''Garden of the Dead'' (also known as ''Tomb of the Undead'') is a 1972 horror film directed by low-budget film director John Hayes and stars Phil Kenneally, Duncan McLeod, Lee Frost and Susan Charney.

Plot

A group of prison inmates in a chain gang obtain some experimental

formaldehyde Formaldehyde ( , ) (systematic name methanal) is a naturally occurring organic compound with the formula and structure . The pure compound is a pungent, colourless gas that polymerises spontaneously into paraformaldehyde (refer to section ...

, and get high off of it. They later try to escape and are shot dead. They are buried, and rise again to kill everyone in their path, and to find more formaldehyde from which to get high.

Cast

* Phil Kenneally as Warden * Duncan McLeod as Dr. Saunders *

John Dullaghan John Joseph Dullaghan III (November 27, 1930 – January 18, 2009) was an American film, stage and television actor. He was known for playing the role of Dr. Wilker in the American science fiction television series '' Battlestar Galactica''. Du ...

as Sgt. Burns * John Dennis as Jablonski * Susan Charney as Carol Johnson * Marland Proctor as Paul Johnson * Tony Vorno as Mitchell * Lee Frost as McGee *

Virgil Frye Virgil Charles Frye (August 21, 1930 – May 7, 2012) was an American actor and former Golden Gloves boxing champion. He grew up in Estherville, Iowa. He had two children, Sean Frye ('' E.T. The Extra Terrestrial'') and Soleil Moon Frye (''Punky ...

as Braddock * Jerome Guardino as Gravedigger

Production

The AFI mentions that "some modern sources claim that the film was shot in ten days in

Topanga Canyon Topanga () (Tongva: ''Topaa'nga'') is a census-designated place (CDP) in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located in the Santa Monica Mountains, the community exists in Topanga Canyon and the surrounding hills. The narrow s ...

, Los Angeles County" from May to late June 1972.

Release

The film premiered in August 1972 by Entertainment Pyramid, and was later distributed on VHS by

Troma Entertainment Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. The company produces low-budget independent films, primarily of the horror comedy genre. Many of them pl ...

. In 2004, it was featured on a 3-in-1 Troma DVD. In 2006, Troma released it as part of a 15-in-1 pack.

Reception

Writing in ''The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia'', academic

Peter Dendle Peter Dendle is a professor of English at Penn State Mont Alto, teaching classes on folklore, 20th and 21st century representations of the Middle Ages, Old and Middle English (language and literature), and the monstrous (in film, folklore, and s ...

said, "This scruffy low-budget production anticipates the pointless and depressing amateur zombie movies of the early '90s by almost twenty years." Glenn Kay, who wrote '' Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide'', said, "It's all incredibly silly, campy stuff." On Evil Dread, the website rated ''Garden of the Dead'' 2/10 stars. Bloody Disgusting included the film's poster in their list of the best posters for bad films.

References

External links

* 1972 films 1972 horror films American independent films American zombie films Films shot in California Troma Entertainment films 1970s English-language films Films directed by John Hayes 1970s American films {{1970s-horror-film-stub