DEATHDREAM ... AKA The Night Walker ... A/K/A Dead of Night
- Old Brooksville
- Apr 2
- 7 min read
Updated: Apr 3
DEATHDREAM!!! Brooksville's own horror cult movie filmed on location all over town. Time has proven it to be a major influence on movies like The Blair Witch Project and other slash genre film classics. If you watch the movie, it's also a step back to that time as you visit various Brooksville locations.
We would like to thank those who contributed to this issue
Lou Charity
John White
1885 Train Depot
Deathdream was filmed in Brooksville during the last three months of 1972.
It premiered in Tampa in 1974.
The movie has attained cult horror film status.
It includes many scenes from various local locations.
Some of the locations used in filming were:
The Colony House Restaurant, which was located about three miles south of Brooksville on US 41 just a bit past where the Ford dealership is today. The building no longer stands.
Allen's Florists
The Coney Island Drive-In
The 41 Drive-In, no longer there.
The old Hilltop Lounge
The old Hernando County Sheriff's Department
Creative Environmental Solutions office which was then Dr. Escamilla's office
Brooksville Cemetery
Main Street Downtown Brooksville
The Maillis House on South Brooksville Avenue
The old Hilltop Lounge
BROOKSVILLE'S HORROR MOVIE
The Making of "Deathdream"
During late 1972, Brooksville was a movie set complete with a crew of over 35 people involved in the making of a horror film called "The Night Walker" which would be changed to Dead of Night and finally Deathdream. The production crew, actors, actresses, make-up designers, hairdressers, set designers, cameramen and technicians came from as far as Los Angeles.
The story was adapted from a 1902 short story "The Monkey's Paw." As much a story of family dynamics as of war and it's consequences, it would be brought up to date with Andy, the lead character played by Richard Backus as the returning soldier. The powerful relationship between mother and son is central to the plot. Much of the story takes place at the family home, located on Brooksville Avenue at the Maillis house.
Now before you dismiss this movie as some low budget, third-rate clunker with production values seen in a seedy B movie, think again. The star of the film was John Marley as the father. Marley seemed too old to play the part of Andy's father at around 65 at the filming, but he was riding the high of his life at the time. He had just completed a role in the Oscar winning "The Godfather." If you remember, in that movie he played a Hollywood producer named Woltz who refused to give "Johnny Fontaine" a role in his upcoming movie. The Godfather (Marlon Brando) made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Marley also played the father to Ali McGraw in the classic "Love Story." He was nominated for an Oscar as best supporting actor in that role and was also featured in another Oscar winner, Cat Ballou. His TV credits include Perry Mason, The Twilight Zone, Wild Wild West, Sea Hunt, The Rifleman and many others.
Lynn Carlin played the role of Andy's mother. She too was nominated for an Oscar in her debut in 1968, Faces, playing opposite John Marley as his suicidal wife. She also acted with George Kennedy, Oscar winner for Cool Hand Luke. Her TV credits include The Waltons, Gunsmoke, and Rich Man, Poor Man.
The director of Deathdream was Bob Clark, a Canadian with a good track record. He would go on to direct Porky's and A Christmas Story. Born in New Orleans in 1939, he grew up poor in Birmingham, Alabama and as a teen moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Later moving to Canada, he became Canada's most successful film maker in history. His early experiences in Florida were the inspiration for his 1981 blockbuster, Porky's, one of the most successful comedies in history. In 1983 he directed, wrote and produced A Christmas Story, one of the all-time classic Christmas movies. In 1975, he was the executive producer of a movie called Moonrunners, which was used as source material for the successful TV show "The Dukes of Hazzard." Just prior to the "Dukes of Hazzard" movie release in 2005, Clark and others sued Warner Brothers over the movie's release and won a 17.5 million dollar lawsuit. Brooksville's 1972 "Deathdream" became a cult horror classic and is remembered today as an influential precursor to the modern slasher movies. On April 4, 2007, Clark and his son, Ariel, were killed on the Pacific Coast Highway in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles, when his Infinity collided head-on with a drunk driver in an SUV that veered across the center line. He was 67. The driver of the SUV served six years in prison.
Richard Backus, who played Andy, was a stage actor appearing in a few Broadway plays including "Butterflies are Free" with Gloria Swanson, the legendary actress who starred in the 1950 classic Sunset Boulevard as Norma Desmond. She too was nominated for the Oscar that year. He also appeared in Camelot and Ah! Wilderness on Broadway. His TV credits include Ryan's Hope and Another World.
Anya Ormsby played Andy's sister. In addition to Deathdream, her screen credits include "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things" and Thunder County." She also appeared in Deranged and Porky's 2.
Famed movie critic Leonard Maltin gave Deathdream a favorable review (see below), and in the book entitled "100 Greatest Horor Movies You've Never Seen", Deathdream is included in that list. The movie also has been shown on TV a few times including on WGN Chicago, WOR New York and Creature Feature.
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The most fascinating element of the film, however, are the various locations and extras used in the movie. Some of the locations included Coney Island, 41 Drive-In, Allen's Florists, Brooksville Cemetery, The Sheriff's Department and a few more including various streets along the way through downtown Brooksville.
Most of the production crew and actors stayed at local motels The El Motel and The Brookwood Motel, across the street. They booked up all rooms for a three-month period. They dined at local restaurants such as Spencer's, the Cottage Dinette, Coney Island and Colony House. John Marley felt, however, that the accommodations and restaurants were beneath him. A particular man, he felt the town was not up to his standards and chose to commute from Tampa where he stayed and ate his meals. Business matters for the movie were conducted from a small house on Liberty Street that also included a kitchen where much of the crew would have their lunch.
Director Bob Clark chose Brooksville as a location because it epitomized your classic small town. It resembled a small Midwestern town with the exception of the Spanish moss. Clark also had ties with Bob Moreland, a cameraman and photographer from the Crystal River area. Moreland also freelanced with the St. Pete Times and Tampa Tribune. Local residents were hired for non-speaking parts. Robert Martinez was hired as an ambulance driver, Bill Brayton as a cop, Irma Brown as a nurse, The Tampa Tribune's George Baxley as a reporter and extras in the background scenes filmed at the Hilltop Lounge, Allen's Florist, the 41 Drive-In, Coney Island and Brooksville Cemetery. The pay for extras was $50 a day and that usually consisted of about two hours of waiting for a scene that maybe took a couple of minutes. Since we were given non-speaking roles, we did not receive film credits.
"Get a hold of yourself." Actor John Marley grabs Lynn Carlin during a scene. He preferred to have his accommodations and meals in Tampa.
Deathdream was finished filming on December 23, 1972 and released the following year with a world premier at the old Britton Plaza theater in Tampa on South Dale Mabry. A large throng of locals were there for its premier. A couple of weeks later, the movie was shown at the 41 Drive-In in Brooksville to a sell-out crowd.
Folks recalled the stir of having a large film crew in the city. Maria Maillis said "They were all very nice and well behaved. They loved the town too and found the people very friendly and outgoing." There are many horror buffs that consider this movie a classic and a precursor and inspiration to the popular genre of slasher movies in the 80s and 90s. You may catch it on TV or for free on Tubi, The Roku Channel, Cineverse, Midnight Pulp, FilmRise or streaming on Shudder and AMC+.
The Two Faces of Andy
Make-up artists were busy with Richard Backus who played Andy who needs blood from others to sustain life, a problem often encountered by horror movie leading men.
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1972 ad in Brooksville during the filming of Deathdream. You could buy a brand new Chrysler for only $4,294.
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