‘Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things’ Was My First Zombie Encounter [VIDEO]

When I was ten years old, I was up late one night watching a horror movie. One of the few channels we had at the time always showed them as the Saturday late show. The movie in question is called Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things. I kid you not. And it was my introduction to the world of zombies.

I have never met anyone who says, "Oh, yeah, I remember it," or "Oh, yeah, I've seen it," or anything like that. Usually, I get a laugh. And, now, as an adult, I feel that that is a correct response.

But just wait till you actually WATCH it.

First of all, when I was a kid, it seriously scared the crap out of me, as deliberately ridiculous and campy as it was. I guess it was something about the way the zombies dig themselves out of the ground and the way they move.

Scared me to death.

But this absurd film about a movie crew and its actors boating to a remote island to shoot a horror movie AND attempt to raise the dead (which is a success) does play an important role in my love of horror movies--particularly zombie movies. With the exception of Night of the Living Dead--which is ironic since it's so iconic (the rhyme was unavoidable)--I like most of them...up to and including the genre's crowning achievement thus far, The Walking Dead.

But now, Children is just a laugh riot. And it was at the time. But I was ten. I didn't know from camp. Anyway, if the trailer above just isn't enough, the twisted and weird full-length feature below should (could?) suffice.