one with screenwriter Alan Ormsby(Deranged),two featurettes 1."Tom Savini:the early years(10:00)2.interview with actor Richard Backus(11:41)and alternate opening titles and extended ending sequence(7:08) plus trailer(3:51) and a few galleries.
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