From Beyond the Grave (1973)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Kevin Connor

Writers:

R. Chetwynd-Hayes (stories)
Raymond Christodoulou (writer)

Release Date:

November 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

Terror to delight worshippers of the Macabre.

Plot:

Anthology film from Amicus adapted from four short stories by R. Chetwynd-Hayes strung together about...

Plot Keywords:

Antique | Anthology | Shop | Mirror | Antique Dealer

Cast

Ian Bannen	...	Christopher Lowe (segment "An Act of Kindness")
Ian Carmichael	...	Reggie Warren (segment "The Elemental")
Peter Cushing	...	Antique Shop Proprietor
Diana Dors	...	Mabel Lowe (segment "Act of Kindness, An")
Margaret Leighton	...	Madame Orloff (segment "Elemental, The")
Donald Pleasence	...	Jim Underwood (segment "Act of Kindness, An")
Nyree Dawn Porter	...	Susan Warren (segment "Elemental, The")
David Warner	...	Edward Charlton (segment "Gate Crasher, The")
Ian Ogilvy	...	William Seaton (segment "Door, The")
Lesley-Anne Down	...	Rosemary Seaton (segment "Door, The")
Jack Watson	...	Sir Michael Sinclair (segment "Door, The")
Angela Pleasence	...	Emily Underwood (segment "An Act of Kindness")
Wendy Allnutt	...	Pamela (segment "Gate Crasher, The")
Rosalind Ayres	...	Prostitute / Edward's first victim (segment "Gate Crasher, The")
Tommy Godfrey	...	Mr. Jeffries

Also Known As:

Creatures (USA) (reissue title)
Creatures from Beyond the Grave
Tales from Beyond the Grave
Tales from the Beyond
The Undead

Runtime:

Spain:94 min | USA:97 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | France:-12 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | UK:X (original rating) | UK:15 (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Windsor and Eton Railway Station, Windsor, Berkshire, England, UK

Company:

Amicus Productions

Trivia:

Marcel Steiner was dubbed by Robert Rietty

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In the segment "Act of Kindness", the ex-service man's sign is misspelt (the R is missing).

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Horror Business (2005) (V)

"I hope you enjoy snuffing it"

"From Beyond the Grave" is finally out on DVD in the US and I have to say that I actually enjoyed this more than "Tales from The Crpyt" and "Vault of Horror". The stories are taken from the writings of R. Chetwynd-Hayes (who was also responsible for the writing behind "The Monster Club") and not from E.C. Comics, so maybe that has something to do with it. A bit more literary background, you could say. There are four tales that revolve around an antique shop with a rather low-key yet creepy proprietor (Peter Cushing). David Warner wanders in and buys an antique mirror, only to later conjure up a malevolent spirit that lives within at a séance which causes him to have to bring young ladies to his abode and kill them to feed the inhabitant of the mirror. A lonely man with an unhappy marriage befriends a street vendor with a daughter that's apparently a witch, who helps him to get rid of his nagging bitch of a wife, but there's a slight twist there. In the most lively segment, a man on a train is pronounced by some loony woman to have an elemental on his shoulder, one that is transferred to his wife when he comes home, and the loony woman, as played by Margaret Leighton, comes to their home to exorcise the thing, but apparently she didn't do it quite well enough. At the beginning of that segment this man switches tags on some snuff boxes at the antique store to get one cheap, and as he leaves Peter Cushing tells him "I hope you enjoy snuffing it" which is British slang for "being killed", something I'd never noticed in watching this film before. In the least effective of the 4 tales, a man buys a strange ornate door at the antique shop & installs it on his stationary closet at home, only to find that it occasionally creates another room on the other side inhabited by a very unsavory character. All in all, this is quite a fun anthology, not terribly scary but just right for late-night viewing. One of the better Amicus films, and one of my favorites along with "Tales from the Crypt". 8 out of 10.