Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Deathdream Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 22, 2018

Bob Clark's "Deathdream" a.k.a. "Dead of Night" (1974) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Subkultur Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include an original U.S. trailer for the film; German home video version; vintage promotional materials; and more. The release also arrives with a 10-page illustrated booklet featuring critic Pelle Felsch's essay "Coming Home in a Bodybag". In English or German, with optional English, German, and German SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The vet

Somewhere deep in the jungles of Vietnam, an American soldier (Richard Backus) is shot down and soon after reported dead to his superiors. Back home, army officials promptly deliver the tragic news to his parents (Lynn Carlin and John Marley).

But while the family is still trying to come to terms with their loss, the ‘dead’ soldier reappears and then quietly begins a long recovery process. His mother, father and sister (Anya Ormsby) are so overjoyed to have him back that for a while they fail to notice that he actually looks different -- very different. His attitude is also odd, but once again, everyone assumes that he is just having a difficult time getting used to civilian life. Then as time passes, the father begins to sense that the improvement everyone has been hoping to see isn’t coming and that his son has actually started drifting even further away into a dark and very dangerous place. Around the same time, a friend of the family who knew the young man before he left for Vietnam agrees to examine him and recommend an effective treatment, but his shocking findings only speed up his mental and physical deterioration.

Bob Clark’s Deathdream is structured in pretty much the same way Adrian Lyne’s Jacob's Ladder is, which means that it is as effective as an unconventional horror thriller as it is as a psychological drama. The only notable discrepancy between the two -- aside from the fact that they were conceived with different budgets -- is that while exposing the same ugly truths about the devastating consequences of war, they choose to cage their victims in contrasting ways. Indeed, in Jacob’s Ladder Tim Robbins’ veteran has also lost his old identity and is stuck in a perpetual cycle of maddening thoughts and visions that are basically bending his reality in ways that routinely overload his mind. However, he is fully aware that the horror he experiences is directly related to his mind’s random decisions to unplug him from the real world. In Deathdream the young veteran’s mind has completely given up and transformed him into a monster. Clark also goes a step further and reshapes his reality into a permanent nightmare, but once again the main idea behind the ‘horror’ is identical -- which is to deliver a message that even if they are lucky to return home unharmed veterans are psychologically broken and their identities are irreversibly damaged.

The entire film has a rough look that reminds of John Cassavetes’ early work. The camera frequently and unapologetically seeks the right spot to observe the quarrels between the main characters, and later on this makes the horror material that much more unsettling because it gives it an authentic ambience that seems perfect for a documentary feature. Many of Cassavetes’ films from the 1960s and 1970s use the exact same technique to create the impression that one is viewing slices of real life, not scripted acts from fictional melodramas. (For reference, see Cassavetes’ Faces in which Marley and Carlin again play characters that are stuck in a difficult relationship).

The film was lensed by cinematographer Jack McGowan, who is probably best known for his contribution to the cult chiller Deranged: Confessions of a Necrophile. It is worth mentioning that this was also the film that kickstarted Tom Savini’s career as a makeup artist.

Deathdream Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Bob Clark's Deathdream arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Subkultur Entertainment.

The release appears to have been sourced from the same restored 2K master that in the United States Blue Underground accessed when they prepared their local release in 2017. The only very minor difference that I could see between the two releases is in the area of color balance -- the U.S. release has a slightly lighter range of nuances (a discrepancy in the brightness levels has contributed to it as well). The rest of the key characteristics of the master that we typically address in our reviews are practically identical. The same native density fluctuations are present here and there are predictably identical spikes and drops in terms of grain exposure. There are no traces of problematic digital tinkering. Also, debris, cuts, damage marks, and all other conventional age-related imperfections have been removed as best as possible. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Deathdream Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0., German DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0, and German (raw/unfiltered) DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0. Optional English, German, and German SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless English track has a very modest range of nuanced dynamics. Fluidity and overall balance are also quite flexible, but they reflect the native qualities of the original sound design. Basically, it is quite obvious that the film's creators had a fairly small budget to work with. There are no purely transfer-specific digital anomalies to report.

Deathdream Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• German Home Video Version - presented here is a vintage PAN/SCAN-ed German home video version of Deathdream. In English or German/DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0. (83 min).

• Original 16mm Ending - presented here is a raw, unrestored original 16mm ending for the film. Open matte. In English, not subtitled. (5 min).

• Original Trailer - original U.S. trailer for Deathdream. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Stills Gallery - a collection of vintage promotional materials for Deathdream. Silent. (5 min).

• Booklet - 10-page illustrated booklet featuring German critic Pelle Felsch's essay "Coming Home in a Bodybag". In German.

• Stamp - collectible stamp.

Deathdream Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There have been some odd claims that the 2K remaster of Bob Clark's Deathdream is underwhelming and that the film should look much better on Blu-ray. 'Better' obviously means different things to different people, but the 2K remaster that Blue Underground used for their release of this cult film last year is very good. It has all the strong organic qualities that you should want a high-definition presentation of a low-budget genre picture like Deathdream to retain. In fact, this is precisely what Blu-ray's main goal should be: to retain as many of the native qualities that a film has been given by its director and cinematographer. This German release looks practically identical to the one Blue Underground produced and obviously accomplishes the same, but it has a modest selection of bonus features. RECOMMENDED.