Anybody remember when Siskel & Ebert would do mini reviews of schlock like this? This one must have been rereleased under another title in the late 70's or early 80's. I specifically remember them talking about "funny formaldhyde sniffing scenes" and that it was under an hour, so it's got to be the same movie, but I could have sworn it had "cemetary" or "mortuary" in the title.
shareYep, this was one of the first Dogs of the Week I ever saw reviewed. I've been trying to find a compilation of them; if they're all as fun as this one, that list would be comedy gold.
But no, they definitely reviewed it under the name Garden of the Dead; I still remember hearing Ebert's sneer as he said it after all these years.
GARDEN OF THE DEAD(1972)was reissued in 1982 on a double bill with another John Hayes feature,SEED OF TERROR(1973,original title GRAVE OF THE VAMPIRE).This reissue print only ran an hour(perhaps the reason for the twin bill?),and I never saw it again,so I don't know if there was any missing footage.Both films were "honored" on SNEAK PREVIEWS as "Dog of the Week," a segment I enjoyed because I was a lifelong horror fan,and most of the dogs were genre films.Another infamous dog was FRANKENSTEIN ISLAND(I dare anyone to view this film without collapsing in laughter).Roger Ebert was always more tolerant than Gene Siskel,and it would be nice to see some of those shows that were responsible for making their names famous among faceless critics(The first show I saw was in June 1979,they gave thumbs down to both PROPHECY and NIGHTWING,both of which I had enjoyed).By the way,there was a Pennsylvania-shot cheapie from 1979 called BLOODEATERS,in which herbicides are sprayed over pot harvesting hippies,turning them into TOXIC ZOMBIES(its later video release title).A very similar plotline to GARDEN OF THE DEAD,so there could be some confusion between the two.
shareYou know where i could find a list of the "dogs of the week" on the internet?I'll check wikipedia under roger and ebert at the movies but i don't think i'll find anything listed there.
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