Andy Brooks is killed in Vietnam. Back home, his parents are informed of his death, but his mother can't accept it, sitting awake at night praying and repeating over and over that he promised to come home and can't die. Later that night Andy does arrive home, but something is horribly different. Despite Andy's strange behavior, and the concerns of his father and sister, Andy's mother refuses to acknowledge that anything has changed. But Andy is dead, and others soon start to turn up horribly mutilated. (Andy died for them, after all, why shouldn't they return the favor?)

Originally titled Dead of Night (and released under about six other names as well), this film is something of a classic, and with good reason. Directed by Bob Clark and written by Alan Ormsby (the team that brought you Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things, Deranged, Popcorn and, um Porky's II), and featuring Tom Savini's makeup debut, this is an absolutely terrific movie, nevermind horror movie.

Something on the box described this as a version of The Monkey's Paw, which I guess is correct, if by that they mean reversing the ending and taking that as a new starting point. But, like that story, Deathdream is not about the walking dead (or even Savini's excellent [and subtle] makeup effects). It is about the pain of loss and guilt and the longing everyone has for things to be as they were, and it conveys the horror of having your family torn apart by tragedy very effectively. Andy doesn't eat people, but his return causes them to eat themselves up with anguish and guilt.

Some other films have worked in a similar vein (Pet Semetary leaps to mind), but I can't recall anything that matches Deathdream in sophistication or emotional impact. The writing is top notch (a big leap froward from Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things), and the acting is uniformly excellent. The actors playing Andy's mother and father, the lynchpins of the movie, also acted together as an unhappily married couple in John Cassavetes' Faces, so they have some experience with tense domestic horror.

I highly recommend seeing this one, whether you are a fan of zombie films or not. 9 out of 10.