Deathdream (1972) aka Dead of Night

I've seen a lot of movies lately that have been based around the famous horror short story by English author W.W. Jacobs, The Monkey's Paw. In The Monkey's Paw a mother wishes that her recently deceased son would come back to life, but when he does he's not the same way she wished he was. The Monkey's Paw is a "be careful what you wish for" story, and so is Deathdream. Deathdream is about a family whose son goes to fight in Vietnam and gets killed, and the mother in her deep grief and denial about her son's death, somehow manages to bring him back home from the dead. Upon the son's arrival back home the family is immediately aware that something is different with Andy and he is completely different from how he was before the war, he becomes increasingly violent and he seems more dead than alive. The film is also a less than subtle look at the issue of how war changes people and a look at the baggage they bring home with them (primarily PTSD). The film covers troubled relationships the soldiers had with family and friends upon coming home, but also their romantic relationships and how difficult that could be, and the film also symbolically looks at soldiers and the drug addictions they would come home with (primarily Morphine because of its use as a pain medication), even though the main character needs blood to survive instead of actual drugs. 

The movie is a good "be careful what you wish for" story, as well as
 a unique zombie and vampire story. This was one of director Bob Clark(Black Christmas, Porky's, and A Christmas Story)'s first films, and for famous horror movie make-up artist and actor Tom Savini (original Dawn of the Dead, Friday the 13th, Creepshow, The Burning, Martin, and Knightriders)'s first film. I love Bob Clark and his style and cinematography that he brings to each of his films, and that style is still present even this early on in his career, and the special effects are of course great (of course because they're by Savini) as well. The acting is great too by the whole cast which includes John Marley (The Godfather)as the father and Oscar nominated actress Lynn Carlin (nominated for Faces[1969] in which she also starred with Marley) as the mother. Deathdream is marvelously creepy and lots of fun because of it and it's message, be it metaphorical or not is much like the message of another film I reviewed  recently (The Walking Dead[1936]), which is "let the dead stay dead." That message of course can also be reinterpreted to apply more directly to one's life as "let the past stay in the past." I loved the film and I give it a 5/5. The film is mentioned in Rue Morgue Magazine's 200 Alternative Horror Films You Need to See.  You can view the trailer below: