Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things

Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Bob Clark
Produced by	Bob Clark Gary Goch Peter James
Written by	Bob Clark Alan Ormsby
Starring	Alan Ormsby Valerie Mamches Jeff Gillen Anya Ormsby Paul Cronin Jane Daly Roy Engleman Robert Philip Seth Sklarey
Music by	Carl Zittrer
Cinematography	Jack McGowan
Edited by	Gary Goch
Release date	1972
Running time	87 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (also known as Revenge of the Living Dead, Things From the Dead, and Zreaks) is a 1972 comedic horror film directed by Bob Clark. It later became a cult classic. 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 $50,000. Clark employed some of his college friends on it.

The story focuses on a theatre troupe, led by Alan (Alan Ormsby). He is a mean-spirited director, who travels with the others by boat to a small island that is mainly used as a cemetery for deranged criminals, to have a night of fun and games. Once on the island Alan tells his group, which he refers to as his "children"— numerous stories relating to the island's history and buried inhabitants. he leads them to a cottage where they are supposed to spend the night. He then opens a chest they had brought with them, puts on a mystical robe and says that they are to prepare for the summation at midnight. Alan takes sheer delight in torturing his cast with threats of firing them if they do not do as he pleases which always makes them go along with his plan. At midnight using a grimoire, Alan begins a séance to raise the dead after digging up the body of a man named Orville Dunworth (Seth Sklarey). Though the original intent of the ritual may have been solely as a joke, Alan appears disappointed that nothing happens.

Afterwards the party continues and Alan goes to extremes to degrade the actors, using the corpse of Orville for his own sick jokes. Then, however, animated by the fell ritual, the dead return to life and force the troupe to take refuge in the old house. Unfortunately for the group, the dead get their revenge, and in the movie's closing credits we see the group of corpses boarding Alan's boat with the lights of Miami in the background.

Encyclopedia of Horror concludes that given the budget and the number of personnel involved, the special effects by Alan Ormsby are "surprisingly effective".

As of January 2015^[update] the film holds a score of 45% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 5.2/10.