Children Shouldn't Play
With Dead Things (Horror Satire)
Picture: B-
Sound: C Extras: D Film: B+
Completely cheesy and hokey... but somehow Bob Clark’s Children
Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things (1972) managed to creep me out in one
whacked out way. I can't exactly
describe it - the acting is seemingly bad on purpose, the gore level really
isn't high at all. The direction is
decent, but isn't anything you'd expect to elicit scares. I've even watched the movie with a couple
friends, and none of them thought anything of the movie other than seeing it as
one of those cheapie cash-ins. But
still, when I sit down to watch, and the dead begin to rise - it's just utterly
cool. The experience isn't really akin
to being spooked, but is more of a feeling of sheer excitement, as you're
lusting for the undead to do their worst.
One of the only other film sequences to really have the same effect on
me was the "Father's Day" story out of George Romero's Creepshow. Both that movie and Children Shouldn't Play
With Dead Things contain some kind of charm missing from a lot of horror,
and thus should be sought out.
Fortunately, the DVDs of both are stunningly cheap, and relatively easy
to come across. While neither movie
happens to contain any bonus material, that 's just fine for me, as they're at
least presented in their original aspect ratios and are of decent picture and
sound quality.
Bob Clark served as the director for this unusual film,
and in 2006, he will be reprising that role by helming its obligatory
modern-times remake. As of late, his
track record doesn't look very good, and the chance of turnaround has seemed
rather slim. A string of family TV
movies for years, all leading up to directing such future "classics"
as Baby Geniuses and sequel SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2. How
a moviemaker responsible for a triad of classic horror movies (Children
Shouldn't Play With Dead Things, Black Christmas and Deathdream,
all reviewed elsewhere on this site) winds up in that cold of a director's
hell, I'm not sure. But whatever the
case, it seems as though he might be making a comeback of sorts - revisiting
some of his classic movies by involving himself in several remakes or rumored
sequels. Whatever the case, I wish him
luck and hope that I will enjoy whatever comes of this resurgence.
This was Clark's first serious directorial effort, and the
earliest one I know of to ever be made available on any home format. But even with any obvious flaws and problems
that one might have with various aspects, it's still an excellent example of an
excellent schlock movie. The story is
about an acting troupe lured to an out of the way cemetery by their director,
played by Alan Ormsby. A few words of
hocus-pocus later, and what was jokingly intending to raise the dead and little
scare out of his actors, truly does manage to revive the rotting corpses and
send them after the troupe. You'll be
amazed at how quickly the mood and pacing of the movie then turns so sharply,
but the last half of this movie really holds some surprises for the
viewer. A good selection of fitting
music also helps to heighten the experience and accentuate some of the scares.
The sound and video are only so good here, but you could
do much worse. Some noticeable grain
and a mildly murky transfer will turn off some, but the movie itself is the
most important part; and as mentioned before, at least it's presented properly
with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Neither
the audio nor video is bad enough to turn anyone away I should think, so all is
well. However, a problem for some might
be that the only special feature to speak of is a theatrical trailer - no
commentaries, no nothing. Of course,
there will more than likely be an ultra-special edition of this film out soon
enough, but not at this price point, and probably at least not for another year
or so.
For those of you who are interested, picking it up now
won't hurt your pocketbook. But, if you
wish to upgrade later (provided that a better edition does come along), you
shouldn't have any trouble getting rid of this one for close to what you paid
for it in the first place. Hope you all
enjoy.
- David Milchick
