EssenceStory Well Deserved Praise

PlatinumRead Just so...so bad

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

Allissa .Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Foreverisacastironmess This obscure gem seems to have gone far under the radar, I never even heard of it until very recently. I went into it with no expectations, I frankly didn't think I'd be getting much of anything from a 1972 movie. But it soon proved my ignorance and I ended up loving it, to me it was poignant and engrossing, with a terrific dark ominous tone throughout. They simply can't recreate the kind of compelling atmosphere that some of the better horror movies from the 80s and 70s could command no matter what they try. And I may be new to it, but I think this one has probably improved with age, I think it holds up very well. I like slow-burn horror flicks and while it certainly was, I found it compelling right away and I cared about some of the characters and to me it had a great emotional payoff to it at the end. I love the way that it works on two levels, as a sombre drama of how soldiers can come home mere ghosts of their former selves as it were, and it also has more fantastical shadowy overtones of loss and of learning the hard way to let go of things from the past that are best left buried. Old soldiers never die, they only fade away. It is a little overly vague but I appreciate how the audience is kept in the dark as to the mystery of Andy's 'miraculous' return, it adds to the overall spookiness of the movie. I reckon the story kind of speaks for itself, I mean it's a very classic old horror parable, the dream that turns into the nightmare, somebody hoping and wishing for something such as a person coming back to life so much that it somehow happens, only it's always not what it at first seems to be and not what they wanted, but something dark and unnatural that shouldn't be, and they usually come to realise that they should have stayed dead, the message usually being that if there is something that walks, it isn't them anymore... I thought the acting was really good all around, but I found it was the grim performance of Richard Backus that made it work the most, his character evokes both pity and dread. He knows that he's dead and is no longer the son that his family knew and loved, but a cold emotionless corpse that's slowly rotting from the inside out and that needs blood just to look normal. I found the climax and final scene of the film to be powerful and heartbreaking, with the completely zombified Andy fleeing back to where he belongs and crawling into a makeshift grave and pulling earth onto himself, wanting for it to be over and truly die for good, which he does when his hysterical mother pushes a little dirt onto him herself and finally accepts the truth. I think that was a very effective touch, and I don't know if some people might not have caught that? It was an excellent ending that I found very eerie and saddening. I suppose it's not something that most horror fans haven't seen before, but it does a very interesting and different twist on a zombie story and one that engages on an emotional level. I think it's woefully underrated and deserves to be more well known. Check this one out, it may just surprise and haunt you.

Johan Louwet My rating may seem harsh as the movie isn't bad for what it is but in the end it felt quite empty. Not asking all my questions should be answered in the ending, I actually enjoy movies that leave something of the mystery untouched, but here were just too many which resulted for me in an unsatisfying experience. So this young man died in the war but returns home any way because his mother send prayers, so her son would not die. So he is a zombie even though he still looks like a normal human being. He changed being distant to anyone but his mother and he doesn't seem to have any need for food or drink, no heart beating. He does a bit of killing, assuming he needs the victims' blood to stay alive? It doesn't help in the end as his body starts to rot anyway. Clearly the director wanted to make some kind of statement or tell some message but that must have gone over my head. Yeah war does change people but if that was the message the director wanted to tell the viewer this was not a convincing way to do so. What was very clear to me is that the mother had seriously an obsession with her son. She loved him more than she did love her daughter or husband. Not too bad but too many flaws for me to give it a pass.

dougdoepke No need to recap the plot. The movie's a highly original, atmospheric gem. Low-budget, to be sure. But director Clark knows how to create mood with low-key visuals without rubbing our nose in it. However, I could have done without so much clunking Moog music. There's some gore, but nothing gratuitous. Plus there's an outstanding performance from a cannily deadpan Backus, and an unusually lively turn from Jane Daly as Andy's girlfriend. Then too, putting the near-mute Andy in a squeaky rocking chair speaks volumes about what's not going on inside him.Of course, the 90-minutes can be enjoyed as simply bone-chilling horror. In that regard, it's among the first rank of the period. Still, Andy's return and the family's slow disintegration are left open enough to allow for interpretation. I take Andy's emotionless zombie as a conjured desire that Mom especially won't let die. She's obsessed with his loss, keeping him alive no matter the harm to others. Finally, it's the figurative Andy who knows he must depart lest his conjured presence destroy all he loved. This suggests a sense in which dreams must not not replace reality, despite our deepest desires. Mine is simply one way to take Alan Ormsby's suggestive screenplay. But however you take it, the film remains a triumph of low-budget production, and a must-see for horror fans especially.

jbar19 I am so angry that I went out of my way to find this movie based on the reviews and it was nothing special. I am literally angry about it.It's not a horrible movie. It's well acted, well shot and has some really scary music. But let's get real. This is just a Movie of the Week type of TV flick.The worst part is how people are trying to pass it off as a 'disintegration of the American family' picture as if there was some deep meaning to a rather simple movie. This isn't even a good Twilight Zone episode.Usually IMDb reviewers are spot on, but ignore anyone who gave this more than a 6.