From Beyond the Grave

From the plethora of Horror films from the Amicus and Hammer studios in the late 1960's and early 70s, this is one that stands out above many of the others. The opening sequence with the camera moving through the mist graveyard is a masterful piece of horror film. Each of the stories is built up very well with an excellent element of tension in each. If you want to see a great example of the British horror film genre, this is the place to start.

In good old Amicus-Anthology tradition, debuting director Kevin Connor presents a nice variety of three just above average horror stories and one really terrific one. "From Beyond the Grave" certainly wasn't the production studio's best omnibus effort (that honor goes to either "Asylum" or "The House that Dripped Blood"), but it has a splendid ensemble cast (including eminent British names like Donald Pleasance, Peter Cushing, Ian Ogilvy, David Warner, Ian Carmichael,… ), a neat wraparound narrative and an overall pleasingly sinister atmosphere. All separate tales begin in the same location, namely an obscure and hidden antique shop manned by Peter Cushing. The customers at this shop then become the protagonists of the segments, and the attentive viewer quickly figures out that their own personal fate will also depend on whether or not they are honest human beings. The bought items (an army medal, an ancient mirror, a snuff box and even an medieval door) aren't necessarily essential objects in the tales, though. The first story stars David Warner ("The Omen") as an obnoxious man who becomes possessed with a murderous spirit homing in his recently purchased antique mirror. The plot of "The Gate Crasher", as this story is called, is quite mundane but it boosts a handful of grisly set pieces. The third story is a rather comical referring to "The Exorcist", with Ian Carmichael being possessed by an invisible and hugely hyperactive elemental critter (whatever the hell that may be) that is attached to his shoulder. The exorcism scenes are incredibly over-the-top and the segment isn't really meant to be scary. The fourth and final story was a bit too tacky in my humble opinion, but it nonetheless has awesomely grim scenery (the room, the portal, the axe…) and the beauty of actress Lesley-Ann Down. I'm deliberately saving story number two for last, as it is by far the most superior installment of them all. Most credit here must go to Donald Pleasance and his real-life daughter Angela, for their genuinely uncanny performances as the overly friendly yet obtrusive pair of low-class street merchants who gradually 'take-over' an unhappy married man. I can't reveal too much about the plot, but the performances of Donald and particularly Angela Pleasance truly send cold shivers down your spine. Recommended!

I throughly enjoyed this film when i saw it at Frightfest in London last May. I think it is the best of the Amicus portmanteaus by far and it is a shame that more people cannot see it.

The stories are all strong and feature an excellent cast (David Warner, Ian Ogilvie and Peter Cushing with a northern accent). The Ian Carmichael one is very comic thanks to magnificent Madame Orloff - it is is like "Jerry and Margot from the Good Life meet a nasty spirit" or something. The others are genuinely chilling and there is an especially nice twist in the story featuring Ian Bannen and the scary scary Angela Pleasance.

Recommended to anyone with a love of classic horror.

From Beyond The Grave (1973) was a cool British horror film that I saw when I was younger. Man, I saw a lot of British horror late at night when I was a kid. That's all that would come on. I grew up on these movies. I even watched them as soon as we got a V.C.R. Oh, those were the days. One of my favorite childhood actors was Peter Cushing. The Amicus company was a competitor of long time horror film stalwart Hammer. When Hammer Films was on it's last legs, Amicus picked up the slack for awhile.

These four tales that the movie adapted were taken from a couple of literary sources. The stories were creepy and it always ended up in an odd way. I wish these films were available on d.v.d. so I could relive my youth. Until they're released in the United States then I'll just have my memories.

Highly recommended.

A superb slice of vintage British horror from Amicus productions, which although headed by two Americans Max J. Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky, Amicus was based in England at Shepperton Studios. I personally am a huge admirer of the work of Milton Subotsky, I think he gave a great deal to the British film industry and gave us the 'portmanteau' style of horror film which meant that the stories would be around half an hour long, it was impossible to tire of such a short subject! Milton himself claimed that the classic 'Dead of Night' was the inspiration behind these multi segment horror films and I think he took it to another level. I think that 'From Beyond' is the finest one they made, with atmospheric stories and great acting from the entire cast and of course the wonderful Peter Cushing as the mysterious proprietor of 'Temptations Ltd'. Peter was the actor most used by the studio, he being very reasonable by way of his fees, whereas Subotsky claimed the great Christopher Lee became too expensive!