Le Mort-vivant

I saw this movie on Chiller Theater sometime in the late 70's, and

it stuck with me for a long while. I never knew the title, however,

until I re-discovered it a few years ago. My memories of seeing it as a young kid mostly focused on the

weirdness of the film itself. Richard Backus does an amazingly

creepy performance as "Andy," a soldier in Vietnam who returns

home after being supposedly killed in action. His mom, overjoyed

to see him, refuses to believe anything is wrong, while his sister

and father begin to suspect all is not quite right given his behavior,

pale, vampiric appearance and the many strange incidents which

begin to occur around him. Mom continues to stay in denial until

the very end. The scene with the double date in the drive-in particularly stuck

with me after all those years. Honestly scared the bejezus out of

me as a kid! But re-watching as an adult, I saw the movie more for what it was

meant to be, a social commentary about the Vietnam war. It still

holds up very well today. I am glad to know it has been re-released on DVD with additions,

though I haven't seen this yet. For years it was difficult to even find

a video copy. Plus it was released under several different names. I

think I originally saw it as "The Night Andy Came Home." Definitely recommended.

Before I get into the review, here are my ratings for the movie.

The story gets 1.25 out of 2: The Direction a 1.25: The Pacing receives a 1.25: While the Acting gets 1.25: And my Enjoyment level earns a 1.5 out of 2: This brings the total for Dead Of Night to 6.5 out of 10.

What a wonderful surprise this movie turned out to be. It's a basic story, filmed in an average style, with above-par acting. But it's so enjoyable. Dead Of Night is one of those films that has that particular indeterminable something, which you can't put your finger on, or name. I think it's the subtlety that oozes throughout the picture.

Charles, Christine, and Cathy Brooks are having dinner when the fateful knock comes at their door. It's the news they've been dreading. Their son, and brother, Andy has been killed-in-action in Vietnam. Charles and his daughter Cathy breakdown in grief while Christine fights to believe her son is still alive. That night, Charles and Christine awake to strange noises. Upon their nervous search of the property, they find Andy has returned and is waiting in the shadows. Everybody's delighted to welcome the returning hero. However, as the day's pass, it becomes evident that all is not right with Andy.

Alan Ormsby uses Andy's unfamiliar behaviour to create the eerie atmosphere. Brilliantly added to this are the perfect characterisations of the Brooks family. I know families like the Brooks. A strong father type. A mother who doesn't argue and stands by her family; until they do wrong. And, a sister who loves her parents and little brother: But who is realising her own decisions are becoming more important. These relationships keep you interested. You relate to them and become concerned in their lives. Ormsby drives in a nice deep wedge when Charles realises Andy isn't as good a boy as when he went to war. However, Christine is still trying to hide the truth from herself. These two opposite positions bring them to near all-out war. And, I know families like this too.

Bob Clark, does an okay directorial job on the story. For the most part, he keeps it average. Though, he does compliment the story perfectly with his shots. For example, when the lorry driver pulls in for a coffee, he informs the waitress that his hitch-hiker is a strange one. As this point, Clark gives us a shot out of the Pit-Stop's window at the cab of the lorry. We see a silhouette of a person, who is just a shadow in the darkness, sat high and starring unfalteringly forward. There's nothing iconic in the composition, and it's not a great shot, but it still makes your skin crawl. Most of the creepiness comes from imagery like this. The iconic and memorable footage comes when Andy dons his sunglasses. This guy is creepy at best, but in these black spec's he's freaky to the maximum.

Andy's weirdness comes from his characters resistance to talk and engage with others. Richard Backus was ideal for this role. As we progress through the story, Backus builds on Andy's traits, at first it's an unnerving slow smile. This builds to an unnerving slow smile with a growing deadness in his eyes. Then the madness starts to build within his stares, and his eyes haemorrhage. The thing I loved most about this was the slow evolving of Andy. When he first returns home, he's not evil. The wickedness comes on in slow waves. John Marley, who is the A-lister in this film, does a superb job of bringing Charles to life. The character fits him like a glove, and he is highly realistic in his portrayal. I felt a tad sorry for Anya Ormsby, who played Cathy, because in one scene Charles shoves his daughter away. And, he really does shove her away.

Lynn Carlin is great as Christine. Not only does she have one character to portray, but Christine's persona gets splintered and ripped apart, and Carlin handles it superbly. Though I will state that if you don't like high-pitched screaming and wailing women then be warned, there are a couple of scenes where Christine and Cathy get rowdy. Get the ear-plugs. Why does everybody in the horror genre think women act like this? It's the only unrealistic thing about the film. My mother would slap both of them for behaving so foolishly. I've never known a woman act in such a manner when stressed or anxious. I detest this stereotype.

Dead Of Night is a definite watch for all the horror fans and newbies to the genre. It's not a gore-fest though, so all you gore-hounds should stay away. Though I do have to say there's a couple of quick shots of Andy's hands when they're starting to rot and they are great. The FX people even added maggots to the wound. Awesome. The film is one for the Friday Night Fright-Fest. A great movie to grab a brew and put your feet up to watch.

Once, you've clawed your way out of your grave come and visit my Absolute Horror and see where Andy finally buried himself in my rankings.

Take Care & Stay Well.

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

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.

Bob Clark was such a fantastic and visionary filmmaker during the early 70's and directed no less than three very important and hugely influential horror movies in a row. Unfortunately, he reverted to making lame & mainstream comedies during the 80's and 90's and - even more unfortunate of course - was his untimely death earlier this year 2007 as a result of a car accident. But back then he definitely was the man, because he was single-handedly responsible for one genre-defining slasher ("Black Christmas"), one playful yet creepy zombie classic ("Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things") and then this one: a unique and genuinely intriguing horror-sleeper. "Deathdream" is primarily an unsettling shocker, but it definitely also qualifies as a subtly powerful anti-war protest and even as a depressing middle-class family drama. Right from the excruciatingly sober opening credits, showing the frozen image of a soldier dying in agony after taking a bullet in the chest, you immediately realize this won't become just another outrageous splatter flick with zombie-soldiers and gratuitous massacres. Rightly so, because the story then cuts to the dinner table of a seemingly random American family who are very busy making plans for when their son Andy returns home from Vietnam, and you literally sense tragic news is about to knock them down. Andy is indeed reported killed in action shortly after, and the drama affects both the parents differently. Especially the mother refuses to accept her beloved son's departure and stays up entire nights, praying & wishing for Andy to come home. And then suddenly he DOES come home … but not as his family and friends remember him. Andy doesn't talk or eat, he spends the whole day in a rocking-chair whilst staring in the distance and his body rapidly starts decomposing if not regularly supplied with fresh doses of human blood!

Andy Brooks isn't just a pitiable character in a 70's horror gem. No, he presumably represents every young soldier who reluctantly enlisted to serve in Vietnam, only because their fathers and the small-town communities they lived in expected them to. Rather than to feast on the blood of innocent bystanders, Andy returns to raise feelings of guilt and anguish among his former friends and particularly his dad. "Deathdream" clearly features some harsh social undertones, and they're magnificently supported by the realistic characters (and, respectively, the terrific acting performances). The relationships between Andy's mother, Andy's father and Andy himself are perhaps the best achievement of the entire film. The pacing is quite slow, but it works efficiently, and the overall ambiance of "Deathdream" is very creepy. The images of Andy in his rocking-chair (complete with screeching sound) and his grimaces when chocking the family dog in front of several young children are unforgettable. Considering the main themes and, undeniably, the budgets Bob Clark disposed of, you shouldn't expect a lot of gore, but still there are some nasty and convincingly unsettling make-up effects to enjoy. If they weren't interested just yet, all horror fans will unquestionably want to see the film because it marked Tom Savini's debut as a SFX-guru. In my humble personal opinion the ending could have been a bit better and less abrupt, but that's just a small detail. This film ranks high amongst the best genre achievements of the 1970's and it's fundamental viewing for all fans.