WELCOME HOME JOHNNY BRISTOL is a sorely underrated and mostly forgotten little gem of Vietnam War-related horror. MARTIN LANDAU is outstanding in the title role of a U.S. Army Captain rescued from captivity in North Vietnam and returned to the States to convalesce at an Army Hospital. He falls in love with his attending nurse Ann Palmer(JANE Alexander)and wants to marry her in his hometown of Charles, Vermont- a bucolic little hamlet he grew up in of which he has fond and wonderful memories. When they make the trip, they discover that the town is not there- and there's no official record of any town by that name ever existing in Vermont. And this is where the horror begins, for LANDAU is convinced that a Government conspiracy is at work- that a top-secret calamity occurred there and that the Army is covering it up. This thesis fits in very nicely with what was happening in the country at the time- the general distrust of the Government and all the revelations related to our debacle in Vietnam that Washington tried to hide. For those who haven't yet seen this minor masterpiece, I won't give away the denouement except to say that when the truth is finally revealed, it will be as jolting to the viewer as it was to the Captain.
Review of Welcome Home, Johnny Bristol
