Sonho de Morte

This is a horror film that expands the boundaries of the genre.

Put simply, it is a film about a dead man walking, but this dead man "died" in Vietnam before he returned home and his unexpected arrival opens many wounds within his family and amongst old flames and acquaintances.

Director Bob Clark is not satisfied depicting returned vet "Andy" as a zombie. Although he does crave human flesh and speaks infrequently, part of the film's charm is the reaction of people to the dead man's less-than-chipper mood.

Shots of Andy rocking like an autistic child are priceless, as is a "conversation" Andy has with the mailman who laments the returned boys "we should have lost". The family pet is not exactly Andy's best friend anymore, either.

John Marley as Charles Brooks, Andy's dad, is really great here. Although he tries hard to accept the new Andy, we really experience his gradual realization and disappointment that Andy is not the same Andy anymore.

Jim Backus is brilliant as the undead vet. He uses his voice to convey Andy's apparent indifference to life back home and adopts a strange, somnambulistic gait.

Technically adequate for a low budgeter, the film's richness of character and situation never shifts our attention to any production deficits.

One of the best horror films ever.

Truly creepy and, ultimately, very sad.

Excellent spooky variation on "Monkey's Paw" really plays on deep emotions in a crude (but effective) manner.

Low-budget, but fast-moving and scary. This is one of my favorites.

A distraught mother "wishes" her deceased Vietnam soldier-boy son home only to discover he isn't quite who he was when he left.

Many different horror archetypes (zombies, vampirism, cannibalism) are touched on without being confirmed, which makes the film that much more effective.

The film is also a sharp and dark commentary on the state of the returning GI. Andy sits for hours in his dazed "zombie-like" state and stares at the walls. He becomes violent and acts irrational. Many symptoms of post-traumatic shock syndrome.

Written by Alan Ormsby, who also collaborated with Clark on "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things" and would later go on to pen Paul Schrader's remake of "Cat People".

If you're looking for another solid Bob Clark spook-fest, check out "Black Christmas" (which bears an eerie similarity to the original "Halloween", though it predates it by several years!!) before "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things".

Many have commented on the *shocker* ending. If you are expecting something along the lines of the original "Carrie" - something to make you jump out of your seat - you will be disappointed.

The ending is more dour and stunning. I didn't see it coming, but it made perfect sense in line with everything that had happened. It's the kind of ending that a film would never have now. It's simply too honest. One of the better horror endings I've seen, actually.

When the twenty-one year-old soldier Andrew "Andy" Brooks (Richard Backus) is murdered in Vietnam, his mother Christine (Lynn Carlin) is summoning him asking him to come back home. Andy is the pride and joy of Christine that has eyes only for him. When the Brooks family is having dinner, they receive an Army´s letter telling that Andy died in the war. However a couple of days later, Andy arrives at home late night surprising his father Charles (John Marley), his sister Cathy (Anya Ormsby) and Christine. In the same night, a truck driver that is giving a rider to a hitchhiker is murdered in his truck. Soon Charles suspects that Andy is the killer and he has a conversation with his friend Doctor Allman (Henderson Forsythe) that agrees with him. Does Andy really come back home?

"Dead of Night" is a creepy and depressing horror movie directed by Bob Clark. The story is sad, with family, friends and girlfriend missing a twenty-one year-old missing in Vietnam. His return as an undead killer is depressing and bringing tragedy for those who loves him. Richard Backus is creepy in the role of Andy. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Sonho de Morte" ("Deathdream")

A young soldier called Andy is shot and killed in action, not mentioned by name but presumably in Vietnam. His family are notified of his death but then he appears at their house, only his personality has been drained and he has a murderous craving for human blood. He has become some kind of vampire/zombie hybrid, he has no fangs and sunlight doesn't burn him up, however he physically deteriorates over time and towards the end he turns into a monster. Quite how this all came about is not explained, other than his mother wishing him to come home. This was my first viewing and despite an initial doubt I was very impressed, the movie is genuinely unsettling and frightening. Director Bob Clark also made the classic "Black Christmas", both released in 1974, and the two movies use the same creepy music. Tom Savini did the special effects, which are pretty gruesome. And I will point out that this was made several years before George Romero's modern vampire movie "Martin" (1977). Highly Recommended.

A very interesting movie by Bob Clark who has just passed away.Gore and special effects are kept to the minimum,the director and the screenplay focusing more on the family than on the dead man walking.

Bob Clark renewed a theme which French Abel "Napoleon" Gance had broached in the silent era (and remade as a talkie): "J'accuse" .Gance showed the dead soldiers rise from the grave and attack the profiteers of war .Too bad Clark did not follow suit and show the veteran attack those who sent him to war...but after all,it was this over possessive mother who made him join the army (that'll make him a man).The parents 'responsiblity is obvious here.The love the mother feels for her dearest son verges on monstrous -and becomes really monstrous in the final scenes,in every sense of the term.

An unusually inventive use of music creates a disturbing eerie atmosphere,a "something is not normal" feeling,some black humor (the drive in),and the hero swinging in his chair like a robot.All that makes "Dead of Night" a movie worth watching.

NB:Should not be mistaken for "Dead of night" (1946) a scary film made up of sketches.

Like this?Try these....

"Jacob's ladder" Adrian Lyne 1993

"The war at home" Emilio Estevez 1996