I have this vivid memory from when I was a kid. I stayed up late to watch TV, as I usually did back then to catch a good horror movie, but on this night I saw a movie where zombies rose from the grave and attacked a bunch of theatre actors in bad 70's clothes. It wasn't an especially good zombie movie, but for some reason many of the images stuck in my head and I never, ever forgot its title… "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things." That was the first and only time I ever saw the movie, until now. Even today, I'm not really sure what made it stick out in my memory. After all I've seen hundreds of zombie movies, but I only remember the really good or really bad ones. Thinking back, I believe there were several things that made it so memorable. First of all, it starred Alan Ormsby, who at the time impressed me because of his outlandish and utterly disgusting portrayal of the theatre director. Not only was his name rather odd, but I noticed it was all over the end credits as he served as producer, co-writer and special effects artist.

I also think I remember it so well because of the 'lead' zombie. His name was Orville… again an odd name, and the actor who played him did so with terrific creepiness. There was also a scene that especially stood out, where Ormsby pushes one of his live 'friends' down the stairs into a group of swarming zombies. For a brief moment, the zombies look up at him, almost in disgust for his actions, and then turn back to the hapless victim to feast. It's such a small bit, but it worked very well. Even the final moments of the film where you get the impression that the zombies are headed off the island and into the city is rather chilling.

I've mentioned "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things" over the years to many of my friends, most of who have never seen or even heard of it. I knew there were VHS and DVD releases out there, but I was never able to track one down. So I was quite interested to hear that VCI Entertainment was releasing a 35th Anniversary Edition of the movie this month. I lobbied to get a copy to review and even a few to giveaway in a contest, and the fine folks over there were very obliging on both counts. But it wasn't the idea that we would review it that got me so excited. It was simply the fact that I was going to get to see it again after so many years. I wondered if it would live up to my memories of it.

Watching it for the first time in what had to be about 30 years, I was surprised to see that it still lived up to my expectations. Despite the degree of camp that "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things" suffers from due to the low budget and retro costuming, it is still a rather creepy little film. Obviously everyone put a lot hard work into it and it shows. Ormsby's makeup work is surprisingly well done, despite how far makeup effects have come since 1972.

What surprised me the most however was that I never had any idea that it had been directed by the late Bob Clark. Clark, who died very recently in a car accident that also claimed the life of his son, was behind a slew of personal favorite films like "Deathdream", "Black Christmas", the first two "Porky's" films and "Turk 182." He even directed the poplar holiday movie "A Christmas Story." I just floored that I never knew he wrote and directed "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things.'

VCI has done a pretty decent job with this release, at least in the special features department. I watched it with the one friend who had seen it before and has an earlier release of it. After it was over he pointed out to me that it seemed to be cut down a bit. After he went home, he checked out his version and said it definitely had some scenes cut out of it. This was a little disappointing, but I was glad to have any copy of it available.

As for the special features, the best ones include a commentary by stars Alan Ormsby, Jane Daly and Anya Cronin (who used to be Ormsby). The commentary is extremely entertaining as all three have tons of anecdotes about the making of the movie and seem to have a lot of fun revisiting them. There is also a follow up audio only interview of the three stars discussing the late Bob Clark. Additionally there is video of a Q&A with Ormbsy, composer Carl Zittrer, construction chief Ken Goch and set decorator (for Deathdream) Albert Fisher that took place after a screening of the film as well as an additional interview with Goch. You'll also find a photo gallery, some trivia about the movie and a bio of Ormsby. There are also three music videos by a couple of groups (The Deadthings and Freak), but these don’t really seem to add much.

"Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things" is not what one could consider a great zombie movie, but I consider it to be a classic for most of the reasons I mentioned earlier. If only VCI would release a full cut of the film on DVD so my friend would shut up about it!!

Directed by: Bob Clark
Starring: Alan Ormsby, Valerie Mamches, Jeffrey Gillen, Anya Ormsby
Extras: All New Commentary with Alan Ormsby, Jane Daly and Anya Cronin, Memories of Bob Clark, Grindhouse Q&A, Confessions of a Grave Digger, Photo Gallery, "Dead Girls Don't Say no" Music Video by The Deadthings, "Cemetery Mary" Music Video by The Deadthings, A Tribute to CSPWDT, CSPWDT Trivia, Alan Ormsby Bio, Original Theatrical Trailer
Specifications: Widescreen
Studio: VCI Entertainment
Release Date: 9/25/2007
Region 1
MPAA Rating: PG
Website

We'll give Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things: 35th Anniversary Edition a B-.