Garden of the Dead

1972
4| 0h58m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 13 September 1972 Released
Producted By: Millenium Productions
Country:
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Convicts on a chain gang sniff formaldehyde fumes to get high. They attempt a prison break and are shot down by the guards. After being buried, they rise from the dead, killing all in their path with shovels and hoes.

... View More
Stream Online

Stream with Prime Video

Director

Producted By

Millenium Productions

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

Stream on any device, 30-day free trial Watch Now

Trailers & Images

Reviews

Interesteg What makes it different from others?
CheerupSilver Very Cool!!!
BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay
Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies
Scott LeBrun The convicts at a prison work camp conspire to escape, and escape they do. But they don't make it very far, and the camp officials pump them full of lead. But soon the convicts rise from the dead to terrorize their nemeses.This very low budget horror opus may be worth a look for the most devoted aficionados of the genre. It may not exactly be high quality stuff, but it's fairly good entertainment. Director John Hayes ("Dream No Evil", "Grave of the Vampire") gives it some solid atmosphere. This is one of those instances where the minimal funding actually works in the movies' favour. It therefore has that irresistible "late show" feeling that always appeals to this particular viewer.The zombies here do manage to be somewhat unique. They plan, they talk (one thing that they like to say is "We will destroy the living!"), they wield weapons, and they plod around. They're also not that hard to take down. Joe Blasco, who graced a couple of horror and exploitation titles (among them Cronenbergs' "Shivers", "Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS", and "Johnny Firecloud") with his work, supplies the pretty good zombie makeup. While there is some violence throughout this thing, however, there really isn't any gore to speak of.Dedicated cult cinema lovers are going to recognize a couple of the faces here. Corpulent John Dennis ("Conquest of the Planet of the Apes") is a prison guard, Marland Proctor ("Chrome and Hot Leather") is studly convict Paul Johnson, Jerome Guardino ("Crash!") is a gravedigger, legendary exploitation director Lee Frost ("The Defilers") is McGee, Eric Stern ("The Love Butcher"), is Coler, Virgil Frye ("Revenge of the Ninja") plays zombie leader Bradock, Phil Hoover ("Race with the Devil") is Donovan, and Carmen Filpi ("Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers") is cast as Nolan. Sexy Susan Charney supplies the eye candy as Johnsons' wife Carol.Whether or not one derives any entertainment from this, they can hardly fail to notice how short it is: a runs a scant 59 minutes long.Six out of 10.
Coventry Inmates under the influence at formaldehyde at the worst run prison ever (guards don't even notice when at least eight inmates vanish at the same time to sniff gas behind the corner) undertake an unsuccessful escape attempt. Unsuccessful because they're all shot dead by the guards. The prisoners must have been really drugged to mess this up, because the guards and management of this facility were way too stupid to prevent this. Either way, the prisoners' truck strand in the middle of a prison cemetery and several barrels of formaldehyde are spilled into the soil. Zombies emerge from two inches underneath the surface and – like most members of the living dead society – they're only out to do one thing … Score more formaldehyde, of course! "Garden of the Dead" is a pretty pointless and redundant early 70's exploitation that drags tremendously even though it's barely one hour long. There's hardly any gore and the make-up effects on the zombies are quite pathetic, but the film nevertheless benefices from a fairly sinister atmosphere and a bizarrely unsettling jazzy music score. The zombies easily rank amongst the lamest and least threatening living dead members ever. They just want to get drugged, so they're pretty easy to kill. It's definitely not the worst movie in its league, but nothing memorable neither.
EyeAskance A group of convicts in a corruptly administered work camp get a cheap high by huffing from a tin drum of formaldehyde. They are later killed during an escape attempt, only to rise from their graves and set about doing all the terrible things we've come to expect of zombies.This is a fairly starch example of skinflint 70s horror, although it does deserve the small-beans honor of being, most likely, the first film to represent zombies as cognitive and dexterous in speech and movement(as opposed to the fish-eyed, lumbering customary type). It would stand to reason that these enhanced capacities should result in more formidable and frightening zombies...unfortunately, they come off as awkward and occasionally laughable.A slight film of no real importance, GARDEN OF THE DEAD is, at best, sufficient fodder for independent TV station "Tweaking Til Dawn" type shows. Meh.4/10
pawned79 Well, I have to give these zombies credit for one thing. They are sure the fastest zombies I've ever seen. They like to run in really fast from the darkness, dance around for a little bit, swing a pick-axe in the general direction of a person, then dance away. I'm still not sure how, but the person always seems to die. They probably can't wait to get out of this bad movie. My personal favorite heckle was about the prison itself. Chicken wire does not count as a prison. LOL I like the part when the zombie has to cut a wire with the ax. I'm just thinking, "Oh come on, it is like spider web!" Nothing I can say can possible describe the horror that I felt when I watched this movie. I suggest everyone watch this movie at least once in your life. Don't worry, it is only like thirty minutes long.