MovieChat Forums > Dead of Night (1974) Discussion > Sad more than scary (SPOILERS)

Sad more than scary (SPOILERS)

posted 16 years ago by likedavid
8 replies | jump to latest

I finally was able to watch this movie after hearing about it two years ago. It did have some spooky moments, but I found this to be more sad than scary.
I say this because Andy comes home to a family that seems to truly love him as a family should and is unfortunately a zombie/vampire instead of the loving child that he was before going to war. Also, the outcome of involving the girl who went with him on the driven-in date was sad as well because she still seemed to be in love with him and he..well, does what he does to her in the movie.
His sister loved him so much she tried to set him up with the old gf -- his mother loved him so much she wished him back (although it might have been better to let him rest in peace, as i think is the whole point of the "Monkey's Paw" aspect) -- his father loved him so much that despite the dog incident, etc, he lies to police to cover up for him -- also the mailman, etc...
But sadly, Andy is not the same as he was.
Finally, the final scene in the graveyard is the saddest of all.
It is sad to think that many went off to Vietnam and came back , not as scary zombies, but as changed people. (Also, I believe the blood injections symbolized the drug additions that some Vietnam vets had when they came back). It is also sad to think the same is most likely happening for those who are coming back from Iraq/Afghanistan.
Sad, yes, but a good movie. I hope they don't screw it up with the remake.

[–] apocolypsejunkie 15 years ago

I tell ya' what was sad, that total delude-a-noid mother. I found myself wanting to reach through the screen and smack the ever lovin' $hit out of her. I can't stand blind familial "love" and devotion.If someone in my family is acting like a choad, I'll tell them they're acting like a choad. No excuses!

If my answers frighten you then you should cease asking scary questions.

[–] daedalus1337 15 years ago

Yep, thought this was pretty sad, not too scary.

[–] jabaana 15 years ago

I agree, I thought it was very sad. And I don't think it was some sort of conspiracy to make vets look like monsters or victims like someone stated on another thread. I think they probably will screw the remake up. That seems to happen a lot.

[–] mishb69 15 years ago

The saddest part was seeing Brooksville in 1974. I gre up there and damn was that a sad day when they tore down the drive inn. At least Coney Island is still there and so is the house the Brooks' lived in.

[–] balthazar_bee 14 years ago

Very true. Right now, I'm having a hard time remembering a sadder image than Andy trying to pull mounds of dirt on top of himself. It's just so pathetic and heart-wrenching.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] Pumpkinjack65 12 years ago

if they did not have the zombie elements in the movie, it plays off as a psychology study of posttramatic stress disorder, how in some scenes you see him just cuts himself off from his family, and the other stuff that is going on, and the element of how the family dynamic is disentergrating, cause in the first half their happy to see him, but in the second half their fighting, shocked with what has happend to him or why is he acting like it.

[–] 12 years ago

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