DEATHDREAM (1972)

RCMerchant · March 31, 2020, 02:30:08 AM

A version of the classic cautionary tale 'the MONKEY'S PAW' via Bob Clark and Alan Ormsby, the folks who gave us CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS.
The parents of Andy, a kid in 'Nam, get a notice from the Army that their son is KIA. Daughter Cathy prays for him to return. So he does...with a taste for blood!
Fairly decent 70's horror trash with Richard Backus (better known to swooning housewives as Ryan in the soap 'Ryan's Hope') does a good job of acting like a creepy zombie. Best scene- when Andy throttles a puppy dog in front of a group of terrified and screaming brats!

Also known as DEAD OF NIGHT.

http://youtu.be/4oUyCQ0A3cs

The Burgomaster · March 31, 2020, 10:52:55 AM

Good one! Fun/odd movie to watch.

Allhallowsday · March 31, 2020, 11:09:05 AM

I own it. BOB CLARK also did A CHRISTMAS STORY. Our webmaster Andrew identified this movie for me not long after I joined. It's also known as THE NIGHT ANDY CAME HOME. BOB CLARK also did PORKY'S.

RCMerchant · March 31, 2020, 11:15:26 AM

Ormsby and Clark also worked together on the Ed Gein inspired classick DERANGED (1974)!

dcj2112 · March 31, 2020, 03:39:24 PM

I love this one :) I also love Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things, but's watched that one much earlier.

I've read before that a young Christopher Walken auditioned for the role of the returning soldier. Imagine what the movie would be like with him!

RCMerchant · March 31, 2020, 06:13:21 PM

Quote from: dcj2112 on March 31, 2020, 03:39:24 PM
I love this one :) I also love Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things, but's watched that one much earlier.

I've read before that a young Christopher Walken auditioned for the role of the returning soldier. Imagine what the movie would be like with him!

Maybe just like he played a zombiefied soldier boy in the DEER HUNTER!

Allhallowsday · March 31, 2020, 07:11:52 PM

Quote from: dcj2112 on March 31, 2020, 03:39:24 PM
I love this one :) I also love Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things, but's watched that one much earlier.

I've read before that a young Christopher Walken auditioned for the role of the returning soldier. Imagine what the movie would be like with him!

The actor who played Andy was kind of CHRISTOPHER WALKEN like...

dcj2112 · March 31, 2020, 08:12:04 PM

Quote from: Allhallowsday on March 31, 2020, 07:11:52 PM
Quote from: dcj2112 on March 31, 2020, 03:39:24 PM
I love this one :) I also love Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things, but's watched that one much earlier.

I've read before that a young Christopher Walken auditioned for the role of the returning soldier. Imagine what the movie would be like with him!
The actor who played Andy was kind of CHRISTOPHER WALKEN like...

Yeah, which makes him easy to see in the role. Only no one has quite the same cadence of Christopher Walken. Unless they are doing a Christopher Walken impression

RCMerchant · March 31, 2020, 09:35:56 PM

I think it would have been perfect for him.
He has the zombie stilted voice in every movie he ever made almost! He's great! A National Treasure!

Trevor · March 31, 2020, 10:34:51 PM

The poster for the SA release always freaked me out: it was known as Dead of Night here.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathdream

Allhallowsday · March 31, 2020, 11:06:39 PM

Quote from: Trevor on March 31, 2020, 10:34:51 PM
The poster for the SA release always freaked me out: it was known as Dead of Night here.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathdream

When it was broadcast on late night TV here in the 1970s, it was called DEAD OF NIGHT.

voltron · April 02, 2020, 06:13:16 AM

This shiznitch of da flick is KICKASS. Seriously, I love this movie so much I'm enthralled each time I watch. Would've been nice if it've gotten more props a la Black Christmas. Equally mindbendingly awesome.

RCMerchant · April 02, 2020, 06:33:25 AM

^ Welcome back, Voltron!

chainsaw midget · April 02, 2020, 01:03:59 PM

This is the art they used when I first discovered it.

There's something slightly disturbing about it, but at the same time it's not exactly terrifying.

Allhallowsday · April 02, 2020, 02:43:44 PM

Quote from: chainsaw midget on April 02, 2020, 01:03:59 PM
This is the art they used when I first discovered it.

There's something slightly disturbing about it, but at the same time it's not exactly terrifying.

I remember that artwork from when I haunted video stores every week back in the early to mid '80s. It's lousy and creepy; I never, however, rented that stupid looking movie... didn't know what it was or that I'd already seen it and would have appreciated rediscovering it... nope, that took another 25 years or so...