Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson July 7, 2020

The versatile and iconoclastic filmmaker Bob Clark chose to use the pseudonym "Benjamin Clark" in the credits for Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1972) primarily because he didn't want to be tied to the two genres associated with his native Canadians: horror and porn. Clark had already directed the sexploitation cult classic She-Man: A Story of Fixation (1967) and would soon direct two more low-budget horror pictures: Deathdream (1974) and his masterpiece, Black Christmas (1974). “This guy (Clark) will be one of the best known directors in five years,”CSPwDT executive producer Peter James confidently predicted to Sharon Cohen of the Tampa Tribune in November 1972. With his second feature CSPwDT, Clark deliberately set out to make a knock-off of Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968) but didn't have commercial exploitation in mind. The Tampa Tribune's Chris Schauseil reported that three University of Miami drama students financed the picture for $75,000. Clark didn't want to merely lampoon Romero's zombie classic. “We wanted to prove we could make an artis­tic horror film on a low budget, as good as the old classics,” he confided to Schauseil.

CSPwDT is one of those collegial productions in which a group of friends get together and decide it'd be fun to make a movie. Under-thirty adults in a theatrical repertory company arrive to a bucolic burial island to assist their kooky director (Alan Ormsby) in a raising-of-the-dead ceremony. (The Miami Herald chronicled that Clark and his crew shot the film in Coconut Grove and at the Dade County Nursery on Old Cutler Road where a graveyard set was built.) The first two-thirds of the film deliberates on the sacred rites Alan recites and on tricks participants play on each other. The entourage moves into a ramshackled cottage in the middle of the woods where Alan taunts and teases the corpse, Orville. CSPwDT languishes as a slow-burn but picks up significant momentum when the undead arise from beneath the dirt mound.

CSPwDT received limited distribution in Canada and the US. It played in California, North Carolina, Texas, and likely Florida where it was shot. The Austin American Sun proclaimed: "It promises more hair-raising thrills than any recent shock show." Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times thought it looked more theatrical than cinematic: "[CSPwDT] turns out to be such a juvenile effort it's hard to say whether it's silly on purpose or by default....the film has the feel of a theater-in-the-round production that is being performed by very man­nered and callow young actors." Lee Hamilton, entertainment editor for The Robesonian (NC), was considerably more enthusiastic in his three-column review, writing that "it is highly successful as a 'shock value' item, one that even left this viewer trembling at the end." The movie's officials told the Tampa Tribune that it received "excellent reviews." The newspaper also covered production of Clark's next picture, Deathdream (when it was known under its working title of The Night Walker) and area residents were treated to stunt scenes at the drive-in theatre in Brooksville against a backdrop of CSPwDT, which was showing on the giant screen.

Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

VCI Entertainment's BD-50 of CSPwDT is given the VC-1 encode. The main feature comes from the same "restored and uncut theatrical release version" that appeared on VCI's 1999 DVD. It's presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. While the image is sharp, there's evidence of noise reduction, black crush, and macroblocking. Colors are much improved over prior video editions but there's too much digital manipulation done to scrub up the image. It's important to keep in mind the picture's ultra-low budget, although improvements can be made to existing 35mm prints for a new restoration. VCI has encoded the 86-minute feature at an average video bitrate of 32002 kbps. My video score is 3.25.

VCI provides twelve scene selections.

Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

VCI supplies an LPCM Dual Mono Audio (1536 kbps, 16-bit) as the sole sound track. CSPwDT employs on-location sound effects and you'll want to turn up the mono to hear the dialogue recorded outside. Spoken words are easier to discern inside the cabin because the camera and boom mike are closer to the actors. Composer Carl Zittrer delivers a creepy score that befits the film's atmosphere. There are some audio synch issues beginning right before the half-hour mark and continuing intermittently for about twenty minutes but I was not that bothered by them while listening to the LPCM mix.

The main (and longer) feature has optional English subtitles but they're not available while the abridged UK version plays.

Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Complete Alternate "U.K." Version (1:15:57; VC-1, 480i; LPCM Dual Mono Audio [16-bit]) - this appears to be the same truncated version that Anchor Bay UK released on a region-free PAL DVD in 2005. It's struck from an unconverted interlaced transfer that contains film artifacts, tramlines, and diluted colors. You have the option of watching it with commentary by Alan Armsby, hosted by David Gregory of Severin Films. This version is not subtitled.

• Commentary Track - With Alan Ormsby, Jane Daly and Anya Cronin: Accompanies the HD feature - David Gregory moderates this trio, who ruminate about their time filming in Florida with Bob Clark. They share many anecdotes and stories, often guffawing which sometimes makes this track a laugh riot. In English, not subtitled.

• Memories of Bob Clark - A Tribute to the Late Director (10:08, upscaled to 1080i) - the first half presents a mini-bio of Clark's movie career with a narrated slideshow displaying various posters and lobby cards of some of Clark's films. The second half has verbal reminisces by Jane Daly, Anya Ormsby, and Alan Ormsby which were recorded in the recent wake of Clark's untimely death.

• Grindhouse Q&A (11:27, upscaled to 1080i) - a post-screening discussion of CSPwDT held at the Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles on May 22, 2007. Speakers who talked about working with Bob Clark included star/co-writer Alan Armsby, composer Carl Zittrer, construction chief Ken Goch, and Deathdream set decorator Albert Fisher. In English, not subtitled.

• Confessions of a Grave Digger - Interview with Ken Goch (9:08, upscaled to 1080i) - Goch recalls filming CSPwDT in Miami, getting pulled over early one morning after an overnight shoot, Clark dispersing his cast for a half hour in the middle of a scene in Porkys, and his lasting impressions of Clark. In English, not subtitled.

• Dead Girls Don't Say No - Music Video by The Deadthings (3:51, upscaled to 1080p) - The Deadthings perform on stage concert-style. It's indeed edited together like a music video. It seems like the song was inspired by CSPwDT.

• Cemetery Mary - Music video by The Deadthings (3:54, upscaled to 1080p) - The Deadthings dress up like the characters in CSPwDT and perform this ballad in their studio.

• Tribute Video - by Freak 11 (2:00, upscaled to 1080p) - fifty widescreen still images captured from the shoot of CSPwDT. The slide is accompanied by a zither and rock band underscore.

• Original Theatrical Trailer (3:08, upscaled to 1080p) - the trailer has an introductory teaser not unlike Hitchcock would do for his pictures. It segues into clips from the film with dialogue and voice-over added. It's been partially restored and looks decent here.

• Radio Spots - Alan Ormsby preserved these radio spots, which are accompanied by explanatory captions and trivia titles, excerpted film footage, and still images. (4:25) -

• Leaflet - a four-page insert that includes a very good essay about CSPwDT by film reviewer Mike Kenny, then with the e-zine, Mike's Pop Culture Playhouse. There's also some thumbnail stills from the movie as well as a lobby card.

Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I was delighted to see Bob Clark's first horror feature, Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things, which also was a star turn for Alan Ormsby and the amazing makeup effects he designed for the zombies. It takes a while for the narrative to get chugging but once the corpses rise and start prowling to the cabin, the film turns increasingly claustrophobic and frightening. It's nice that VCI Entertainment has assembled two cuts of the movie but the UK version needs a fresh scan and more restoration work than the longer cut, which is still far from optimal. On the latter the DNR makes the image a little brighter and colors stand out more. There's some tramlines but the picture has been cleaned up more than the UK cut. However, the subpar compression on the extended cut (only 24 GB) causes some pixellation. Supplements duplicate previous DVDs. I'd like to see newer extras produced like Shout! Factory did for its Collector's Edition of Black Christmas. RECOMMENDED to Clark's fans and midnight horror aficionados.