Deathdream

Plot summary

In Vietnam, US soldier Andy Brooks is shot by a sniper and falls to the ground. As he dies, 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Over the next few days, Andy displays strange, withdrawn behavior, speaking only rarely, dressing in an unusually concealing manner, and spending his days sitting around the house listless and anemic.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 causes tension between the couple. Christine insists that Charles was too withdrawn and authoritarian toward Andy; Charles counters that Christine made Andy too sensitive by smothering him. Andy continues to display unusual behavior: he attacks a neighbor boy who attempts to demonstrate his karate skills, then kills 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.

Charles brings home a doctor and family friend, who offers Andy a checkup. He later tells Charles about the truck driver and says he needs to inform the police about the suspicious coincidence of Andy's return. Andy visits him in the middle of the night demanding a checkup, but the doctor can't detect a pulse or heartbeat. Andy tells him, "I died for you, Doc. Why shouldn't you return the favor?" He attacks and kills the doctor, then uses a syringe to inject the doctor's blood into his arm. It's clear that Andy is some kind of vampire or zombie who needs the blood of others to reinvigorate his decaying body.

The next day, Charles becomes convinced his son is responsible for the deaths. When Christine tells him that Andy is on a double date with his high school sweetheart, Joanne, his sister and his best friend, Charles gets his gun and goes looking for them. At a drive-in cinema, Andy visibly decays due to lack of blood. He attacks and kills Joanne and his friend. The other patrons witness the attack. Andy flees before he can inject his victims' blood, running over and killing one of the patrons.

Andy returns home, where his mother protects him from his father. Charles commits suicide when he sees what his son has become. As Christine is driving Andy away, he is shot by police. They pursue him, and the chase ends at the graveyard where he had been spending his free time. They discover Andy's decayed corpse writhing in a shallow grave beneath a tombstone on which Andy himself had scrawled his own name and the dates of his birth and death. Christine sobs as she tries to cover the corpse with dirt.

Cast

Production

Filming took place in Brooksville, Florida.

Release

Deathdream opened in Tampa, Florida on August 30, 1974.

Home video

Blue Underground DVD released a special edition of Deathdream in 2004. Special features include an 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.

Critical reception

Glenn Erickson of DVD Talk wrote, "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 wrote, "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."

In The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, academic Peter Dendle wrote, "Though not very lively and ultimately anti-climactic, the movie sustains a calculated mood of off-centered awkwardness from to finish, and is buttressed by strong acting and plausible dialogue."

Glenn Kay wrote in Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide that Deathdream is "one of [Clark's] creepiest and most thought-provoking works".