Review of Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1972) by Bryan W — 04 Nov 2010

It's a shame when Facebook's limited description of a movie synopsizes the entire plot of a movie in a way that makes watching the film itself unnecessary.

This is one of those genre films where what you see is what you get. Don't be fooled by the title, though; there are no children playing with dead things here, as all the actors are easily in their 20's. And insomuch as they play with dead things, well... the first hour or so is set up showing this unlovable bunch toying with a lame attempt to resurrect the dead. When the title (re: moral) finally comes into play, you'll be happy that something is finally happening. Given that the movie is rated PG, however, you won't get the satisfying deaths that would befit this decidedly annoying crop of young adults, who seem to laugh incessantly (and annoyingly) at every turn when they aren't repeating the same line of dialogue over and over again. In fact, it would be a challenge to find anything satisfying about this movie at all; it's poorly shot, poorly written, poorly acted, poorly directed, and lacks the action to warrant its run-time. This could never be more clear than when adults at hand fail TO DEFEND THEMSELVES AT ALL AGAINST THE UNDEAD. The makers seem to think that hiding in a house and inexplicably running around makes for good exposition.

Well, even a child could see through this transparently z-grade affair, thus giving life to the film's title to an unintentionally hilarious end.