Deathdream. 1974. USA/Canada. Directed by Bob Clark. Written by Alan Ormsby. With John Marley, Lynn Carlin, Richard Backus and Henderson Forsythe. 35mm. 88 min.
Bob Clark (Black Christmas, A Christmas Story) reworks the “Monkey’s Paw” parable into the space of post-Vietnam suburbia in Deathdream (aka Dead of Night). Clark plays out the family horrors of coming home from the Vietnam War that are alluded to in contemporaneous films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Last House on the Left, but he does it in the context of an undead story. When young Andy Brooks is killed in battle, his mother refuses to believe that his lack of communication means he’s deceased. But when Andy shows up on their doorstep, his family’s relief turns to the realization that something is terribly amiss. Starring Faces couple John Marley and Lynn Carlin, Deathdream puts to task America’s reluctance to deal with the trauma it brings upon itself, while also showing the limitless boundaries of family love.