Deathdream
Encyclopedia
Deathdream is a 1972 Canadian horror film
, directed by Bob Clark
and written by Alan Ormsby
. It was inspired by the W.W. Jacobs short story The Monkey's Paw
.
, US soldier Andy Brooks is shot by a sniper and falls to the ground. As he begins to die, he hears his mother's voice calling out, "Andy, you'll come back, you've got to, you promised". The voice becomes sinister and muffled as Andy's eyes close. Sometime later, his family receives notice of his death in combat.
Back home, Andy's father, Charles, and sister, Cathy, begin to grieve, but his mother, Christine, becomes irate and refuses to believe that Andy has died. Hours later, in the middle of the night, Andy arrives at the front door in full uniform and apparently unharmed; the family accepts the notice of his death as a clerical error and welcomes him back with joy.
Over the next few days, Andy displays strange and erratic behavior, dressing in an unusually concealing matter and spending his days sitting around the house listless and anemic. Meanwhile, local police investigate the murder of a local trucker, who was found with his throat slashed and his body drained of blood after telling diner patrons that he'd picked up a hitchhiking soldier.
Charles attempts to confront Christine about Andy's erratic behavior, which only leads to tension between the couple as Christine insists that Charles was too withholding and authoritarian a father and Charles telling Christine that she's made Andy too sensitive by smothering him. Andy continues to display unusual behavior, attacking a neighborhood boy who attempts to demonstrate his karate skills and then attacking the family dog when it tries to protect the child. At night, Andy becomes inexplicably lively and animated, wandering the town and spending time in the local cemetery. It ultimately becomes apparent that Andy has returned as some kind of vampire
, and has been draining people's blood in order to reinvigorate himself, injecting it into his own decaying body with syringes.
On a double date at the drive-in with his high school sweetheart Joanne and best friend, Andy begins to die from a lack of blood and attacks his friend. The friend dies during the attack, causing a panic at the drive-in and prompting Andy to flee before he can infuse his friend's blood. The police pursue Andy, the chase ultimately ending at the graveyard where Andy has been spending his free time. There they discover Andy, finally dead and reduced to a skeleton, lying in a shallow grave that he has been progressively digging for himself beneath a crudely fashioned tombstone. Christine, looking at her son's body, gravely tells the police "Some boys never come home."
of DVD Talk
critiqued, "The reason Deathdream works is its superior dramatic staging. The actors are excellent, especially John Marley and Lynn Carlin, both honored for their roles in John Cassavetes
' Faces
. Clark stages the domestic scenes with a fine simplicity and what we remember the most is the looks of bewilderment on nicely-framed faces."
Paul Corupe of DVD Verdict
remarked, "Deathdream, the second collaboration by director Bob Clark and screenwriter Alan Ormsby, is a marked artistic and technical leap forward from the pair's overrated debut feature, Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things
. A modern spin on the classic "be careful what you wish for" theme, Ormsby's screenplay balances a pointed Vietnam War
allegory with pulpier aspects—a "shock" ending, distinct moments of morbid comic relief and beyond-the-grave retribution ripped from the pages of a 1950s horror comic."
J.C. Maçek III of WorldsGreatestCritic.com opined, "This is a very cool little horror film. Not perfect, but transcendent for what it is and another fine example of why Bob Clark was always quite a director in any genre. This one stands up there with films like Let's Scare Jessica to Death
with its subdued horror undertones and dramatic surface."
DVD released a special edition of Deathdream in 2004. Special features include and audio commentary by Bob Clark, an audio commentary by Alan Ormsby, the featurette Tom Savini: The Early Years, the featurette Deathdreaming: Interview with star Richard Backus, alternate opening titles, extended ending sequence, trailers, and a poster & still gallery.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
, directed by Bob Clark
Bob Clark
Benjamin "Bob" Clark was an American actor, director, screenwriter and producer best known for directing and writing the script with Jean Shepherd to the 1983 Christmas film A Christmas Story...
and written by Alan Ormsby
Alan Ormsby
Alan Ormsby is an American director, screenwriter, make up artist, actor and author. He is best known for his work in the horror genre.-Film career:...
. It was inspired by the W.W. Jacobs short story The Monkey's Paw
The Monkey's Paw
"The Monkey's Paw" is a horror short story by author W. W. Jacobs. It was published in England in 1902.The story is based on the famous "setup" in which three wishes are granted. In the story, the paw of a dead monkey is a talisman that grants its possessor three wishes, but the wishes come with an...
.
Plot summary
In VietnamVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, US soldier Andy Brooks is shot by a sniper and falls to the ground. As he begins to die, he hears his mother's voice calling out, "Andy, you'll come back, you've got to, you promised". The voice becomes sinister and muffled as Andy's eyes close. Sometime later, his family receives notice of his death in combat.
Back home, Andy's father, Charles, and sister, Cathy, begin to grieve, but his mother, Christine, becomes irate and refuses to believe that Andy has died. Hours later, in the middle of the night, Andy arrives at the front door in full uniform and apparently unharmed; the family accepts the notice of his death as a clerical error and welcomes him back with joy.
Over the next few days, Andy displays strange and erratic behavior, dressing in an unusually concealing matter and spending his days sitting around the house listless and anemic. Meanwhile, local police investigate the murder of a local trucker, who was found with his throat slashed and his body drained of blood after telling diner patrons that he'd picked up a hitchhiking soldier.
Charles attempts to confront Christine about Andy's erratic behavior, which only leads to tension between the couple as Christine insists that Charles was too withholding and authoritarian a father and Charles telling Christine that she's made Andy too sensitive by smothering him. Andy continues to display unusual behavior, attacking a neighborhood boy who attempts to demonstrate his karate skills and then attacking the family dog when it tries to protect the child. At night, Andy becomes inexplicably lively and animated, wandering the town and spending time in the local cemetery. It ultimately becomes apparent that Andy has returned as some kind of vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
, and has been draining people's blood in order to reinvigorate himself, injecting it into his own decaying body with syringes.
On a double date at the drive-in with his high school sweetheart Joanne and best friend, Andy begins to die from a lack of blood and attacks his friend. The friend dies during the attack, causing a panic at the drive-in and prompting Andy to flee before he can infuse his friend's blood. The police pursue Andy, the chase ultimately ending at the graveyard where Andy has been spending his free time. There they discover Andy, finally dead and reduced to a skeleton, lying in a shallow grave that he has been progressively digging for himself beneath a crudely fashioned tombstone. Christine, looking at her son's body, gravely tells the police "Some boys never come home."
Cast
- Richard BackusRichard BackusRichard Backus is an American actor and television writer. He has been nominated for four Daytime Emmy Awards for writing and one for acting.- Biography :...
as Andy Brooks - John MarleyJohn MarleyJohn Marley was an American actor who was known for his role as Phil Cavalleri in Love Story and as Jack Woltz— the defiant film mogul who awakens to find the severed head of his prized horse in his bed—in The Godfather...
as Charles Brooks - Lynn Carlin as Christine Brooks
- Anya Ormsby as Cathy Brooks
- Jane Daly as Joanne
- Mal Jones as Sheriff
- Henderson ForsytheHenderson ForsytheHenderson Forsythe was an American actor. Forsythe was known for his role as Dr. David Stewart #2 on the soap opera As the World Turns, a role he played for 32 years, and for his work on the New York stage....
as Dr. Philip Allman
Critical reception
Glenn EricksonGlenn Erickson
Glenn Erickson is an American film editor and film critic. He started in the film industry in 1975 as an editor of low budget films and later worked in minor technical crew capacities in such major films as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and 1941...
of DVD Talk
DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a website for DVD enthusiasts founded in January 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman when DVDs and DVD players were first beginning to hit the market.The site started as an online forum, an email newsletter, and a page of DVD news and reviews...
critiqued, "The reason Deathdream works is its superior dramatic staging. The actors are excellent, especially John Marley and Lynn Carlin, both honored for their roles in John Cassavetes
John Cassavetes
John Nicholas Cassavetes was an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. He acted in many Hollywood films, notably Rosemary's Baby and The Dirty Dozen...
' Faces
Faces (film)
Faces is a 1968 drama film, directed by John Cassavetes and starring John Marley, Cassavetes' wife Gena Rowlands, Seymour Cassel and Lynn Carlin, who both received Academy Award nominations for this film....
. Clark stages the domestic scenes with a fine simplicity and what we remember the most is the looks of bewilderment on nicely-framed faces."
Paul Corupe of DVD Verdict
DVD Verdict
DVD Verdict is a judicial themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. Current editor in chief is Michael Stailey, who also reviews for Rotten Tomatoes...
remarked, "Deathdream, the second collaboration by director Bob Clark and screenwriter Alan Ormsby, is a marked artistic and technical leap forward from the pair's overrated debut feature, Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things
Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things
Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things is a 1972 comedic horror film directed by Bob Clark...
. A modern spin on the classic "be careful what you wish for" theme, Ormsby's screenplay balances a pointed Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
allegory with pulpier aspects—a "shock" ending, distinct moments of morbid comic relief and beyond-the-grave retribution ripped from the pages of a 1950s horror comic."
J.C. Maçek III of WorldsGreatestCritic.com opined, "This is a very cool little horror film. Not perfect, but transcendent for what it is and another fine example of why Bob Clark was always quite a director in any genre. This one stands up there with films like Let's Scare Jessica to Death
Let's Scare Jessica to Death
Let's Scare Jessica to Death is a 1971 low budget American horror film, directed by John D. Hancock, and starring Zohra Lampert in the title role. The film focuses on a recently institutionalized woman who has various nightmarish experiences after moving to an old farmhouse on a Connecticut island...
with its subdued horror undertones and dramatic surface."
DVD release
Blue UndergroundBlue Underground
Blue Underground is an American company specializing in releasing authoritative editions of cult and exploitation movies on Blu-ray Disc and DVD....
DVD released a special edition of Deathdream in 2004. Special features include and audio commentary by Bob Clark, an audio commentary by Alan Ormsby, the featurette Tom Savini: The Early Years, the featurette Deathdreaming: Interview with star Richard Backus, alternate opening titles, extended ending sequence, trailers, and a poster & still gallery.