This is technically a "zombie" movie, but it's one that leans more on allegory than most I can think of. It's about a young soldier, played by Richard Backus, who at the very beginning gets shot and killed in Vietnam. And, appropriately, his family gets notice from the army that he died in combat. The father (John Marley) and his daughter (Anya Ormsby) give their response of immediate grief, but the mother, played by Lynn Carlin, is refusing it, it can't be so, no way no how, they're *lying*, in fact. That very same night, the son, Andy, returns home... but as WHAT, you may ask?How did Andy come back to life? No answer, and there's no effort on the part of Bob Clark, the director (one of his very few entries in this genre), and Alan Ormsby the writer (I assume related to the actress playing the daughter by the way), to explain this even in the brief 'radioactivity/satellites/voodoo' or so on. It's meant, I think, to be a pure metaphor for the time: this was Vietnam, of course, when Americans, as well as many more Vietnamese, were being killed by the thousands, and if people did come back they often were never the same again. Andy coming back to the family as a symbolic zombie first - he talks to his 'so happy to see you!' parents and sister in a plain monotone, with Backus looking like you sucked any of the life out of a Montgomery Clift type of actor - and then as a 'real' one, as the horror comes from Andy having to kill people and take their blood (this latter part reminded me of Martin, the Romero film, but that's another story altogether so let's not go there).I think that there's a good amount of, frankly, cheese to this picture. There's a scene where, to show that Andy is fully disconnected from humanity when some local boys come around and the dog is bothering him and them, he picks up the dog (this is after badly testing his 'strength' against one of the boys) and strangles it to death. And while the intention is for it to be a serious moment, it's purely laughable. What does work is that Marley and Carlin - of all things re-teamed as a married couple following the John Cassavetes masterpiece FACES - play it straight and play it all sincerely, and bring real drama out of it (up to a point, to varying degrees for both of them), and that Backus also fully commits and is genuinely creepy and terrifying when he has to be.In the last stretch, especially the last like 20 minutes, it gets progressively sillier, or just more demented or WTF or whatever, as Andy is literally melting away with maggots taking up his innards. It gets to the point where his character is set up on a double date with his sister and he has to put on sunglasses just so everyone else doesn't see how he's melting away, like a literal *walking dead* figure. The message is not exactly subtle, but aside from the grief of a parent over a child, which is made especially clear with Carlin's mother and she is delivering the real goods, yes, even when it goes more bats*** in the final stretch, it's also kind of, well, misogynistic (Marley, the dad, sort of just pushes aside his wife and daughter whenever he feels like it as an excuse of being angry about his son, to the point where he pushes one character off the screen!)Clark and the writer have something noble to say about how families dealing (or decidedly *not* dealing) with grief over their fallen family members, especially with a war as tumultuous and wrong as Vietnam was, and some of it shows. At the same time it's also an excuse to see Richard Backus act extremely creepy and detached for 90 minutes, and while he's certainly not bad at it, he makes it today seem mostly kind of silly. I'm not sure if the filmmakers intended that, but it does make for a highly entertaining sit, especially with a packed audience.

Tuned in to this on late-night TV, but did not see the title. Did not know what the name of the movie was. It was mesmerizing, a very good take on Viet-nam vets returning home. The scene with Andy on the double date with dark glasses and black gloves was especially disturbing. Finally found a VHS copy ("Death Dream") many years later at a Goodwill, ha ha, very surprising! Also, I wonder if this was somehow related to John Cassevetes, with John Marley and Lynn Carlin in it, and with somewhat similar style-- long real-time scenes at times. Still don't know: Just a thought. Very good low-budget horror movie!

A young Soldier is killed in the line of duty in Vietnam. That same night, the soldier returns home, brought back by his Mother's wishes that he "Don't Die"! Upon his Return, Andy sits in his room, refusing to see his friends or family, venturing out only at night. The Vampiric horror is secondary to the terror that comes from the disintegration of a typical American family.a lot of reviews say this is a zombie flick, but the guy only comes out at night so he's more a vampire. Frankly, I don;t know what he's supposed to be and the movie, in my opinion loses steam at the 30 minute mark because it's more of a message movie than a true horror film and it falls flat.I wanted to like this film, but found myself wondering what they were trying to say, because as a true horror movie, it sucks. Especially after seeing Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things.Andy just rocks in his chair alone in his room. Don't get me wrong. The acting is really good and it's well filmed. Even well written. But it's sort of a bait and switch movie. You're expecting a horror movie and get a talky moody film.

Those horror films that work on an emotional level as well as a visceral level can be quite devastating; Cronenbergs' remake of "The Fly" would be another good example. Here's a story (written by Alan Ormsby) that can work as a metaphor for the effects of the Vietnam War on the young men who fought it. Its characters are thoroughly relatable and sympathetic, and its horror works quite well. Thicky atmospheric and spooky, it benefits from solid acting in all of its major roles.John Marley and Lynn Carlin star as Charles and Christine Brooks, the parents of Andy (Richard Backus), a soldier fighting the war in 'Nam whom they're told died over there. So it's a delight to them when he turns up alive and seemingly well. But all is NOT well, and Andy is definitely not the same person that he was when he went away. The signs don't take long to reveal themselves, and Charles is dismayed over the change in his son, while Christine, still full of love for her boy, tries to deny that anything could be wrong.This is an impressively mature genre effort from the late, great cult director Bob Clark ("Black Christmas" '74, "Porky's") who'd previously guided the more irreverent "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things". It's also historically important for marking the first credit for makeup effects legend Tom Savini. Filmed on location in Florida, it's got some fine suspense and is often genuinely creepy. Savini's effects are good but parcelled out in small doses until near the end. And that ending, when it comes, is a grabber that will really stay with you.Marley and Carlin are wonderful as the parents with the differing feelings and reactions toward their son, and Backus does a fine job of being initially standoffish and growing more and more unnerving as the story plays out. Henderson Forsythe is excellent in support as the concerned local doctor, and various cast members from "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things" - Anya Ormsby, Jane Daly, Jeff Gillen, and Ormsby himself (who was also a makeup artist on this show) - play other supporting roles and bits.Any fan of the genre is well advised to check this one out. It's simply one of the finer horror films to come out of the early 1970s.Nine out of 10.