DEAD OF NIGHT
What happened to Bob Clark? In the early 1970’s he made a string of low-budget horror films that were fun and moody, then struck it rich with the first two PORKY’S films. His A CHRISTMAS STORY has become as synonymous with December 25th as Santa Claus himself, but he has spent a better portion of the 1990’s making some truly uninspired dreck, among them these ridiculous BABY GENIUS films.One of his earliest films is DEAD OF NIGHT, an interesting horror yarn about the Vietnam War pairing John Marley and Lynn Carlin as Charles and Christine Brooks (both also played husband and wife in John Cassavetes’ FACES in 1968) as a couple who receive notice from the U.S. government that their son Andy has been killed serving his country. When Andy shows up in their living room some nights later, they are relieved to find that the government has made a mistake. Or so they think.
Unbelievably, this film has had numerous other titles, including THE NIGHT ANDY CAME HOME, NIGHT WALK, DEATHDREAM, THIRST FOR BLOOD, THE VETERAN, and WHISPERS.
The film boasts the same low-budget location shooting that Clark used in CHILDREN SHOULDN’T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS the same year. Carl Zittrer provides his trademark horror score which he punctuates with what sounds like sudden plucks on a harp or a similar stringed instrument. The sounds range from very low to high and are eerily effective.
After these two moderately entertaining films both lensed in Florida, Clark took to Toronto, Ontario to make the phenomenal BLACK CHRISTMAS, another low-budget horror film that is so much more polished than these first two films.
Nevertheless, DEAD OF NIGHT provides an eerie atmosphere and is well-worth seeing – if you can find it!
