You might not know it but you're probably a huge fan of director Bob Clark already. You know that little movie you end up watching about two or three times every December, A Christmas Story? Yeah, that's one of his. What about Porky's? Ever hear of that one? Sure, who hasn't. That's one of his too. He also directed my personal favorite Sherlock Holmes movie, Murder By Decree (1979). Clark also did something else, something he rarely ever gets credit for. He directed two of the greatest horror movies of all time. The first was the incredibly-ahead-of-it's-time and immensely influential Black Christmas (1974). The second, shot in 1972 but not released until 1974, was Deathdream, aka Dead Of Night, aka something something.
Deathdream is, to my knowledge, the first movie to deal with the Vietnam war in any way, shape, or form, a full four years before either Coming Home or The Deer Hunter. Clark's movie doesn't deal specifically with the war itself (Vietnam is never mentioned). The movie instead focuses mainly on the war's aftermath and how it affects not only the soldier that fought in it but also the family he comes back to. In Deathdream, our soldier's name is Andy.
The movie opens with Andy and his platoon marching through a forest at night. As Andy and his platoon glide silently through the wilderness they're suddenly ambushed. The camera pans and swivels wildly as bullets zip through the silent night. Andy is hit. As he lays there struggling to stay alive he is shot again, this time at what appears to be point blank range. Suddenly, over the soundtrack, we hear a woman's desperate voice, praying. Andy's mother is pleading with God to bring her son back home. As the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for.
Andy does indeed come home, but he's not the same person he was. He spends most of his time alone in his room with the lights out, slowly rocking back and forth in an old rocking chair. Andy's mother (the amazing amazing amazing Lynn Carlin) sees nothing whatsoever odd about Andy's new behavior, she's just elated that he's back home. Andy's father, on the other hand, slowly but inevitably sees otherwise.
I know, doesn't really sound like a horror film, does it? Well, that's because there is nothing like Deathdream. It's sad, it's depressing, and it most definitely IS a horror movie. I first saw it when I was about six or seven years old and never forgot it. The final image of Andie at the cemetery as he quietly bangs his hand against his self-made tombstone as his mother craddles his limp, zombie-like body in her hands, is a tour-de-mother-fuckin'-force of a scene. One of the absolute best, most affecting endings I've ever seen in a movie.
Nowadays, most people know of Deathdream (if at all) as being the first movie Tom Savini ever worked on. Alan Ormsby (who also wrote the script and makes a cameo as the chatty bystander outside the doctor's office) actually did a lot of the make-up work himself, just like he did on his first collabaration with Clark, 1972's Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things. It's a testament to his awesomeness that, to this day, the make-up work he did on Deathdream hasn't aged a single bit. The scene of Andy rising up from the back seat of that car, his face bone white, blood around his eyes and mouth, remains absolutely terrifying.
Richard Backus up there plays Andy. His performance is subtle, quiet. When we finally see the monster he's become we're shocked, yet we feel pity for him too. John Marley plays Andy's dad, Charles. You might not know his name but I'm pretty sure you know who he is. Jack Woltz ring a bell? No? Godfather? Horse's head? Yup, that's him. As powerful as that scene in The Godfather is I NEVER associate John Marley with that role, he'll always be Andy's dad from Deathdream to me. As I mentioned earlier, Lynn Carlin is Andy's mom and she is SO good in this movie. Every scene she's in makes me want to cry. She's best known for her Oscar nominated role as Maria Forst in John Cassavetes' Faces from 1968 yet, again, she'll always be Andy's mom from Deathdream to me. Yes, I agree, the diner cook and, to a somewhat lesser degree, the diner drunk probably could've been handled better. Their comic-relief just doesn't feel right. Nonetheless, it's a small thing and doesn't really take anything away from the greatness of the movie itself.
In 2004 Blue Underground released Deathdream on DVD and it's really beautiful. The extras are really cool (I really wish that they could've included the longer opening, if it's even still around) and the interview with Backus is really informative and entertaining. Gotta love that grin!
So, Deathdream is typical of what I want Ciné à la Mondo to be all about. A place you can come to read about movies other than Iron Man or Twilight. Don't get me wrong, I loved Iron Man (I even have the Blu-ray shaped like his head), and I haven't seen Twilight yet (really liked the first 100 pages of the book though) but if you really want to read about those movies I'm sure you can find quite a few places around the net or in print that'll help you out. Not that Ciné à la Mondo won't be touching upon mainstream cinema at all but just don't hold your breath waiting for a thousand word write-up on Transformers 3 anytime soon. Sorry.
Until next time...stay fuckin' sick.
