Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1972)

Six friends dig up a corpse to use in a Satanic ritual to make the dead rise from their graves.

Director:

Bob Clark (as Benjamin Clark)

Writers:

Alan Ormsby (screenplay), Bob Clark (as Benjamin 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.

---

Plot Keywords:

island | graveyard | actor | occult | cult film | 

---

Taglines:

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

---

Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 June 1972 (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 names on the tombstones are the names of various crew members.

---

Goofs

When Orville is sitting on the couch with Alan, they move his arm and for a moment, you can see his normal "flesh colored" skin between the fake right ghoul hand and suit sleeve.

---

Quotes

Val: Will you quit giving us a play-by-play of your flabby bladder?

---

Crazy Credits

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

---

Connections

Referenced in The Curse of the Screaming Dead (1982)

User Reviews

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!