PopHorror Let's Get Scared
The dead don’t mess around. In this article, we venture into one of the genre’s most strange and surprising terrors: Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things. I didn’t find this movie until the ripe age of 17. I was well seasoned in horror, I knew what I liked. Then I saw it, with a clearance sticker that said $1 cover, which enticed me. It had a ghoul coming out of their grave and I was pulled right into it.
Dead Ahead
Directed by Bob Clark (Black Christmas 1974) The movie itself had one trick up its sleeve. It’s a roller coaster that starts right away and after the initial jump scare, everything goes dull for a while. Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things takes us by the hand and eases us into an amazing tale of karma. Throughout the movie, it is almost silent except for when the cast speaks. You can also see Alan Ormsby (Deranged 1974) play himself in a ridiculous role, he can easily make you hate him. His sister Anya Ormsby (Dead of Night 1974) also plays a very strange character. Now that I look back, they were all bizarre characters.
Dead Tired
After the initial dialogue, we are taken to a shack on the island. As they move back out into the dark world, you eventually learn that this is all for practice in the name of Satan, who gets mad at their mockery and games. This also leads to another jump scare, It is only a matter of time until you dislike each character in their own way. After they make a mockery out of the ritual and Alan gets mad, we see Valerie Mamches (Wanda 1970) decide, that she wants in on the joke, and again, makes a complete mockery of the “dark lord” yet again.
Dead Things
After they travel back to the shack when the ritual flopped, Alan insists on bringing his friend Orville instead of putting the man back into his resting place. So there they all sat watching Alan play house with his new friend. There is even a wedding involved. They do anything they can to disgrace poor Orville. Eventually, most of them get a little scared knowing it’s bad news. Slowly they realize that hanging around with a corpse wasn’t part of the game.
What happened next was just fate. You can see the chaos unfold, and it’s decent. Watching the moment unfold can easily give someone the creeps just watching each ghoul come out of the ground and come back with a fire. Each one of those ghouls were so great, they could have won an Oscar. I know I know, big dreams.
Dead End
In the end, if you are looking for bad movies this is definitely up your alley. I cherish movies like this because there is so much passion for making this movie. The critics hate it, my friends hate it, and probably my parents too. So I have a lone passion for this movie, and that’s fine. I can enjoy it on my own. There were many factors leading up to the chaos that ensued.
I am here for it, I’ll die on this hill.
Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things is available to rent and own on digital platforms and is streaming free on PlutoTV at the time of this writing.
