Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1973)
Genre: Horror
Duration: 87 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: Bob Clark
Stars: Alan Ormsby, Valerie Mamches and Jeff Gillen
IMDb score:
5,2 (5.446)
Releasedate: 9 June 1972
Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things plot
"You're Invited To Orville's "Coming-Out" Party...It'll Be A Scream...YOURS!!!"
Five young, kinky actors and their artistic director arrive at a desolate and almost forgotten grave island. The island is known for its horrific history involving murders, rapes, curses and demons. Alan, the brilliant but bizarre director, has brought the actors together in this terrifying place to engage in witchcraft. The plan is to exhume a recent corpse and use it in a ritual ceremony designed to raise the dead from their graves.
Reviews & comments
Drs. DAJA
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- 4355 messages
- 4515 votes
Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things is a typical piece of camp. Unfortunately, Bob Clark doesn't come close to his great masterpiece, Black Christmas with this debut film. I really expected much more atmosphere from him. There are some interesting thematic pieces woven into the film, but they don't really shine due to the terrible acting. I must admit I thought the creature design was quite successful, but as a complete horror film, it really disappointed me.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Tonypulp
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- 21231 messages
- 4608 votes
Everything has already been said, as far as positive points are concerned 
Anyway, I can repeat it again with 2 or 3 new words... Refreshing! Is one of them!
A fantastic debut from Bob Clark. It's quite remarkable to see him go from hordes of zombies to a stylish slasher and then back to zombies again. I hope to encounter Deathdream someday; it sounds amazing! Regardless, this proves he has a great feel for the genre.
Not only does he take his time to create something, he also repays the viewer's patience with a brilliant finale. I really enjoyed sitting in front of my TV while all those clay heads (finally ) started acting up. I didn't have much to complain about, though, because the first hour offers plenty without any real highlights.
Great concept, very atmospheric, as mentioned before. The soundtrack is one of the most obvious mood-setters, and the cheap and limited lighting is actually perfect. It's a silly excuse to use lampposts, but that's actually quite charming 
. The humor is good, and Alan Ormsby plays a great, hateful character. There's little else to glean from the cast, but it's certainly sufficient.
Clearly not for everyone, not even zombie fans. But the approach is (here it comes again...) refreshing enough to deserve all the praise!
Translated from Dutch · View original
80&90’s Nostalgia
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- 543 messages
- 600 votes
On paper, the script sounds fantastic, but unfortunately, the execution is woefully inadequate. The last 20 minutes and the soundtrack were decent, but otherwise, I quickly forgot about this ultra-low-budget project.
Seen on the bluray triple Bob Clark box set from 101BlackLabel.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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