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Film: Dead of Night
Year: 1974
Director: Bob Clark
Writer: Alan Ormsby
Starring: John Marly, Lynn Carlin and Richard Backus
Review:
This was a film that I really didn’t know a lot about but until hearing it discussed on horror movie podcasts I listen to. It didn't click either that this was directed by Bob Clark, who has such an interesting filmography with things like A Christmas Story and Black Christmas. This film is much different from them as well.
Synopsis: a young soldier killed in Vietnam inexplicably shows up to his family home one night.
We start this off in a forest. This is supposed to be Vietnam, but this production didn't have the budget to shoot someone that looked similar. I can be forgiving since we only use it for this opening bit. There are explosions and Andy Brooks (Richard Backus) is shot. We see him die.
It then shifts to Florida. We meet Andy’s family. His father is Charles (John Marley) who is carving the meat for dinner. With him is the mother, Christine (Lynn Carlin) and daughter, Cathy (Anya Ormsby). Christine is clinging to the idea that Andy is coming home soon and even told a lie about getting a letter from him. Cathy reveals as well that Joanne (Jane Daly), Andy’s girlfriend, constantly asks as well.
We then shift to a truck driver. He pulls over and picks up a hitchhiker. We don’t get to see who it is, just a point of view shot of this person. The driver then goes to a local diner to get a couple cups of coffee. He is then killed and the hitchhiker moves toward a house. Cathy wakes her father stating she heard something downstairs. They check and find the door open. When they close it, they find Andy.
Andy isn’t how they remember though. He doesn’t want to tell anyone about his return. He also doesn’t want to do anything. His time is spent rocking in a chair and eating at mealtimes. Charles is worried while Christine is happy that he’s home. A rift starts and it gets worse when the news reports about the death of the truck driver. Charles and Andy get into it with the father going to the bar. Doc Allman (Henderson Forsythe) comes in and chats with Charles. They get on the topic of Andy and the doctor wants to see him. Both men suspect that he committed the crime but can't prove it. We also see there’s something just not quite right about him. This is also just the start.
That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. I wanted to come in a bit vague to not reveal too much. You get the idea of who did this murder almost immediately. That is reinforced from there as it doesn't hide the fact. It is revealed that from the first kill, the victim has a prick on his arm like where a needle would have gone in. The police think this is possibly to use dope, but it is much darker when we learn the truth of the matter. I should also end out the opening thoughts saying that this is a character study of Andy, his return and the effects it has on his family.
Where I want to delve more into Andy. It doesn't give us too much information for why he comes back or what he has become. I don’t mind this to an extent, but I would have liked more than what we get. I don’t think that is what matters to the filmmaker though. This seems to be an allegory for PTSD. I can see that Andy is shell-shocked to what happened to him in Vietnam and he can’t cope with it. He even confirms that he died. This is still socially relevant with soldiers that come home today. Going even farther, Charles was in World War II. He is upset that Andy can’t cope with it, which is the sentiment the older generation in general. Talking about mental health, especially for men is frowned upon. They're supposed to be tough and deal with it. I feel this film is stating that Andy doesn’t have anyone he can connect with and is an outsider.
Another interesting aspect to the film is Christine. She reminds me of my mother. Not that I would go on a killing spree, but my mother would defend me to her dying breath. There’s an interesting argument between her and Charles that she reveals Andy is her favorite. I don’t necessarily know if that’s the case, but more that she thought she lost him once. Christine does make comments that Cathy favored Charles where Andy favored her. The prospect of losing her son is too much and now she's overprotective. I did like that aspect.
I think that I should then taking this to acting. It is a bit amateurish, but it doesn't ruin the movie. It did add a bit of charm. The only actor I recognize was Marley, as he was in The Godfather. His performance was good and one of the strongest ones. He was solid as this father who loves his son, but there's also a moral obligation. The problem is that he doesn’t understand what his son is going through and isn't supportive. On the other side though, Carlin as the mother is too supportive. She goes to the point of enabling him. There's a message here of being in the middle. Her performance was good as well. This was Backus' feature film debut and I thought he did a good job at being someone as stoic as Andy is. It is really eerie and his stare is why he got the role. Ormsby works as Cathy. I'd say that Daly, Michaels Maze, Forsythe and the rest of the cast rounded this out for what was needed.
All that is left then is filmmaking. First for this would be the effects. I thought these were solid. It was crazy to see that Tom Savini, who was still unknown at the time, did them. I don’t think he had a lot to work with, but for the time it works. The blood looks good. Some of the wounds don’t hold up. The look of Andy when we see what he has become I did enjoy. Something that is subtle is that the longer he goes between attacks, his skin gets a look of like it is dying. I noticed that this time around. I'd say that the cinematography was good. How they frame things did help to hide the seams when needed. The other aspect is the soundtrack which is great. There are such eerie songs used that add to the atmosphere. It has a synth feel to it that I just love, so I'm a mark for it.
In conclusion, this film has an interesting message to convey. I love the concept of a soldier dying and then coming home to his family. Even more that it is a variation on The Monkey’s Paw. I would have liked to know what he is as I think that would have tightened up the ending for me. We also explore parents and doing the right thing versus protecting those that you love. At what cost though? The acting isn’t great. It has an amateur feel, but it isn't bad. This is well made. I thought it built the necessarily tension and is atmospheric thanks to the soundtrack. These weren’t the best effects by Savini, but still look real enough. Credit there to the look of Andy and the blood. We have a socially relevant movie here that holds up. I'd recommend this to fans of Clark, movies of this era or if things I've said tick boxes for you.
My Rating: 8 out of 10