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Alecs Baird, Paul Cronin, Jane Daly, Roy Engelman, Bob Filep ... see more see more... , Anya Ormsby , Robert Philip , Seth Sklarey , Bruce Solomon , Jeff Gillen , Alan Ormsby , Valerie Mauches , Valerie Mamches , Jeffrey Gillen

In Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things, an above average slasher/horror film, a group of amateurs decide to experiment with witchcraft with deadly results. This film has a small cult following, d... read more read more...ue to some extent to the fact that one of the lead characters is played by writer and makeup effects artist Alan Ormsby. Ormsby gives one of the three or four most obnoxious screen performances in history as Alan, the leader of a troupe of actors who try out a voodoo ritual on a corpse only to find out that it has worked on all the corpses in the graveyard. The acting is terrible and the special effects are obvious and cheap, but the film somehow manages to overcome all of this and be quite entertaining, but only for those with strong stomachs. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi

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38% want to see it

6,288 ratings

Critics

50% liked it

10 critics

PG, 1 hr. 25 min.

Directed by: Bob Clark (III), Bob Clark, Benjamin Clark

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DVD Release Date: June 8, 1999

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Seth Sklarey playing Orville super freak gotta have the last word zombie food wicked pants man The Guy with the green shirt children shouldn't play with dead things Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things Alan Ormsby in "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things" Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things
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Flixster Reviews (255)

  • vierasesine
    June 1, 2010
    vierasesine
    **+
    Better than what the first five minutes would lead you to believe, if you can get past the annoyingness of some of the characters.
  • FilmFanatik
    December 20, 2009
    FilmFanatik
    A low budget campfest that actually manages to give me the creeps.
  • ScoopOnline
    December 11, 2009
    ScoopOnline
    I like this kind of Movies, the Idea of the Movie was nice. Trouble is when you just think it has began to turn creepy, you experience a disaster. lol
  • kenstachnik
    August 2, 2009
    kenstachnik
    More interesting than entertaining, this Bob Clark film is like a mix of Evil Dead (minus the style) and Diary of the Dead. The acting is okay and the story is very uneven. It's hard to rate the cinematography because the DVD print currently in release is terrible.
  • shitfaced8
    November 3, 2010
    shitfaced8
    Surprisingly a really, really entertaining satanic/witchcraft/zombie/horror/comedy. I usually don't like humour with my horror but I do make exceptions when the results are this fun. Recommended for fans of Evil Dead or Return of the Living Dead fer sure.
  • KLFilmmaker
    January 23, 2010
    KLFilmmaker
    Slow paced and cringe worthy performances until the third act. You can see it's influence on classic films like 'Evil Dead' though. A must see cult classic for zombie movie buffs.
  • patrickdol
    September 16, 2007
    patrickdol
    The opening scene here is great, and a great jump right off the bat. This is a really interesting film which is a zombie flick that is all about the disturbing build up and the fucked up leader of a theatre group played by the writer of the film. It's a really great curiosity and... read more entertainment up to the last 20mins but then is turns into a full scale zombie attack which really kicks ass. I would suggest this to horror fans, you can see alot of supposed influences on greater works such as Evil Dead.
  • jk2two
    July 19, 2011
    jk2two
    STFU Alan! That should be most sensible people's reactions to the first 25 or so minutes of this tedious and slow-as-hell low budget flick. A pompous idiot director recruits a bunch of aspiring actors to help him with some amateur black magic meant to raise the dead from their gr... read moreaves. One could surmise by the film's title that it works, but only after 64 minutes of unfunny, poorly written, over-acted BS that's dominated by Alan Ormsby's smug rantings. Though this film is painfully low budget, that's really not an issue - the zombies are the best part. Though most of the makeup is poor, the zombie mayhem is ultimately enjoyable (the zombie actors are way more effective than the leads). The tricky part is making it through the amount of movie necessary to get to the final act - it's a great deal of self-important and "see how smart we are" dialogue with slow-paced, drawn-out scenes that really accomplish nothing. Zombie movie completists will certainly want this for the collection, but all others would e better to avoid it.
  • briley9
    February 23, 2011
    briley9
    Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things is a classic grindhouse zombie movie that epitomizes the best of bad movie making. The story follows a theater troupe that has, for some reason, agreed to follow their psychotic, power-mad director to a deserted graveyard island for some ... read moreblack magic hilarity. It's strange in a lot of ways, not least in the power dynamic of the characters, who put up with all manner of indignity from the director, who sports a robust Colonel Sanders mustache and goatee and wears white pants with multicolored vertical stripes. It's hard to tell whether we're seeing some remnants of 1970s culture, such as the moment when the young actress essentially agrees to sleep with the director, her boyfriend's protests aside, because he demanded it as part of her employment. Then there's a crazy lady, a sarcastic lady, and a couple of meatheads to add to the mix.

    Here's a breakdown of what puts the movie in the sweet spot between "bad" and bad:

    Acting: Bad - the amateur actors are either young, ham-handed, or both. The director's flamboyant air oscillates back and forth between mincing and menacing, though occasionally he hits both tones at the same time.
    Good - The scene chewing by all the actors gives the movie a heightened feel that really makes it work.

    Art Direction and Scenery: Bad - the found nature of much of the scenery, and the hilarious means by which the characters defend themselves from the dead, mark this film as particularly silly.
    Good - the graveyard scenes are really creepy once you get past the cardboard look of the gravestones.

    Meditative Camera Work: Bad - the camera is really lifeless in the film, often adding nothing to the scene, and showing the most barebones views of things. Many shots are far longer than they need to be.
    Good - the long shots actually build suspense in ways the poor actors and script are unable to do. Particularly effective is the scene when the group is waiting to see if the summoning of Satan worked.

    Writing: Bad - The writing in this film is bad, stilted and uninspiring. Good - Nope. The only thing to say good about the writing is that it doesn't get in the way of the zombies.

    SFX: Bad - The zombies and horror elements in the film are certainly silly, with a lot of buildup and not much to the horror aspect of the movie. They really embody the grindhouse feel.
    Good - The walking dead in this film are striking, a strong mix of types that show a facility for makeup effects and a large supply of fake blood.

    Overall, if you like grindhouse movies or bad zombie movies, you can't do much worse/better than Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things.
  • Horror1o1
    February 9, 2011
    Horror1o1
    i was actually surprised with this film. I wasn't expecting anything out of it ,but it turned out to be a nice little zombie film with good atmosphere. The acting wasn't the best but that's to be expected with this type of film.The story was simple but worked. And it's got a pret... read morety amazing title. It's worth checking out if you like some old school 70's horror.

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Critic Reviews

Ian Berriman
April 26, 2010
Ian Berriman, SFX Magazine

Like watching a George Romero rip-off, directed by Ed Wood, with a script scribbled by Joe Orton while he was ripped to the tits on poppers. Full Review

Fernando F. Croce
September 5, 2009
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion

Clark accordingly avails himself of the best abysmal wisecracks, offhand surrealism, and decomposing mise-en-scène available Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson
October 18, 2007
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

On a technical level, at least, it's great fun. Full Review

Jeremiah Kipp
September 29, 2007
Jeremiah Kipp, Slant Magazine

Clark's first film is memorable only for its catchy title. Full Review

Clint Morris
January 24, 2006
Clint Morris, Moviehole

One of the best horror movies of the 70's!

Ken Hanke
November 25, 2002
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Truly weird, sometimes effective horror cheapie.

Scott Weinberg
July 25, 2002
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com

Pretty bad, but not even close to Bob Clark's worst. This guy directed both "Baby Geniuses," don't forget.

John J. Puccio
April 8, 2001
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis

On any absolute scale of movie ratings, it should score pretty low. However, there is no accounting for the amount of fun one can have with it. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
August 22, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Philip Martin
June 4, 2003
Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

No review available.

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Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things Trivia

Children Shouldn't Play with Dead... Trivia

  • Bob Clark, director of such cult classics as Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things, Deathdream, and Black Christmas, went on to direct what holiday classic?  Answer »
  • Is this a real movie title? Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1972)  Answer »
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