Deathdream is ostensibly a remake of W.W. The term ‘socially conscious’ horror film is appropriate for this low budget mini-masterpiece and is a fine response to those who point to the horror film as a terrain for reactionary and neo-conservative thought. It is bleak and uncompromising but with real and finely etched characters, not the blunt stereotypes we have come to associate with too many horror films. What’s interesting and historically relevant is how Deathdream brims with subtext which lays out a great deal of important fodder for horror films of the 1970s. The wonderful restoration work provides a nice addendum to things missed in the film screening but more on the DVD later. Fortunately, in the interim between my having seen it and this review the good people at Blue Underground saw fit to give Deathdream a DVD release marked by their usual tender, loving care. The 35mm print projected that night was decent, with a stable image but with fading colors going red. I had seen it on video once or twice, but never on the big screen. Deathdream (Bob Clark) is an effectively downbeat horror film that not only holds up remarkably well as a sign post of its era, but holds as much social import today as it did in the early 1970s, when it resonated of the final years of the Vietnam War. It had been a long time since I had seen this film, but for reasons soon apparent, it has remained finely etched in my memory. I was fortunate to catch this low budget chiller at a late night screening at Montreal’s Cinema du Parc theatre on April 23, 2004. Deathdream: The Return of 1970s Horror Be Careful For What You Wishīy Donato Totaro Volume 8, Issue 8 / August 2004 14 minutes (3335 words)

Death dream 1972