AKA Deathdream

Creepy, low-budget horror, loosely based on the W W Jacobs story The Monkey's Paw. A young soldier in Vietnam unexpectedly returns home to his small town. Initial delight from family and friends soon turns to unease as his behaviour becomes increasingly strange, coinciding with a series of murders that shocks the community. Richard Backus gives a superbly unsettling performance as the soldier. John Marley (seen two years previously sharing his bed with the head of his prize racehorse in The Godfather) is completely believable as the father struggling to understand the changes in his son. Solidly directed by Bob Clark (Black Christmas), this has an underlying sense of 'weird' throughout that builds to a gripping climax. 6/10