Reviewed by Melissa Antoinette Garza
I am a huge fan of Bob Clark’s work. I think his comedic contributions are fine. A Christmas Story (1983) and Porky’s (1982) are classics in their own right. That said, being a horror fan, I’m always drawn to his darker work.
It really doesn’t get better than the underrated horror gems Black Christmas (1974)or Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things (1973). Surprisingly, I had never seen DeathDream. I had seen the DVD cover a thousand times, and honestly would have sworn I saw it before. I’m not sure which movie I confused it with, but thankfully the copy I decided to watch had a different cover and title (Dead of Night) so I assumed it was something different.
The movie begins with a knock on the door. Charles (John Marley), his wife Christine (Lynn Carlin) and their college age daughter Cathy (Anya Ormsby) are greeted by a soldier with bad news. Their son Andy (Richard Backus) who was fighting in Vietnam was killed in battle.
Everyone takes it hard, but Christine refuses to believe it. She sits in a rocker with a lit candle seemingly to reassure herself that Andy is alive. It has a strange effect as Andy returns home though much different than ever before. He kills a truck driver who picked him up hitchhiking and his reign of terror doesn’t end there.
It’s easy to see something is off. Even the family dog senses something terrible is going on with Andy. Christine is the only one who refuses to see that Andy is no longer her loving son and instead some sort of monster.
This is certainly another great Bob Clark film. I also was happy to see that Alan Ormsby wrote it. He has a cameo in this movie but was the star of Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things. It was quite cool to see a lot of the cast members from CSPWDT in this film as well.
I highly recommend this film. It has some genuinely creepy moments especially nearing the end. John Marley portrayed a very sympathetic father torn between doing the right thing and protecting his son. Oddly, the biggest villain in the movie wasn’t Andy. He in fact in a lot of ways was a victim as his mind certainly was warped after death. Christine who knows what her son is up to and knowingly puts everyone in danger and repeatedly blames her husband is just a horrendous person. At one point, Cathy reaches out to her for solace and Christine pushes her away and insults her.
The acting is great, the plot is very original and the make-up is fantastic. I’m certainly happy I came across this one. If only Clark directed a few more horror flicks before his untimely and tragic passing.
Scared Stiff Rating: 7/10
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