Director Bob Clark’s penchant for establishing mood and coaxing great performances from a cast became evident in this, his second effort in the horror genre. Based loosely on W. W. Jacobs’ short story “The Monkey’s Paw,” screenwriter Alan Ormsby updates events to the Vietnam War era, with suburban couple, Charles and Christine (John Marley and Lynn Carlin) receiving a telegram announcing the death of their soldier son, Andy (Richard Backus). Unable to accept the truth, Christine goes on a denial binge, only to be surprised shortly after midnight with Andy’s shocking return. He is understandably withdrawn and, in the coming days, he will hide behind his sunglasses, decline to become emotionally involved with the family and take to compulsively sitting in his room in a creaky rocking chair. When night comes, he leaves to wander. Along with alarmed father Charles, we get to connect the dots that show Andy’s body is slowly decaying, and he is responsible for the blood-draining deaths of a number of their hometown inhabitants. Filmmaker Clark expertly orchestrates the dread, drawing Andy’s long suffering girlfriend and best friend into the mix, with everyone in Andy’s circle sucked into the hellish climax at the local cemetery.
“A Monkey’s Paw for the Nixon era, this haunting horror movie from Canadian director Bob Clark makes the most of its topical premise and rage over a generation being used as cannon fodder.” – James Rocchi, Rolling Stone
“Some film critics had opined that films like The Wild Bunch and Night of the Living Dead were symptomatic of the Vietnam experience but this bizarre chiller was one of the few movies of the time to have an overt connection… The actors are excellent, especially John Marley and Lynn Carlin, both honored for their roles in John Cassavetes’ Faces… Andy’s curse is like a poetic backwash from the war… There’s really nothing else in movies quite like it.” – Glenn Erickson, DVD Savant
