Many years ago, on June 16, 2013, I wrote about an underrated horror film called "Deranged," which came out in 1974. That one was co-directed by Alan Ormsby and Jeff Gillen, and produced by Bob Clark. Today I'd like to discuss a related movie, "Dead of Night," which was created in 1972, but didn't get released until 1974. The same folks were involved, only in this new case Clark directed, Ormsby wrote it, and Jeff Gillen was the assistant director. And all three had small acting roles. I'll structure this article in my usual way, starting with a brief, spoiler-free synopsis, followed by a longer, spoiler-saturated recap, then with a discussion of some of the film's themes and positive aspects, and ending with some info about the cast and crew.
The Brooks family--father Charles, mother Christine, and daughter Cathy--are surprised in the night by an army officer, bearing terrible news. Charles and Christine's son, Andy, has been killed in Vietnam. However, there's been a mistake, as later that night Andy's back. But he's different. He's very quiet, and antisocial. Mostly he stays by himself, sitting in a rocking chair. His family starts fighting with each other as his behavior gets stranger. Several murders take place in their small town--is Andy involved? It all leads to a harrowing climax, in which we find out just how much Andy has changed.
(SPOILERS AHEAD UNTIL MARKED) "Dead of Night" opens in the jungles of Vietnam. A pair of soldiers are mortally shot. As one dies, he hears his mother's voice saying that he can't die, that he promised to come back. Then the scene shifts to the Brooks family dinner, back in the U.S. Father Charles, mother Christine, and daughter Cathy are interrupted by a army officer. The telegram he gives them reveals that their son Andy has died in battle. Christine is hysterical, saying it's a lie. Later, Charles wakes up and discovers her sitting in Andy's room, imploring/ordering him to return home. Simultaneously we see a trucker picking up a hitchhiking soldier. At a diner the trucker picks up some coffee and cigarettes, complaining to the staff that the soldier is quiet and freakish. Then we see someone leaving the stopped truck.
Back at the house Cathy is awakened by noises coming from downstairs. The family investigates, and after a false scare, discovers that Andy is home. He seems odd, rather confused and taciturn. In the morning the police are investigating the truck. The trucker has been brutally murdered, with a slashed throat and weird marks on his wrist. At a Brooks family picnic, Andy continues to be nearly silent, and reacts angrily to the postman's talk about war. The police discover some information about the apparent murderer from the diner employees.
Andy, still acting strangely, prefers to sit in a rocking chair by himself,most of the time. He's still quiet, and refuses to eat with the family. Charles is irritated, but Christine defends her son. Andy goes out at night. He watches his former girlfriend, Joanne, from the street, and then visits the local cemetery. The next day there's more alarming behavior. The local kids who used to play sports with Andy stop by. Andy inexplicably attacks one, and then viciously strangles the family dog when it tries to defend the boy. Charles is appalled, and drinks his sorrow away at the local bar. After hearing about Andy's alarming antics Doctor Allman takes Charles home. After a brief, tense conversation with Andy, Allman invites Andy to visit his office for a free checkup. Outside, Allman tells Charles that he's required to reveal his suspicions that Andy killed the trucker to the police. But he agrees to wait one more day. Andy then follows Dr. Allman back to this office, and demands the checkup. After an examination reveals no pulse, or heartbeat, Andy kills Allman, and injects himself with the doctor's blood.
The following morning Andy looks better. He learns that Cathy has tentatively planned a double date--she with her boyfriend Bob, and Andy with his former girlfriend Joanne. After a moment, Andy agrees. Joanne also agrees, and is excited that Andy is back. At Allman's office Charles discovers that the doctor is dead, and the police are investigating. Andy's skin flakes off on his hand, and he acts cold and distant with Joanne and Bob. Charles goes to the police station, and lies to protect Andy. Christine watches the news, and learns about Allman's murder. Charles comes home and confirms her suspicions that Andy committed both murders. She says that they'll have to flee with their son. On the double date, Andy refuses to eat, as usual. At the drive in movie, Cathy and Bob go to the snack bar to leave Andy and Joanne alone. After Andy's face drips some unpleasant substance Joanne recoils, and tries to leave the backseat of the car. When Bob and Cathy get back, they initially think Joanne and Andy are making out. But they quickly realize that Andy has just killed Joanne. He also strangles Bob to death, and runs over a passerby who's helping the fleeing Cathy. Andy drives home. There an upset Charles confronts his bloody, visibly decomposing son with a gun. But he's unable to shoot Andy, and instead commits suicide as Christine leads Andy to the car. The police are outside, although their gunshots are unable to stop Andy and Christine from driving away, and killing a cop along the way. Andy directs Christine to the cemetery, where she crashes the car at the gate, just ahead of the pursuing police. The police enter the cemetery, and see a badly decayed Andy lying in a shallow grave, trying to bury himself. He's scratched his name and birth/death dates on the adjacent headstone. Andy lies still, as his mom sobs uncontrollably.
"Dead of Night" had a depressing release story, to go along with its depressing subject matter. It wasn't released at all for two years, and even when it was, in August of 1974, the release was limited. It was mostly shown in the Southern U.S., near where it was made, not coincidentally. Actor Richard Backus (Andy), said it wasn't shown on a screen in New York until a film festival like 25 years later. Therefore, despite its modest budget (about $235, 000), it wasn't a big financial hit. (Although I couldn't find a definite box office take anywhere online.) The reviews were mixed. These are some of the reasons why I think it hasn't gotten its due, even as a cult movie.
I'll start by getting the negatives out of the way. "Dead of Night" is a bit slow in parts, and doesn't have much action, or elaborate kills. So if you're an impatient horror movie fan, you might be a little disappointed. There also aren't many jump scares, if that's your bag. The explanation for why Andy is reanimated isn't that strong, either. There's no cursed graveyard, or magical item, or even a quasi-scientific reason for his return: Instead, his mother basically wishes him back, wants it so bad that somehow it happens. I could overlook this, but some horror fans might not. Then there's the humor. On the DVD commentary, even the writer, Alan Ormsby, admitted that the attempts at being funny were weak, and didn't work that well. I can understand why they were included, to break the tension of what's an extremely grim and depressing tale, but they were overly broad, and rather dated and lame.
The major theme of the film is the same as its main inspiration, "The Monkey's Paw," a short story first published in 1902 by W.W. Jacobs. Or, put succinctly by another "Monkey's Paw" influenced book and movie, Stephen King's "Pet Sematary," "Sometimes, dead is better." Put less succinctly, the death of a loved one is awful, but you have to learn to grieve, let go, and proceed with your life. Christine Brooks obviously can't do this, and what are the results? Her son has a miserable 4-6 days as an unhappy, undead creature, during which time he murders six innocent people, including his former girlfriend and another friend. His new existence is joyless, as he spends it mostly rocking in a chair, alone, sometimes in the dark. By the end he's desperate to fully die again, and be buried. The Brooks family is torn asunder, though--his father has committed suicide out of grief and guilt, and his sister is in shock, and perhaps permanently mentally damaged. Christine gets to witness some of these tragic events, and the eventual result was the same as it would have been, only much, much worse.
"Dead of Night" was also one of the first, if not the first, horror movies to explore the Vietnam War as a direct plot point. It was even completed (but not released) while the U.S. was still actually fighting in it. Some of the best, most long lasting horror movies get power from dealing with real life controversies, and cultural divides. They can get away with this easier, since it's often hidden, more a subtext, or is obscured by unrealistic things and supernatural events. It's not difficult to read more into the happenings of "Dead of Night." Some of Andy's symptoms are similar to ones experienced by real war veterans suffering from PTSD. Then there's Andy's habit of injecting himself with the blood of his victims. This seems like a clear comment on the real life problem of Vietnam War vets coming home addicted to shooting up heroin. The anger and grief felt by families and friends about their loved ones dying in such an unpopular war was intense, and lent itself effectively to a horror movie with a dead soldier as its focal point. Although, while the government was responsible for Andy's initial death, it wasn't to blame for his returning back home "alive."
Charles and Christine's parenting styles are also explored in the movie. The two apparently had their definite favorite child, with the father liking Cathy more, and the mother Andy. Christine accuses Charles of being unsupportive and unloving towards Andy, and of bullying him into enlisting in the army. Charles, conversely, accuses Christine of being too smothering, and of turning Andy into a Mama's boy. Christine is so unconditionally loving that she's even willing to overlook Andy's multiple murders. (She may be at least partially insane by this point, but still.) Clearly, there are problems within the Brooks' marriage, and the overall family dynamic, and their undead, murderous son just brings these to the forefront in a major, devastating way.
Moving on, there's the generation gap that existed during the Vietnam War era. Charles notes that he was a veteran, of World War II, and didn't become as strange and withdrawn as Andy was. (Before he finds out the truth about Andy's condition, of course.) This was a common comment during this time, with the implication being that the younger generation of soldiers, and men in general, weren't tough enough, or mentally as strong as their father's generation. (Going into the reasons for these apparent differences would take way too long to explain, but it was obviously a real argument.) Parents during this time often felt that their young adult children were becoming strangers, caring about different things, and having different values and politics. So again, "Dead of Night" took these stresses and fears and exaggerated them for plot purposes. And undead, blood drinking, nearly mute person would be the ultimate "Turn on, tune in, and drop out" nightmare for a parent to deal with and try to understand.
A question remains about Andy, though--what was he? Most accounts of the film describe him as being a zombie, but I think this label doesn't really work. He's certainly not a classic Caribbean slave zombie, born of evil magic, and a mindless worker. And he's not a post-Romero type of zombie, either. His personality is different from what it was like before he died, since he's antisocial, nearly emotion-less, and seems to have some memory loss. But overall he's intelligent, and has self control. For most of the movie he covers up his crimes, and he kills Dr. Allman specifically to avoid detection of his first murder. In this way he's much more like a vampire, especially combined with his need for blood, but not flesh. Granted, he's an atypical vampire in that he wasn't bitten by another vampire to become undead, he's not repelled by religious symbols that we can see, and he can tolerate sunlight. Also, he doesn't consume blood into his stomach that we see, but injects it directly into his veins. So it's not a perfect fit, but he seems to be closer to a vampire than a zombie.
As I mentioned before, the action scenes and violence were quite rare and subdued in the film. Much of it happens off screen, even. But the special effects and makeup were done quite well. The wounds on the trucker were suitably grisly. And Andy's transformation was very convincing. These effects were subtle at first, but as the movie progresses they get more elaborate, gory, and disturbing. His final look, in the graveyard, is revoltingly realistic, and very frightening. Which makes sense, because Alan Ormsby had done quality work in other films, and he was assisted on "Dead of Night" by Tom Savini. Savini, of course, became a superstar in the special effects/makeup world. I'll go into some of his career highlight later.
I'll even include some very obscure trivia, of admittedly limited interest. When the kids go on their double date to the drive in movie theater, three movies are referenced. The theater marquee lists two movies--"Death in Space" and "The Spacenauts." I was unable to find any movie called "The Spacenauts," even as an alternate title. There was a movie called "Death in Space," but it was only a television movie, not a theatrical release, and it came out over a year after "Dead of Night" was created. Meaning I think this was a coincidence, because the title was generic. So those two were almost certainly made up titles. However, when Cathy is sitting in the theater snack bar or office, there's a movie poster visible behind her. That one was real--"The Deathmaster," a 1972 movie directed by Ray Danton, starring Robert Quarry, John Fiedler, and Bob Pickett.
All in all, this movie was grim, and depressing. And very, very sad. I think it would be a poor choice for a night in which a group of friends get together to drink some beers and enjoy a fun horror flick. The pathos in it is heavy. No happy endings for anyone. Good people die, and a formerly good person is the reluctant perpetrator of these murders. Tears will probably be more forthcoming than cheers and laughs at the film's conclusion. Which, obviously is okay. Movies affect us in different ways, evoke different emotions. A disturbing, depressing movie can still be worth watching, and will probably stay with you longer than something lighthearted or shallow.
(END OF SPOILERS) I discussed the careers of Bob Clark, Alan Ormsby, and Jeff Gillen a bit in the "Deranged" post, so forgive the repetition. Anyway, director Bob Clark had a long and diverse career. Included were other horror movies, such as "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things" (1972, from here on out abbreviated to "Children") and the proto-slasher "Black Christmas" (1974). He also directed "Murder by Decree" (1979) and comedies like "Porky's" (1981), "A Christmas Story" (1983), and "From the Hip" (1987). He co-wrote and produced many of these, too. Alas, his career ended badly, as his "Baby Geniuses" (1999) and its 2004 sequel are considered to be among the worst movies ever, often on the Bottom 100 on IMDB, for example. "Dead of Night" writer Alan Ormsby did a bit of everything in his career. He wrote "Children" (1972), "Deranged" (1974), "My Bodyguard" (1980), "Cat People" (1982), "Popcorn" (1991), and "The Substitute" (1996), among others. He also co-directed "Deranged" (1974), and "Popcorn" (1991), directed "The Great Masquerade" (1974), and did the makeup on several early 1970's movies. Jeff Gillen was the assistant director for "Dead of Night," and he was involved in several others, often with Clark and Ormsby. He was the co-director for "Deranged" (1974), and acted in films like "Children" (1972), "The Great Masquerade" (1974), "Absence of Malice" (1981), "Easty Money" (1983), and "A Christmas Story" (1983). Highlights of Tom Savini's makeup/special effects career include "Martin" (1977), "Dawn of the Dead" (1979), "The Burning" (1981), "Creepshow" (1982), "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter" (1984), "Day of the Dead" (1985), "Necronomicon" (1993), and "Killing Zoe" (1993). Acting highlights include roles in "Knightriders" (1981), "From Dusk Till Dawn" (1996), "Dawn of the Dead" (2004), "Zach and Miri Make a Porno" (2008), "Machete" (2010), and "Django Unchained" (2012). He also directed the 1990 remake of "Night of the Living Dead," and is slated to be directing "Nightmare City" soon, which may be a zombie movie remake (?).
Andy Brooks was played by Richard Backus. After "Dead of Night" he was in "The First Deadly Sin" (1980), and on the television show "Ryan's Hope" and "Law & Order," among others. He also wrote for television, such as for "As the World Turns" and "One Life to Live," mostly in the 1980's and 1990's. John Marley (Charles Brooks), had an extensive career. Highlights include "The Naked City" (1948), "Cat Ballou" (1965), "Faces" (1968), "Love Story (1970, for which he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award), "The Godfather" (1972), and "It Lives Again" (1978). Christine Brooks was portrayed by Lynn Carlin, probably best known for appearing in "Faces" (1968, for which she was nominated for a Best Supporting Oscar), "...tick...tick...tick" (1970), "French Postcards" (1979), and "Superstition" (1982, which in my opinion is an underrated giallo-like horror movie). Henderson Forsythe (Dr. Allman) was in such films as "The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover" (1977), "Silkwood" (1983), "Species II" (1998), and spent 30 years on the television show "As the World Turns." Jane Daly (Joanne) was in "Children" (1972) and "North Dallas Forty" (1979), and in such television shows as "The X Files" (2001), and "Grey's Anatomy" (2012), among others. Anya Ormsby (Cathy Brooks) had a brief career, but she was yet another person in "Children" (1972), along with roles in such films as "Thunder Country" (1974), and "The Great Masquerade" (1974).
So, if you enjoy slow-burn, introspective, and darkly disturbing and depressing horror movies, you'll probably want to check out "Dead of Night."
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