In 1973, a relative unknown director,named Bob Clark (who would go on to direct such toothsome fare as 'A Christmas Story',the original 'Black Christmas',and to a lesser extent,the Porky's films)directed (and co-wrote the screenplay) a shoe string budget horror/comedy film,which was eventually released as 'Childern Shouldn't Play With Dead Things'(although it did go by other titles in various other places),that for it's time was an obvious homage (of sorts)to George A. Romero's 'Night Of The Living Dead'. The plot concerns a group of young people, out for a night of debauched merriment. They take a boat to an island,to a creepy old deserted house (is there any other kind?)which is located close to a cemetery. They decide to have a bit of macabre fun & cast some spells to re-animate the dead. Just to up the ante,they unearth one of the corpses & have some deranged fun with it (much to the chagrin of some of the others). After a while, the fun of the first half of the film turns to a night of horror as the dead do start to rise from the grave. The film then turns to a full pitched horror film. If the plot sounds familiar, you're right. It is kind of a precursor to Sam Raimi's 'Evil Dead' series (with some of the dark humour that Raimi infused into 'Evil Dead 2:Dead by Dawn',which is my personal favourite). The film is cast with an ensemble of relative unknowns (but does feature low budget schlock horror Meister,Alan Ormsby,who co wrote the screenplay with Bob Clark, as the male lead). This is the kind of film that was obviously targeted at drive in's that mostly catered to an audience that worshiped cheap,low/no budget,cheese-ball horror films (with plenty of blood & gore on tap),biker films & other exploitation fare. Good for an evening of cheesy fun. Rated 'PG' by the MPAA,this film serves up some rather tame violence,in contrast to some of the other bloody,gory horror fare of the era & some naughty language

This is one of those films I've been putting off due to the constant criticism of the film having a meandering first hour of talk, gags and fooling about from a very amateurish cast. Sure that's correct, but I found it to be slightly enjoyable due to it eccentrically gawky performances and over-bearing script with a constantly witty stab every couple of seconds. Nearly everything that rolled off their tongues was sarcastic banter. But when the zombie mayhem erupted, I couldn't deny that it didn't deliver on the quota. Bob Clark's directorial debut is a neatly effective low budget horror treat, which is atmospherically charged and holds a jaded sense of morbid humour. The pacing might be slow and terribly campy, but I thought it was perfectly timed for maximum effect when the relentlessly intense and gruesome carnage exploded in the final dread-filled 20 minute pocket. Clark manages to sustain a creepy, dreary and tight-knit atmosphere throughout and build upon the uneasy suspense with grisly slabs of gore and jolts. Clark and Alan Ormsby's offbeat screenplay never takes itself too serious, but sets up the situation on the gloomy island cemetery with a few surprises and pens together an unpredictable death toll pattern. Surprisingly even with its humorous tone, it still packs an unnerving climax and finally conclusion. Ormsby was also the man behind the inspired, solid looking zombie make-up FX, and leading the way with a colourfully off-kilter performance. The rest of the performances leave a lot to be desired, but their enthusiastic portrayals don't harm the film in any shape. Carl Zitter's foreboding electronic music score, along with chilling sound effects and the murky, on the move camera-work seem to gel impeccably well even with the film' budget restrictions. A fun, and memorable little horror movie where the wait is well worth it.

"Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things" is a waste of a great title. You'd think with such a wonderful name for the film that it would be a lot more interesting--but it really isn't. In fact, it's interminably dull and the characters are hateful at best! The film is about a group of jerks--led by a bigger jerk who is supposed to be a prankster filmmaker. He takes a group of unsuspecting folks to a cemetery that looks MORE fake than the one in "Plan 9" and plans to scare them with a fake resurrection. The problem is that he is 100% annoying and won't shut up. And, you keep waiting and waiting and waiting for something to happen. However, they are so annoying and stupid that you finally just give up and change to a better film. You keep wanting them to die (especially the main character--Jeez is he annoying). But, if you do wait, the predictable happens and you see the crappiest looking zombies in film history--and the payoff just isn't enough for having to listen to these idiots talk and talk and talk. All in all a cheapo film that isn't enjoyable because the acting and writing (if there is any) is so gosh-darn bad. My advice--stick to a William Grefe, Arch Hall, Ray Dennis Steckler or Ed Wood film--at least these are bad and fun to watch!