Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things (1972)
Magic Lantern (VCI)
Cast: Paul Cronin, Jane Daly, Jeffrey Gillen, Valerie Mamches, Alan Ormsby, Anya Ormsby
Extras: Trailer, Photo Gallery, Biographies
Rating:

Magic Lantern present “Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things” on this disc in its original theatrical 1.85:1 aspect ratio in a non-anamorphic transfer. The transfer is one of the worst I have seen in a long while. The problem is not so much the disc’s encoding but the damaged film print used for this DVD.
The print is discolored and stained throughout Oftentimes half of the image is faded to a complete uniform gray, while the other part has maintained its color. Add to that the fact that each frame has faded differently and you have a flickering transfer that can easily be used to cause spasms. The black level of the film has also been set incorrectly, letting the letterboxes at the top and bottom of the screen appear in gray while most of the film’s picture is in raging in sub-black levels.

The film’s audio track is just as damaged as the images.
Broken up dialogs, undistinguishable lines and sound effects and a distorted score make this release sound worse than a fifth generation VHS copy.

This release is definitely for hard core fans only. If you can’t find this film anywhere else and need to have a copy, get this DVD, but if you want to go easy on your eyes, stay far away! This film is either due for a serious restoration or obscurity! Too bad, because the film and the story are so campy it could actually be fun to watch.