Deathdream

Deathdream (1974)

Runtime: 89 minutes

Directed by: Bob Clark

Starring: John Marley, Lynn Carlin, Richard Backus, Henderson Forsythe, Anya Ormsby

From: Dead Walk Company

What a grim, downbeat experience this was. I’ve known of this Bob Clark movie for years and it seemingly has always been easy to track down; yet, it wasn’t until last night that I pulled the trigger. As I also really dig his Black Christmas, there’s no good explanation for the protracted self-imposed wait. As is, I’m someone who’s always enjoyed his Black Christmas and my feelings are as strong for this… but it is even more bleak than Black Christmas. It further made me question the career of Bob Clark. I don’t know how he went from this to Porky’s, A Christmas Story, Loose Cannons, then the Baby Geniuses pictures.

It’s a Monkey’s Paw scenario where a mom can’t accept that her son Andy was killed in the Vietnam War; her wish was granted but at what first seemed like a bucolic family of 3 plus Andy will turn out poorly. Not only is Andy quite different from before-in the past, he didn’t kill people for a ghoulish reason-the family is quite dysfunctional with his return sparking arguments & revealing deep-seated problems.

Deathdream (to use the one of many titles it has that isn’t also used by some famous horror pics) is a 70’s movie w/ the Vietnam War as a theme… of course it was pessimistic & was an allegory over the damage it caused for countless numbers of American youths. My dad would have likely gone over there in the 60’s if he hadn’t been in a car accident. In addition, the dissolution of what the viewer at first thought was an average American family… there should not be any worries that the film is too dour to enjoy. There is a dog death which was regrettable to me, but otherwise…

There are some comedic beats and in a cast that was fine as a whole, John Marley-who I mainly knew from his small but memorable role in The Godfather-nailed it out of the park here as the family patriarch. There are limited horror events—from Tom Savini early in his career, so those were good also.

The movie was set and filmed in Brooksville, Florida; the city-an hour’s drive from me-has been passed through on a number of occasions. That Coney Island Drive-Inn restaurant you see for one scene in the final act: that joint is still open today. One flex they have: Elvis may or may not have eaten there once in the early 60’s!