"Andy, you'll come back. You've got to. You promised!"... So goes the mother's prayer, sent into the night and sure enough, Andy does come back. But instead of bringing happiness, death and turmoil follow him (or what is left of him).
This is the premise (based on W. W. Jacobs short-story "The Monkey's Paw", 1902) of the sophomore feature by the now famed cult-director Bob Clark. With him, like in their previous chiller "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things", is the writer Alan Ormsby. Beneath the surface of a family-drama turned zombie-flick lies a very obvious message, namely: War changes man for the worse. Young Andy comes back, but he is more dead than alive. Brooding, anti-social and prone to violent fits; a blueprint for what was later to be diagnosed as the very real PTSD. Anti-war films may seem numerous today, but Dead of Night deserves recognition for being one of the first horror films directly targeting the Vietnam War (which was nearing its end during filming).
The film is held up by a core of strong actors. John Marley (Faces, The Godfather) and Lynn Carlin (Faces) do a fine job as the parents. Christine, the mother, has a deep affection for her son, while Charles, the father, grows more and more troubled by his presence. The character of Andy might be the most challenging, but Backus does a commendable job with what he had to work with. He has barely any lines and constantly bears the same expression, but manages to convey a burning hate against everything alive through his eyes (him strangling the family job is the best example of this).
On the flip-side is the dialogue which sometimes feels very scripted (e.g the teens' wooden bantering), and a somewhat lacking story. The viewer is never convinced of Andy-turned-killer-zombie's motives, which are made even more unclear by a cheesy element of blood-gathering via syringe. Is he angry at the people of his home-town ("I died for you", he tells the doctor, "why shouldn't you return the favor?"), or simply drawing their blood to keep his rotting cadaver going (and if so, for what reason?).
Luckily the running-time is short, and an effective score by Carl Zittrer (later to be partly re-used in Black Christmas) adds tension throughout. The scene where Andy stalks the doctor on his way home had me biting my nails. Additionally we get to see the somewhat unambitious but rock-solid beginning of Tom Savini's special-effects career. It is a treat for the eyes to see Andy's transformation from pale-faced boy to creature straight out from "Dawn of the Dead".
All in all, Deathdream (aka Dead of Night, The Night Andy Came Home) is a fun late-night thriller, and a solid stepping-stone in Clark's career, which was to give us the legendary Black Christmas the following year.
This is the premise (based on W. W. Jacobs short-story "The Monkey's Paw", 1902) of the sophomore feature by the now famed cult-director Bob Clark. With him, like in their previous chiller "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things", is the writer Alan Ormsby. Beneath the surface of a family-drama turned zombie-flick lies a very obvious message, namely: War changes man for the worse. Young Andy comes back, but he is more dead than alive. Brooding, anti-social and prone to violent fits; a blueprint for what was later to be diagnosed as the very real PTSD. Anti-war films may seem numerous today, but Dead of Night deserves recognition for being one of the first horror films directly targeting the Vietnam War (which was nearing its end during filming).
The film is held up by a core of strong actors. John Marley (Faces, The Godfather) and Lynn Carlin (Faces) do a fine job as the parents. Christine, the mother, has a deep affection for her son, while Charles, the father, grows more and more troubled by his presence. The character of Andy might be the most challenging, but Backus does a commendable job with what he had to work with. He has barely any lines and constantly bears the same expression, but manages to convey a burning hate against everything alive through his eyes (him strangling the family job is the best example of this).
On the flip-side is the dialogue which sometimes feels very scripted (e.g the teens' wooden bantering), and a somewhat lacking story. The viewer is never convinced of Andy-turned-killer-zombie's motives, which are made even more unclear by a cheesy element of blood-gathering via syringe. Is he angry at the people of his home-town ("I died for you", he tells the doctor, "why shouldn't you return the favor?"), or simply drawing their blood to keep his rotting cadaver going (and if so, for what reason?).
Luckily the running-time is short, and an effective score by Carl Zittrer (later to be partly re-used in Black Christmas) adds tension throughout. The scene where Andy stalks the doctor on his way home had me biting my nails. Additionally we get to see the somewhat unambitious but rock-solid beginning of Tom Savini's special-effects career. It is a treat for the eyes to see Andy's transformation from pale-faced boy to creature straight out from "Dawn of the Dead".
All in all, Deathdream (aka Dead of Night, The Night Andy Came Home) is a fun late-night thriller, and a solid stepping-stone in Clark's career, which was to give us the legendary Black Christmas the following year.