Dead of Night
Dead of Night
A young soldier is killed in the line of duty in the Vietnam War. That same night, he returns home, brought back by his mother's wish that he would not die. Upon his return, he sits in his room, refusing to see his friends or family, coming out only at night. The vampiric horror is secondary to the terror that comes from the disintegration of a typical American family.
Kevin Ward reviewedJuly 2, 2025
Pretty cool slasher exploring some veteran PTSD. It opens kind of like Jacob’s Ladder, which had me thinking it might end the same way, too. A veteran, Andy (Richard Backus), comes home from the war a changed man, empty inside, like a tin man perhaps, and goes out at night to refill the void. Backus gives off major Anthony Perkins vibes with his performance (or maybe it was his look). Not a huge kill count, but this kills were solid and fairly bloody. There’s a moment where a scream from the victim (I can’t remember which now) was modulated and use as the score for the next few minutes. Pretty chilling sh🤩. I would definitely steal that move if I was making a slasher today. Not a huge deal, but the way all the characters treated the women—very dated. Like the mom f🤩king went to bat for her murderous son, but didn’t care less about her daughter. Tons of other micro-aggressions throughout too. Really liked this though.