Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1973)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Bob Clark

Writers:

Bob Clark (writer)
Alan Ormsby (writer)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

You're Invited To Orville's "Coming-Out" Party...It'll Be A Scream...YOURS!!!

Plot:

Six friends dig up a corpse named Orville. They use it in a satanic ritual to make the dead rise from their graves. Look out!!!

Plot Keywords:

Actor | Graveyard | Island | Good Versus Evil | Zombie

Cast

Alan Ormsby	...	Alan
Valerie Mamches	...	Val
Jeff Gillen	...	Jeff
Anya Ormsby	...	Anya
Paul Cronin	...	Paul
Jane Daly	...	Terry
Roy Engleman	...	Roy
Robert Philip	...	Emerson
Bruce Solomon	...	Winns
Alecs Baird	...	Caretaker
Seth Sklarey	...	Orville Dunworth
Robert Sherman	...	Ghoul
Curtis Bryant	...	Ghoul
William R. 'Bob' Smedley	...	Tallest dead thing (as Robert Smedley)
Debbie Cummins	...	Ghoul

Also Known As:

Revenge of the Living Dead (USA) (reissue title)
Things from the Dead (USA) (reissue title)
Zreaks (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Stereo (2.0) | DTS

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | UK:18 | Germany:16 | Australia:M | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Miami, Florida, USA

Company:

Geneni Film Distributors

Trivia:

The films Italian title is "L' Assedio dei morti viventi", which translates to "The Siege of the Living Dead".

Goofs:

Continuity: After Val shines the light on the body of Paul, she then turns back around, bringing the light with her; yet when Terry looks out, both the body and zombie are still illuminated by the same light.

Quotes:

Alan: [to Orville's corpse] I'm gonna take your scraps and feed them to my dog.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Shocking Truth (2000) (V)

Classic zombie film that ranks with "Night of the Living Dead"

I had read extensively about this film and was very interested in actually seeing it, but my interest died down after reading a particular on-line review. I recently bought the film and boy, was I surprised! The movie left me breathless, like I was struck by lightning and didn't know what to do after the credits finished! While the storyline might not be highly original, most of the acting is good (especially Alan Ormsby and Valerie Mamches) and the atmosphere is unrelentingly chilling! While a lot of the humor is desperate and falls flat, there is undying tension during the corpse-mocking scenes. The audience is just waiting for Orville to jump up and avenge his humiliation! The island's graveyard is one of the spookiest in recent memory and the zombie resurrection scenes are the best I have EVER seen! The ending is not particularly original, but for some reason is unexpected. Highly recommended to fans of zombie horror films, but don't expect overly graphic special effects (i.e., Lucio Fulci's "Zombie"), as this is rated PG. Despite the rating, this would give kids more nightmares than some R-rated movies!