Mark Turner It wasn't until the VHS boom that I was finally able to see this film. I watched it and wasn't all that impressed having built up my expectations based on a poster I'd seen and word of mouth on the movie. Sure it was a decent horror film but by this time I'd seen three George Romero zombie films and countless others as well. This movie lacked the fine tuning of those when it came to quality of production, screen writing, etc.So now the movie comes out from VCI in Blu-Ray format. They've released it earlier in standard DVD format but this was a special edition. Has it improved in the 44 years since it was first released? Truth be told, yes it has. I was surprised at how much better it seemed after all this time. Not only that but the quality of the print here, remastered by VCI for this edition, actually made a difference as well. No washed out tones, not scenes too dark to see in and sharper than before, enough so that the titles seemed to pop off the screen.The movie is definitely 70s material with a hip acting troupe taking a small boat out to a mysterious island that director Alan (Alan Ormsby) says is haunted and filled with the dead bodies of murderers and criminals. The island does have a huge graveyard in it, one that we saw a gruesome ghoul of a creature digging in and attacking the caretaker. Alan moves his group through the wooded areas of the island, across the graveyard and to an old abandoned building that they break into.He has brought the troupe here with the intent of raising the dead with a book of demonic spells calling upon Satan to help him. At the same time what might be his bigger objective is to insure that all members are put in their place, beholden to him for a paycheck and willing to do whatever he tells them to. Their inclusion in this ceremony is just an example of his control over their lives.The group heads to the cemetery and digs up a grave, Alan speaks the spell in the book and…well I'll leave that surprise for those who haven't seen the film. Once that finishes he orders the group to take the body that was in the grave back to the house where he talks to it, ridicules it and basically tempts fate with his desecration of a corpse. Stereotypical characters surround him from the diva to the handsome lead actor to the Trippe backstage assistant who seems to see something mystical in all things. Eventually all come together when the spell that Alan uttered actually raises the dead and people begin to fall under their attacks. Just who if any will survive and how they can fight this evil waits to be seen.The first thing many should know about this film is that it was directed by Bob Clark, listed here as Benjamin Clark. If that name sounds familiar it should. Clark went on to direct the cult classic horror film BLACK Christmas, then created/directed the PORKY'S movies, the great Sherlock Holmes movie MURDER BY DECREE and eventually A Christmas STORY, that perennial favorite come Christmas time. When this film was made he was just starting out having directed only two other features by this time. What he accomplished here with a minuscule budget and an aspiring cast is quite good actually. There is some dialogue that is questionable when it comes to being believed but much of it rings true. You can actually believe that these characters are saying what was written. The hippie/Trippe portions that are found might seem dated at best but there were plenty of movies using that same style of dialogue at the time.The movie itself offers a few jump moments and actually does have some truly scary parts that will be sure to haunt the dreams of young viewers who are allowed to watch. The movie is unrated and doesn't include any nudity but the gore effects (quite well for the time) and mentions of Satan will make this a movie parents will want to offer supervised if at all. For most it will be a harmless creature feature, one that terrified their parents years ago but might seem mild for kids these days.Look, I grew up with the drive-in as a source of entertainment with new movies twice a week. Some were the best Hollywood had to offer at the time, some were low budget films that were coming out and many of the second features were movies that were there just to offer a second film. Those movies were made by people who loved movies, who wanted to make the attempt at creating something original and who wanted to see their efforts on the big screen. That the people behind this went on to make bigger films (those noted by Clark as well as Ormsby going on to write MY BODYGUARD, CAT PEOPLE and THE SUBSTITUTE) shows that in some of the smallest films there is talent waiting to explode. That they could make a movie this good with no budget speaks volumes as well. Kudos to VCI for making sure that a movie like this isn't lost and has received such caring treatment. If you love horror movies then this is a must have for your collection.

Cristi_Ciopron The cheap self-awareness of the script, direction and acting leaves the bombastic crassness as it is: rubbish, mindlessly goofy. Jeffrey Gillen does a less dis-likable role (than the other guys).For much of the movie, I hoped that at least one of the three actresses will undress; the sexiest of them, Jane Daly, is also the least good at acting. And none of the girls takes her clothes off.The score enhances the goofy eeriness enjoyed by some in the '70s. 'Children …' looks like a stage play, the youngsters act as if they are on stage, but there's an intrinsic goofiness; it's not that it feels stagy, but that the play is goofy. It ends with a ship of ghouls.

artpf Actors led by Alan Ormsby go to a graveyard on a remote island to perform a necromantic ritual. The ritual works and soon the dead are walking about and chowing down on human flesh. Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (also known as Revenge of the Living Dead, Things From the Dead, and Zreaks) was directed by Bob Clark. This low-budget zombie film is the third film of director Bob Clark, who later became famous for directing the films Black Christmas, A Christmas Story, and Porky's.The film was shot in 14 days on a budget of $70,000. Clark employed some of his college friends on it. This is truly a great film within the genre. Had I seen this as a kid, I would have had nightmares for years. It's not so much that the special effects are good, or that the zombies look like real walking dead, nor that the plot is especially believable. It's just that the entire movie is so damned creepy.The way it unfolds makes your flesh crawl. The zombies are really disturbing. And there is something about how aggressive they are that will stick with you long after the movie is over. A few years ago there was an announcement that Gravesend was going to re-make the film. It was supposed to start filming in 2011. I hope the deal fell through because it could never improve on this movie.

johnstonjames not all horror movies have to have a large scale budget and slick polish to be scary. not everything can be 'The Omen' or 'The Exorcist'. personally i think cheapie creepers like this one can be the scariest.this movie was a prelude to much of the horror genre. this pre-dated direct to home video videotaped horror, it features a book of the dead bound in human flesh, and it was well before zombie flicks were filmed in color. it also had a ending similar to Cronenberg's 'It Came From Within' which was a few years later. this film really was one of the first of it's kind.pretty much dime store production values to begin with, it still seems cheaply made but effective. it really is the ideas here that work the best. desecration of the dead, satanic verses, necromancy and necrophilia, all really obscene and profane subject matter. i've always felt it was the subject matter not the budget that make the film. and the subject matter here is very creepy.so much has been overplayed since this time that it's probably difficult for younger audiences to appreciate how effective this film once was and still is in my opinion.this truly is a evil and despicable little film, and it embodies the spirit of what horror movies are all about. they don't make 'em like this anymore which is probably a good thing because we'd all be scared to pieces. try watching this one alone in the dark.