Garden of the Dead (1972) User Reviews

Gardeners of the Dead.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 4/10 · 4 October 2019]

Looking round for Horror titles at my local DVD store,I stumbled on what appeared to be a obscure flick. Taking a gamble and putting the rare film on eBay,I was surprised to find it selling right away, which led to me deciding that before I send it off,I should take a look at the garden.

View on the film:

Planted for a hour (wise move) and filmed in 10 days, director John Hayes & cinematographer Paul Hipp pull up a deep-fried Drive-In atmosphere of shoddy zombie make up and poorly lit "daylight" scenes. Breathing in the zombies by making a chain gang a bit too keen to have a sniff of toxic formaldehyde fumes, the screenplay by Jack Matcha and Daniel Cady bring out a slight charm that slots into the cheap Drive-In mood,via the cops stumbling over themselves to plant the zombies back into the garden of the dead.

Garden of the Dead review

[JoeytheBrit · 3/10 · 20 April 2020]

A group of prisoners hooked on formaldehyde return from the dead after they are killed while trying to escape. A low-budget horror in both senses of the word. Its Grindhouse director was clearly influenced by Romero but possessed not one ounce of his talent. The zombies look convincing enough, but the scenes in which they attack are so poorly handled that the movie actually grows more boring after they emerge from their graves.

Best Watched with Others for a Laugh

[chilly_morrison · 3/10 · 25 July 2005]

For about 2 years of my life this was easily the worst movie i had ever seen. I was always a fan of cheap, bad horror movies (frankenstein island, swamp of the lost monster) but this one took the cake. the dim lighting, if there was any lighting at all, overacting and ridiculous concept were enough for me to do something i have never done before, i returned this movie to the video store the very same day immediately after i watched it. i did this to save my family from seeing it and having the same horrible time as i have. ... Fast forward about 2 years and me and a bunch of friends are stuck with nothing to do on a new year's year in 1998. after hearing how bad it was my friends decided to watch it and i was forced to do so as well. it was perhaps the funniest thing i had ever seen on film, there were too many laughs to mention here so i will just say this. This movie has gone from the worst i have ever seen, to being a part of my DVD collection. (I had to buy it it was $2.50 Brand New)Great Film For Those Who Have Nothing Better To Do.

Attack of the Formaldehyde Addicts

[lovecraft231 · 23 March 2008]

An escaped chain gang get hooked on a strange brand of formaldehyde-only to be shot dead. This formaldehyde has a strange effect though, as they come back as ticked off zombies.

"Garden of the Dead" is a movie obviously influenced by the far superior "Night of the Living Dead", though it's still a watchable slice of 70's horror/exploitation cheese. Sure, the music doesn't fit, the movie's premise, while not as dumb as say, "The Corpse Grinders", is still incredibly stupid, people do dumb things, and it's poorly acted.

That out of the way, nobody is watching a movie like "Garden of the Dead" for high artistic aspirations. They are watching it because it's laughably bad, but not unwatchable, and oddly enduring in it's own stupid way. Besides, they don't make movies like this anymore, and it kind of makes one wish they did.

That's all in all why I can't rate this movie. On one hand, it's incompetent and dumb on all levels. On the other hand, you can't help but love the stupidity on display. That's why it defies a proper rating in my opinion.

Ahhh, the joys of public domain...

[MetalGeek · 2/10 · 22 October 2009]

I'd never heard of "Garden of the Dead" till I picked up a DVD at the dollar store which included it as a double feature with 1983's "Frightmare." I didn't think "Frightmare" was that great, but it looked a lot better after I sat through "Garden of the Dead." At least "Garden of the Dead's" running time was mercifully short (just over an hour!) so my suffering was minimal.

This micro-budget early 70s zombie cheese fest takes place almost entirely inside a prison compound (whose fence appears to be constructed of plywood, 2x4's and chicken wire), where the evil Warden apparently has a side business manufacturing formaldehyde (?). Inmates are shown loading large barrels of it onto trucks at the beginning of the film, and later on are shown sniffing the formaldehyde fumes in order to get high (!) when nobody's looking. This formaldehyde must be some pretty powerful stuff, because when a half dozen of the fume-huffing inmates end up getting killed during an escape attempt, they've barely even been buried in shallow graves by the prison authorities before they're popping back up again as Undead Looking For Revenge. These are not your average slow moving Romero zombies either, they're athletic, can talk (though their dialogue is limited to "Reeeeeevenge on the liiiii-ving!" and "We want the girl! Send her ouuuuuuut!") and use shovels, pickaxes and other tools to murder their victims. I wondered at first why the film was called "Garden of the Dead" and not "Prison of the Dead," but I guess the zombies' use of gardening implements justifies the title.

Anyway, once our monsters arrive on the scene, the remaining running time is then padded out by scenes of prison guards stumbling around firing their shotguns into the darkness before getting hacked (bloodlessly) to death, until a small group of survivors holes up inside the prison office. The zombies demand that they send out "the girl" (the hot girlfriend of one of the surviving inmates, who's hiding out inside), the guards throw open the door, blast the zombies all to hell with their shotguns, the end. Seriously. It's that abrupt. (Door opens) BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM! (Zombies all die, Girl cries, prison guard pokes one of the unmoving zombies with his gun, THE END title card pops up). I bet anyone who paid to see this thing in a drive in back in 1974 asked for their money back. Hell, I only paid a buck and *I* wanted my money back.

The lone point in "Garden of the Dead's" favor (aside from the hot girl, whom we don't see nearly enough of) is its zombie makeup, which is pretty well done. Other than that, it isn't scary, isn't gory, and isn't even silly enough to be considered "so bad it's good." I would only recommend this title to obsessive compulsives who have to see absolutely every movie with zombies in it. Everyone else can find better things to spend their dollar on.

Mercifully short.

[BA_Harrison · 2/10 · 1 May 2020]

This early '70s zombie film clocks in at just under 60 minutes, as though the makers were acutely aware of the fact that very few people would waste more than an hour of their life on such poorly directed, badly acted, poverty-stricken garbage.

The setting for Garden of the Dead is a prison work camp, where the inmates make formaldehyde, loading barrels of the stuff onto flatbed trucks for transportation. Some of the prisoners huff the vapours for kicks, which has unexpected results after they are shot while trying to escape: they rise from the dead to attack the living.

Not only has Garden of the Dead got the kind of plot that could be written on the back of a matchbook, but it also suffers from extremely low production values that make the whole thing look cheap, nasty and unconvincing. The prisoners dig a tunnel to make their bid for freedom, but the whole camp is so flimsy, they needn't have gone to such trouble: a decent kick to the front gate would knock it down, while the wire fence (all 6ft of it) has huge gaps that all but the fattest of prisoners could squeeze through. As for the zombies, I've seen little kids trick-or-treating with scarier make-up.

I guess, in the annals of zombiedom, the film is groundbreaking in the way that its undead leap and run, use tools (one of them swings a mean pickaxe!) and talk, but this really isn't reason enough to watch. Garden of the Dead is one for zombie movie completists only.

Ballet of the Undead

[pawned79 · 3/10 · 8 December 2001]

Well, I have to give these zombies credit for one thing. They are sure the fastest zombies I've ever seen. They like to run in really fast from the darkness, dance around for a little bit, swing a pick-axe in the general direction of a person, then dance away. I'm still not sure how, but the person always seems to die. They probably can't wait to get out of this bad movie. My personal favorite heckle was about the prison itself. Chicken wire does not count as a prison. LOL I like the part when the zombie has to cut a wire with the ax. I'm just thinking, "Oh come on, it is like spider web!" Nothing I can say can possible describe the horror that I felt when I watched this movie. I suggest everyone watch this movie at least once in your life. Don't worry, it is only like thirty minutes long.

Passable zombie flick

[Coventry · 4/10 · 20 December 2009]

Inmates under the influence at formaldehyde at the worst run prison ever (guards don't even notice when at least eight inmates vanish at the same time to sniff gas behind the corner) undertake an unsuccessful escape attempt. Unsuccessful because they're all shot dead by the guards. The prisoners must have been really drugged to mess this up, because the guards and management of this facility were way too stupid to prevent this. Either way, the prisoners' truck strand in the middle of a prison cemetery and several barrels of formaldehyde are spilled into the soil. Zombies emerge from two inches underneath the surface and – like most members of the living dead society – they're only out to do one thing … Score more formaldehyde, of course! "Garden of the Dead" is a pretty pointless and redundant early 70's exploitation that drags tremendously even though it's barely one hour long. There's hardly any gore and the make-up effects on the zombies are quite pathetic, but the film nevertheless benefices from a fairly sinister atmosphere and a bizarrely unsettling jazzy music score. The zombies easily rank amongst the lamest and least threatening living dead members ever. They just want to get drugged, so they're pretty easy to kill. It's definitely not the worst movie in its league, but nothing memorable neither.

Convict Zombies!

[Uriah43 · 4/10 · 27 March 2019]

This film begins with a group of convicts performing manual labor at a prison facility known as Camp Hoover. Yet even though they are generally well-guarded some of these men still manage to sneak away to an area where formaldehyde is stored and while nobody is looking breathe in the fumes in order to get high. Later that night these same men decide to make a prison break but in doing so are shot and killed by the guards for their efforts. But the story doesn't end there as upon being buried they rise from their graves and become obsessed with not only killing everyone alive but also acquiring more formaldehyde in the process. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that the zombies in this film were quite different than those presented in other movies of this type in that they could talk and used tools to kill their victims. In addition to these peculiarities they also possessed a rather strange weakness as well. In any case, although this was a rather short movie (approximate 59 minutes) with definite budgetary restraints, it wasn't terribly bad and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

Night of the Leaping Dead

[Kastore · 7/10 · 19 June 2001]

This is a fun "movie" - I usually don't consider anything below an hour in length as a movie, but for this I'll make an exception. Several things make "Garden" worthy as a quick late-nite rental. First, the movie gets into the zombie action as soon as possible, establishing the situation quickly as though it can't wait for the dead to rise and attack. "Garden of the Dead" is also creepy. Most of the movie takes place at night, and the zombies stepping through the eerie fog, as well as the surrounded-by-zombies, cut-off-from-help situation of the people in the prison all add up to a healthy feeling of fright. My favorite scene was the woman trapped in the motorhome while the horde of zombies stands motionless around the front windows, just staring at her.

"Garden" is incredibly low budget. The prison appears to have all the soundness of construction of a house of cards. Most of the effects consist of fog and the zombies' green, though grotesque-looking, makeup. The zombies also try to demonstrate some sort of superhuman abilities by jumping out of the darkness at top speeds and attacking people before disappearing back into the night. An entertaining flic for B-horror fans. 7/10

"Drug Addicted Zombies!"

[gattonero975 · 3/10 · 7 January 2013]

Wow. I never thought I would see a drug addicted zombie movie with a snappy 1950's jazz score! LOL That damn jazzy score just ruined for me. only towards the end did it become a more creepy like score but by then it was too late.

The fact that the convicts on a chain gang sniff experimental formaldehyde fumes to get high and that in turn, turns them into raccoon-looking zombies is hilarious.

The dialog is funny. One zombie says ,"We must destroy the living, and get back to our liquid soon."

I did not recognized any actor in this fiasco. For some I believe it was their one and only screen appearance!

And to top it off, the version i saw was only 57mins! And even at that length, it was too long!

This 'Garden' should definable be left alone and left to dry and die!

Not a good place to pick up your tomatoes...!

[jeansebastienproulx · 8/10 · 18 February 2009]

When I come home late from work and I had a rough day, I don't want to go to bed right away, but I don't want to start a 2h00 complicated movie either...So, this one is a very good option! About an hour long, dumb characters, scary ambiance music as well as jazzy, old Spider-Man-cartoon-feel music, the french dubbed version I have is totally hilarious! It goes down very easily with a few beers, there's just a good cheap feel to it. The prisoner I like the best is the one small bald guy with the big eyes, over-acting all the way through! Not that the other actors are better, but this guy does it like it was his last shot to make it big and be discovered! See it if you're a zombie-maniac-low-budget like me.

Very minor but agreeable horror item.

[Hey_Sweden · 6/10 · 25 July 2015]

The convicts at a prison work camp conspire to escape, and escape they do. But they don't make it very far, and the camp officials pump them full of lead. But soon the convicts rise from the dead to terrorize their nemeses.

This very low budget horror opus may be worth a look for the most devoted aficionados of the genre. It may not exactly be high quality stuff, but it's fairly good entertainment. Director John Hayes ("Dream No Evil", "Grave of the Vampire") gives it some solid atmosphere. This is one of those instances where the minimal funding actually works in the movies' favour. It therefore has that irresistible "late show" feeling that always appeals to this particular viewer.

The zombies here do manage to be somewhat unique. They plan, they talk (one thing that they like to say is "We will destroy the living!"), they wield weapons, and they plod around. They're also not that hard to take down. Joe Blasco, who graced a couple of horror and exploitation titles (among them Cronenbergs' "Shivers", "Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS", and "Johnny Firecloud") with his work, supplies the pretty good zombie makeup. While there is some violence throughout this thing, however, there really isn't any gore to speak of.

Dedicated cult cinema lovers are going to recognize a couple of the faces here. Corpulent John Dennis ("Conquest of the Planet of the Apes") is a prison guard, Marland Proctor ("Chrome and Hot Leather") is studly convict Paul Johnson, Jerome Guardino ("Crash!") is a gravedigger, legendary exploitation director Lee Frost ("The Defilers") is McGee, Eric Stern ("The Love Butcher"), is Coler, Virgil Frye ("Revenge of the Ninja") plays zombie leader Bradock, Phil Hoover ("Race with the Devil") is Donovan, and Carmen Filpi ("Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers") is cast as Nolan. Sexy Susan Charney supplies the eye candy as Johnsons' wife Carol.

Whether or not one derives any entertainment from this, they can hardly fail to notice how short it is: a runs a scant 59 minutes long.

Six out of 10.

Garden of the Dead

[CinemaSerf · 3/10 · 28 May 2023]

So a bunch of convicts on a chain gang snort some industrial scale formaldehyde before attempting a mass escape from their incarceration. They are all shot by their diligent guards and hastily buried. That it? Of course not, they all rise again and determine to avenge themselves on humanity. Perhaps more notable as a zombie movie because these are less robotic and monosyllabic - or had less starch in their corsets. Indeed one or two of them might have been half decent at Scrabble; but the end product is at least 15 years past it's see-by date and hysterical nonsense. If i were you, I just wouldn't bother.

Introducing...zombies that can jump hurdles and join a discussion

[EyeAskance · 7 November 2003]

A group of convicts in a corruptly administered work camp get a cheap high by huffing from a tin drum of formaldehyde. They are later killed during an escape attempt, only to rise from their graves and set about doing all the terrible things we've come to expect of zombies.

This is a fairly starch example of skinflint 70s horror, although it does deserve the small-beans honor of being, most likely, the first film to represent zombies as cognitive and dexterous in speech and movement(as opposed to the fish-eyed, lumbering customary type). It would stand to reason that these enhanced capacities should result in more formidable and frightening zombies...unfortunately, they come off as awkward and occasionally laughable.

A slight film of no real importance, GARDEN OF THE DEAD is, at best, sufficient fodder for independent TV station "Tweaking Til Dawn" type shows. Meh.

4/10

Try it.

[artpf · 6/10 · 31 October 2013]

Convicts on a chain gang sniff experimental formaldehyde fumes to get high. They attempt a prison break and are shot down by the guards. Buried in the prison garden, they rise from the dead, killing all in their path with shovels and hoes who get in their way for their quest to get high once more off the formaldehyde.

Kinda funny premise, no? Starts off pretty good actually. Hayes, made a bunch of offbeat exploitation films but was also nominated for an academy award one time!

They used dry ice for the formaldehyde and of course nobody notices the prisoners sniffing it, and I guess we're not supposed to see the prisoner who laffs when the smoke goes in his face. Must be a minimum security prison cuz the place is surrounded by a wooden-wire fence that would easily be compromised. But escape they do anyway.

My big criticism is this -- it takes half the movie for the zombies to emerge. And let's not forget this movie is less than an hour long! When we see them they have joker like makeup and you can see their chest flesh where the make up ends!

But there IS something about this movie that is different and enjoyable. In a super low budget kind of way. Interesting statement on addiction, anyway.

Formaldehyde Zombies From The Troma Stables... 'Nuff Said...

[P3n-E-W1s3 · 6/10 · 26 May 2020]

Before Troma went too berserk with the likes of Rabid Grannies and The Toxic Avenger, they produced okay flicks like this one. Granted, it's not a masterpiece but the story is sound and the filming is above average.

Out in the sticks at Camp Hoover, the warden has discovered a method to make a cheap buck. He has the convicts manufacturing formaldehyde, which he sells onto the morgues in the area. Life is hard at the correctional facility and a few prisoners have found a slight release from their tribulations. They sniff the formaldehyde to get a buzz to survive the days. This group also come up with an escape plan which works well. However, they didn't reckon on the tracking skills of their captors. They quickly find them. Since none want to return to Camp Hoover, they fight. All the escapees are subsequently shot and killed. The warden parades the dead men in front of the prisoners. Six of which are chained since they knew of the escape plan and informed no one. He throws the dead into a mass unmarked grave. But it isn't too long before the rotting hands break through the loose earth... and the dead walk in search of formaldehyde.

I accept that the creation of the zombies is a tad flimsy, formaldehyde - come on! But in these days of over-zombification, it's not the worse origination I've seen. And in truth, the writers, Daniel Cady and Jack Matcha push this element to its zenith. I particularly liked that the zombie's driving imperative was the formaldehyde. They no longer sniffed the stuff. No, now they're dead they need to bathe in it and have it enter their bodies through the skin. It's a nice touch for the mixture to drive them insane. These Z's keep their speed and strength so you wouldn't want to fight them at close range.

I love Cady and Matcha's undead. I have never liked the shambling and brain-dead Z's we're normally given. Walk up to them and stick a knife in their head - which would only result in an apocalypse for the unsteady undead.

John Hayes does an okay job with the direction. It's nothing too special, but it works. He gives the viewers a few interesting shots where he follows prisoners around. He tries his best to compose the scenes. The best being when the two inmate fractions meet in a storehouse. Hayes has the lighting perfect, and he places the escaping inmates to the left of the screen and the ones against their plan to the right. I liked that he elevates this shot a little, placing the audience's viewpoint above the prisoners. Adding further interest and uneasy tension to the atmosphere.

However, most of the time he tries to be interesting and inventive. Sadly, this creativity usually falls short. One scene shows a prisoner's girlfriend comes to visit him at the camp. Hayes pauses the shot of her standing centre stage too long before having her step forward to the fence. I know this scene is trying to create an atmosphere of loss and wanting. But the lengthy pause spoiled the segment. Several scenes are similar to this. Had Hayes tightened and improved these a smidgen, the movie would be much stronger.

A further bonus of the movie is the zombies' cosmetics. These undead look undead. Their skin has a greying blueish tinge and inky shadows represent their sloughed skin. These are some good-looking Z's. Respect to the make-up department.

Unfortunately, the acting hinders the movie most. However, there is a plus, the actors and actresses are equally skilled. For the majority of the story, the cast is agreeable in their portrayals. However, all the cast treat the audience to moments of woodiness. Though I'm not entirely sure you can blame them. The story's driven by its concept and not by its characters. Cady and Matcha aren't too brilliant at character creation. Even Hayes could be at fault in this matter. Maybe he didn't give them enough incentive and motives.

This film lands firmly in the average B-Movie slot. Though the film offers some good elements, the rest of the movie negates the potency they add.

That said, this is still a wonderful film to waste an hour and a half if you're a horror and zombie fan. Since I found the film an enjoyable romp, I'll watch "Garden" again and soon. It's not the best Z-Movie, but it's worth a peek.

Ratings: Story 1.25 : Direction 1.25 : Pace 1 : Acting 1 : Enjoyment 1.25 Total 5.75 out of 10

So get your formaldehyde on and come visit my Absolute Horror list to mark where these Z's rampaged in my charts.

Take Care and Stay Well.

Creepy For Low Budget Horror

[Neff-3 · 10 June 1999]

I saw this film back when local authorities decided it was too sick for a "GP" rating, and clung to the old "M" (Mature Audience) rating, along with its double-feature at that time, "Grave of the Vampire." It hit my hometown of Little Rock with a major splash, complete with ghouls wandering the theatre lobby and plenty of local promo. Had to sneak in to see it. The movie is about prisoners held in some godforsaken backwoods labor camp who huff the fumes of formaldehyde all night to 'get off.' Suffice it to say, they don't stay dead after that (they seem to meet with unfortunate accidents alot). Lots of wandering dead guys in fog, dark shots with creepy underlit green faces. Low budget but great B-movie horror thrills.

Neat little zombie film

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 20 January 2017]

GARDEN OF THE DEAD is a nice little zombie picture that clocks in at just under an hour in length. The story is heavily indebted to Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, of course, but that doesn't stop it being a fun film with all of the right ingredients: effective zombie makeup, a creepy atmosphere, and an interesting story.

This one's about chain-gang prisoners who are addicted to drug taking. When they get killed during a riot, their addiction sees them returning from the dead to wreak vengeance on the guards. It's an interesting enough plot; a bit like COOL HAND Luke with added undead, if you like. John Hayes worked for over twenty years as an exploitation director and along with GRAVE OF THE VAMPIRE this is one of his most memorable efforts. GARDEN OF THE DEAD is at least as good as CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS, and probably a bit better.

Laughably pathetic

[rottingcarrot · 18 July 2001]

Garden of the dead is possibly the cheapest movie I've ever seen. The plot is absolutely pointless and the acting is 5th rate. The plot of the movie is a bunch of prison inmates get shot while trying to excape from prison and then are killed. The following day they come to life again and start killing people. How do they defeat the evil Zombies? SPOILERS AHEAD!!



The exciting finally consists of the zombies being shot at close range with shot guns and for some reason they die for good that time.

Some of the scenes are funny, like the phermeldahide inhaling scenes. The prison itself is just a few shacks and barrels and I think there's a couple cars. The fence around the prison looks like it's made of chicken wire or something and dosen't seem to go all the way around the camp.

If your looking to see a good movie don't ever rent this, but if you just want to laugh at one of the cheapest movies ever made go ahead.

"We Will Destroy The Living!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 14 September 2019]

GARDEN OF THE DEAD isn't a typical prison movie. During a chow break, an inmate (aka: a guy in a blue work shirt with a number scrawled on it in felt-tip pen) inhales some gas from a 55-gallon drum of formaldehyde. Other cons soon join in, which was the fad in prisons in the early 1970's.

At first, all is euphoric joy, as the felons discuss their latest escape plans. Alas, breathing in poison isn't as wonderful as it appears! After making good their escape, the convicts are quickly killed by the glove-wearing warden (aka: a man who looks like a TV evangelist with a hand rash) and his posse.

Unceremoniously buried, the dead begin to rise from their suspiciously shallow graves, and make their way back to the prison (aka: some old farmyard). The rest is a mildly amusing, mostly absurd rampage of groaning gas-zombies.

Made entirely of moldy cheddar, this movie will most likely make viewers want to pickle their own heads in formaldehyde before it's over! Blessedly short, at an hour in length, it's over before too much cranial scorching can set in, though a post-viewing lobotomy is recommended...

Decent Low-Budget Zombie Movie

[Michael_Elliott · 1 August 2016]

Garden of the Dead (1972)

** (out of 4)

A group of convicts on a chain gang are doing a job when they come across some formaldehyde, which they begin to sniff so that they can get high. Later than night the group plan on breaking out of prison so that they can steal some of the drug but they're killed in the process and buried. It doesn't take long for them to return from the dead seeking revenge against the prison guards as well as looking for the drug.

John Hayes' GARDEN OF THE DEAD isn't a masterpiece and it's not really a good movie but at the same time it's an interesting piece of low-budget cinema and there are enough interesting moments to make it worth watching. This is obvious a take-off on NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and I thought the director did a good job at creating a weird atmosphere that will remind many of the one in CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS.

As far as the film goes, it certainly shows its low-budget with some of the performances and the lack of any real effects but as I said there's a pretty good atmosphere here and the director feels the screen with fog, ghouls and some weird death scenes. The film also benefits from running a short 58-minutes so there's really no wasted time on dumb subplots.

Again, if you're looking for a masterpiece then this certainly isn't it. If you're a fan of low-budget movies then this one here offers up some interesting ideas and it's certainly much better than you'd expect.