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      Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things

      PG Released Jun 9, 1972 1h 25m Horror List
      50% Tomatometer 16 Reviews 40% Audience Score 5,000+ Ratings A director (Alan Ormsby), his wife (Anya Ormsby) and a troupe call up the dead, starting with a corpse named Orville. Read More Read Less

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      Critics Reviews

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      Jeremiah Kipp Slant Magazine Clark's first film is memorable only for its catchy title. Rated: 1/4 Sep 29, 2007 Full Review Eddie Harrison film-authority.com ...the shocks and scares are as raw as the outre fashions… Rated: 3/5 Mar 31, 2023 Full Review James Kendrick Q Network Film Desk the first half is structured as a kind of lumbering black comedy before the ghouls are unleashed, which, despite the general amateurishness of the production, pack quite a punch Rated: 3/4 Mar 27, 2023 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy The dialogue whiplashes between amusing quips and (mostly) leaden chitchat. But the final act, a full-fledged rip-off of Night of the Living Dead, is effectively staged. Rated: 2.5/4 Feb 15, 2023 Full Review Kathy Fennessy Video Librarian Magazine "Nasty, brutish, and short," a phrase coined by English philosopher Thomas Hobbes to describe life under anarchy, aptly describes Bob Clark's 1972 horror-comedy Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things. Rated: 3/5 Jan 19, 2023 Full Review Josh Goller Spectrum Culture Bob Clark's low-budget zombie flick makes for quite the interminable slog before it reaches any kind of payoff. Feb 23, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      NONBELIEVER One of the most underrated horror movies ever made. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 04/17/24 Full Review Steve D Dated but shows signs of the directors talent. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/02/23 Full Review Stephen C Great fun and the 1st in a line of films from The late Bob Clark. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 04/05/23 Full Review brad p What the film lacks in budget and acting talent it nearly makes up in heart and oddball charm. Clark and Ormsby's script is well written, and once the undead make their appearance the picture does pick up quite a bit. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Love it just to decompress with Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Audience Member The head of a theatre troupe Alan (think of a cross between Charles Manson and Timothy Claypole in lurid and very colourful 60's clothing) takes his fellow thespians (who he refers to as his ‘children') to an island which is used as a kind of graveyard for dead criminals. He then assumes the role of a religious leader, puts on robe he just happens to have brought with him and proceeds to try and raise the dead using his knowledge of magic. Whilst this (seemingly) doesn't work they dig up the dead body of a man called Orville. However later on in the film the dead do indeed rise again and get their revenge. They board the actor's boat at the end of the film. The director of this film is listed as Benjamin Clark but is in fact Bob Clark who went on to make the masterpieces Dead of Night and Black Christmas. Allan Ormsby who plays Alan went on to direct the excellent Ed Gein biopic Deranged. This film has an interesting vibe to it that is similar to the counterculture early 70's vibe of Wes Craven's Last House on the Left (but without the violence or genuine transgression). This is gritty low budget filmmaking that points to the drive-in but also to the arthouse realm. The colour palette of the cast's wardrobe is like watching an acid trip with each character wearing a different very bright colour and when more than one cast member is in the frame together it's a trip. In fact theres a shot in the movie of the cast members all lines up behind each other and it's like a spectrum of colour. The audience members on certain substances must have loved this sequence. This is an interesting film but far from being some kind of 60's classic. The title is very misleading also. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      This movie is featured in the following articles.

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      Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis A director (Alan Ormsby), his wife (Anya Ormsby) and a troupe call up the dead, starting with a corpse named Orville.
      Director
      Bob Clark
      Producer
      Peter James, Ted V. Mikels
      Screenwriter
      Bob Clark, Alan Ormsby
      Production Co
      Brandywine Motionarts Films
      Rating
      PG
      Genre
      Horror
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Jun 9, 1972, Limited
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Oct 3, 2016
      Runtime
      1h 25m
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