Deathdream

DeathDream (1974)
A.K.A. Dead of night A.K.A. The night Andy came home A.K.A. The veteran

Deathdream is a refreshing take on the zombie genre,The film focuses on Andy A returning Vietnam Vet who was apparently killed during duty.Although he arrives back at home appearing to be normal.Andy is slowly decomposing and the only way to hault this is to inject or injest fresh blood.A trucker turns up dead after picking up a hitchhiker and Andy’s father becomes suspicious of andy once his doctor is slayed shortly after a visit with andy and his family.The film is very similar to the style of Martin as This film is to the zombie genre as Martin is to Vampire film.I liked the approach they took here as I think it is much more original than your standard zombie flick and it is in my eyes a more realistic approach to the subject.There is not much gore in this film and no nudity whatsoever so if you are looking for standard Horror fare this one is not for you.Also if you are looking for gut munching and Splatter stick with Romero ,Lenzi and Fulci zombie flicks.The make up effects in this one are pretty good especially during Andys later stages of decomposition and the acting is above par for the genre and the time period this film was made.The film is a bit slow but it does really pick up in the last few scenes,I found the closing moments to not only be interesting and entertaining but some parts were even exciting and suspenceful.The fellow who plays Andy’s father in this flick some may recognise from It’s Alive 2 and the rest of the cast is Padded with alot of T.V. and soap stars of the era.The director Bob Clark also made Children Shouldnt play With Dead Things (A personal fave of mine growing up) Black Christmas (Original) The Porky’s Series and More recently Baby Geniuses (Which I have never and will never see) and according to his IMDB page he is currently working on a remake of Porky’s that is being funded by Howard Stern (cannot wait for that).
So as I said before If you are looking for something a bit different and wouldnt mind a change of pace to the standard zombie film than this one is worth the watch.
3 of 5
Definitley worth a watch just to see a different take on the living dead,proving that not every zombie film has to follow the same cookie cutter routines.