Amazon.com

Dour playwright Eugene O'Neill took a rare comedic look at life in Ah,Wilderness!, perhaps his warmest play, here given a superb performance(based on a production by the Long Wharf Theater). Over the course of aFourth of July weekend, a young man has his heart broken, discovers drinkand loose women, and puts his heart back together again. The playcontrasts young love with the enduring affection of the young man'sparents--and with the failed relationship of the boy's alcoholic uncle andspinster aunt. The balance of affection and sorrow is handled with sureskill, both in the play and in the production, which features O'Neillstalwart Geraldine Fitzgerald, as well as actors like Swoosie Kurtz and LindaHunt, who would go on to future stardom. Sweet but not saccharine, sad butnot bitter, Ah, Wilderness! stands as one of O'Neill's best works.--Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Amazon.com

Many of Eugene O'Neill's classic themes are present in his firstfull-length play, Beyond the Horizon, for which he won his first of fourPulitzer Prizes: Fantasy vs. reality, destiny subverted, sibling rivalry, andmore. Rob Mayo is a young farmboy who reads poetry and dreams of going to sea;his brother Andy, a farmer through and through, wants nothing more than tillingthis corner of the earth until his dying day. But both are in love with a girlnamed Ruth, and this conflict leads both to go against their deepest desires,leading to illness and unhappiness. Beyond the Horizon is justifiablyovershadowed by O'Neill's later works, but the powers of his writing are stillpresent. The well-received McCarter Theatre production is earnest and solid, andfeatures Geraldine Fitzgerald (who garnered acclaim in many productions ofO'Neill's work) and the great John Houseman (The Paper Chase). --BretFetzer ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Bob Clarke is the forefather of American slasher films..
Deathdream, alternatively known as The Night Andy Came Home and Dead Of Night, is that rarest of things-essentially a slasher film with a social conscience.
Andy is a young soldier fighting in Vietnam, his family eagerly awaits his return home. Much to their dismay, they receive the news that Andy has been killed in battle. Awakened by a knock at their door later that night, the family is shocked but relieved that their son has returned. But Andy is a very different person-withdrawn and prone to outbursts of extreme violence. It seems that Andy is now a shell of his former self-the living dead requiring the blood of the living to rejuvenate himself. Andy is no ordinary vampire, he injects the blood of his victims into himself with a hypodermic needle-much like a heroin addict. The film climaxes in a strangely poetic graveyard scene with the soldier committing himself to his earthly resting place with his distraught mother at his side.
The acting in this is above average-John Marley(The Car), is excellent as Andy's concerned father and Richard Backus is suitably creepy as the doomed Andy.
Bob Clarke, should be considered a pioneering horror film director. The influence this film, along with Black Christmas, has had on later films like Carpenter's Halloween is incalculable. Clarke has fashioned in Deathdream, an exceptional supernatural/slasher yarn that is clearly anti-Vietnam. The previously mentioned climax is especially moving, as is Andy's limited dialogue throughout the film.
Blue Underground has provided an extras filled DVD that should be considered a must for fans of this unique film. If you remember seeing this film on late night cable, as I first did many years ago, you should give it a second glance-it has aged very well. Fans of suspenseful slasher fare, who prefer atmosphere and narrative over gratuitous gore and sex will be pleased with this too.

How about a DVD release in the UK?
I am originally from Georgia, U.S.A. and have been living in the UK for more than five years now. I first saw "Deathdream" at a drive-in in Georgia under the title "It Came From The Grave!" back in the 1980's. I then saw it there on VHS video under the title "Deathdream". It was out here in the UK a few years ago on VHS video and played on t.v. here under the title "Dead of Night", which could be confused with the 1945 British classic of the same title. I sincerely hope that Blue Underground will make this DVD release of "Deathdream" available here in the UK very soon. Along with Bob Clark's other classic, "Black Christmas", it is one of my favorite horror films of all-time. It's great to see "Deathdream" finally getting the recognition that it has long deserved.

ANDY'S HOME! 1970'S FRIGHT NIGHT CLASSIC RETURNS TO HAUNT!
Aside from another rediscovered cult classic - LEMORA, A CHILD'S TALE OF THE SUPERNATURAL - DEATHDREAM has always been my favorite horror film from the 1970's that haunted me on numerous late-night TV showings. I've watched this cult classic countless times and have come in contact with numerous bad quality prints on VHS, complete with extremely cheesy box artwork!!! For years I've hoped for a DVD remastering of this special film, and now, thanks to Blue Underground, we have the definitive edition. DEATHDREAM is now in anamorphic widescreen, from a remastered negative and accompanied by juicy extras to please hardcore fans like me! Although there are times when a bit of grain is still noticeable in a few sequences, this is THE version to own.

For the 'virgin viewer,' you're in for a treat. DEATHDREAM is a grim, low-key, and extremely eerie film that benefits from great performances by John Marley, Lynn Carlin, and especially Richard Backus as Andy; a chilling AND moving script by Alan Ormsby; an unsettling music score by Carl Zittrer; grisly makeup effects by Orsmby and a young Tom Savini; and screw-tightening direction by Bob Clark. The overall effect is tragic and haunting.

The film was one of the first to address the cataclysmic after-effects of the Vietnam war when veterans returned to their families. Andy plays one such veteran, a young man whose parents receive the awful news that their son has been killed in action. The night they receive this information there's a knock at their front door. It is Andy, although they are shocked at his pale, sunken face and expressionless demeanor. At first they are elated by his appearance, but as Andy is encouraged by his loved ones to resume where he left off before going off to war, his family begins to realize that something isn't quite right about Andy - something's missing, both physically and emotionally. Eventually they discover that Andy is indeed dead and has come back to them as a bloodthirsty corpse!

The film manages to move and provoke the viewer as well as frighten him/her. There are several truly disturbing sequences, and if you are squeamish about needles (like me) I will warn you that they are Andy's prefered method of obtaining blood! Horror films like these don't appear that often, especially in these irony-addicted times where film-makers seem incapable of taking their subject matter seriously. Despite a low-budget, DEATHDREAM takes itself very seriously and manages to hold up well alongside scare flicks today! Rediscover this long-lost classic ASAP. I recommended viewing this with Bob Clark and Alan Orsmby's other gems - CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS, DERANGED and BLACK CHRISTMAS. All are similarly atmospheric and way creepy, although DEATHDREAM, in my opinion, is their masterpiece!

This one will chill you!
This is a very low budget 1972 horror flick concerning the return of a Vietnam vet to small town America after his parents had been notified he was dead. He acts very strange, won't eat or sleep, but has a strange craving... Bob Clark, who would become a huge cult icon with Black Christmas, Christmas Story, Porky's and Murder by Decree, cut his teeth on this low budgeter. His talent shines through. He was lucky enough to get a young Tom Savini to do the bloody effects. Richard Backus plays the young soldier. He is quite restrained and very creepy!
This is one of the first anti-Vietnam War films.
You've probably only seen it on late night TV. Now, Blue Underground releases the film in all it's glory: included are two commentaries (writer and director), an interview with Backus and a short about Savini. This is a must for early 70's horror freaks, and all others are invited to be creeped out!!

Good but not great horror film
Bob Clark's 1974 film Deathdream is a very good try at an American horror movie with a great idea that somehow does not quite gel. Fusing the Vietnam War with the classic tale "The Monkey's Paw", Clark here creates what could have been a minor masterpiece but unfortunately falls short.

The main character, Andy, is a young soldier in the Vietnam War. One day his parents receive the tragic news that he has been killed. They are grief-stricken, of course, but cling to the hope that somehow he may still be alive. The mother, in fact, keeps saying to herself, "You promised me, Andy"--to return, that is.

And one night, he does. Naturally his parents are overjoyed. What they don't know is that Andy has come back as, unfortunately, a walking dead man--a zombie. At first things seem to be relatively normal, but soon enough Andy's condition starts deteriorating and he needs a lot of blood to keep things healthy, so to speak.

The film starts to fall apart as the Andy's condition itself deteriorates and it becomes basically a gorefest--which for gorehounds is fine, but for those of us who want more can be frustrating. While the first half of the film is excellent, the second half sags and that's really too bad.

I would really have loved to give this four stars, but it's just not quite there. ... Read more