Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1973)

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!!!

Director:

Bob Clark

Writers:

Alan Ormsby (screenplay), Bob Clark

Stars:

Alan Ormsby, Valerie Mamches, Jeff Gillen

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alan Ormsby	...	Alan
Valerie Mamches	...	Val
Jeff Gillen	...	Jeff (as Jeffrey Gillen)
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
Bob Sherman	...	Ghoul (as Robert Sherman)
Curtis Bryant	...	Ghoul
William R. 'Bob' Smedley	...	Tallest dead thing (as Robert Smedley)
Debbie Cummins	...	Ghoul

Storyline

Actors led by Alan Ormsby go to a graveyard on a remote island to perform a necromantic ritual. The ritual works and soon the dead are walking about and chowing down on human flesh.

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Plot Keywords:

actor | graveyard | island | cannibalism | zombie | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 February 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

Revenge of the Living Dead

Filming Locations:

Coconut Grove, Miami, Florida, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Geneni Film Distributors

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Stereo (2.0) DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The 1990 reference book "Uranian Worlds: A Guide to Alternative Sexuality in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror" by Eric Garber and Lyn Paleo lists "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things" as one of the first horror movies to show positive (though stereotyped) gay male characters who also have an important role in the story. With the help of these two gay men (actors Roy Engleman and Robert Philip) made-up as corpses, Alan plays a practical joke on the other characters that frightens them so badly that one wets his pants.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Alan: Silence! The magnitude of your simplitude overwhelms me!

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Crazy Credits

Director Bob Clark is credited as "Benjamin Clark" in the opening credits.

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Connections

References Mr. Wizard (1951)

User Reviews

I love this movie

This is one of those great horror movies where the only problems can be found in corporate faults. This movie is full of great characters (even the character you're supposed to hate is really interesting), with good acting to back up the great story. I also like how Alan's necrophiliac desires are really underplayed by how the film is made. Some people won't even catch them the first time they watch it, which gives this an oddly intellectual angle. Also, most of the make-up FX are truly amazing in such a low-budget movie. The close-ups of some of these zombies really make that obvious, which makes me wonder how people could trash on these excellent make-up jobs. You want to see some bad make-up? See "Redneck Zombies", it will redefine what bad make-up is for you. Anyway, this movie is good at the black humor and just as good with the chills. This being a PG film without hardly any blood, I was surprised to find that the zombie attack scenes had an intensity to them that greatly rivaled those in "NOTLD" without hardly any gore. (Still, I do want to see the uncut version available through some import services and see why that version was rated for people 18 and over!) Another thing I love about this movie is that it has some of the greatest atmosphere to it. It retains a classic, dark-foggy-night horror feel throughout, with even the slowest of moments having a definite creepiness to them. It's also great to see a horror movie with zombies that relies more on the characters than blood and guts for a change. Many criticize this for being too slow, but I enjoyed every minute of it. A very sadly underrated and ultimately overlooked masterpiece of indie horror.