From Beyond the Grave (1975)

Anthology film adapted from four short stories by R. Chetwynd-Hayes strung together about an antique dealer who owns a shop called Temptations Ltd. and the fate that befalls his customers who try to cheat him. "The Gate Crasher" with David Warner who frees an evil enity from an antique mirror; "An Act of Kindness" featuring Donald Pleasence; "The Elemental;" and "The Door."

The best Amicus by far!!!.

Amicus is a film studio that made their name from making horror anthology movies such as this. The film consists of several small morality tales with an interlinking back story. The first film they made in this style was the excellent Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors and this was their final effort, and also the best one in my honest opinion. From Beyond The Grave is an atmospheric horror film filled with unusual twists and turns and a uniformly high level of acting with a great British cast, Amicus Studios made a specialty of producing films in this type of format and they were always great at doing this. From Beyond The Grave is probably one of Amicus Studios' best horror anthology movies I've seen so far and is almost on a par with the classic Asylum, the opening sequence with the camera moving through the mist graveyard is a masterful piece of horror filmmaking. The film was also alot creepier than the other Amicus films and the stories were 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. Peter Cushing plays a sinister shopkeeper of an old Antiques shop called Temptations Ltd. The shop is visited by a couple of customers who attempt to thieve from, con or deceive the shop's proprietor, but these dishonest characters will soon meet their fate.

In the films opening story "The Gate Crasher" a man named Edward Charlton (David Warner) deliberately misleads the proprietor into selling him a valuable antique mirror for a ridiculously small sum. His deception comes back to haunt him when following a séance he begins to experience terrifying visitations through the mirror from an evil spirit which commands a blood sacrifice. Soon Charlton is plunged into a nightmare of insanity and murder as he is forced into prowling the streets in search of young women to slaughter in order to appease the bloodthirsty demon. The first story is the best, probably because it has the best actor in the film in it apart from Cushing. The possessed mirror is actually pulled off pretty well and you do get the feeling that the spirit is actually living inside thanks to some good camera tricks and there were some nice and bloody death scenes.

In "An Act of Kindness" Ian Bannen stars as mild mannered office manager Christopher Lowe who is trapped in a loveless marriage with his bullying, abusive wife Mabel. The unhappy Lowe soon strikes up an unlikely friendship with Jim Underwood (played by the one and only Donald Pleasence) - a former serviceman now down on his luck and reduced to pedaling matches and bootlaces in the street. While trying to impress his new friend, Lowe steals a highly prized medal from Temptations Ltd in order to support his fabricated claims of being in the military. The ploy works and Lowe is soon welcomed into Underwood's home where he meets Jim's weird and withdrawn daughter Emily (played by Pleasence's real daughter Angela) where he finds silence from the misery of his own home. He also becomes attracted to Jim's daughter and soon Mabel dies under mysterious circumstances leaving Lowe free to marry Angela with whom he had previously been enjoying an extramarital affair. This was probably the weakest story in the film but there is a nice twist at the end but it's the completely over the top performances of the Pleasances that make this one a little better than it should be.

The third story "The Elemental" begins with Reggie Warren (Carmichael) deliberately swapping the price tags on two snuff boxes in order to purchase a more expensive box for just £4. The third one is almost played for laughs especially during the completely over-the-top exorcism scenes where everything gets wrecked in the room, the performances were great especially Margaret Leighton as Madame Orloff - the eccentric Psychic who is wonderful at wrecking your home and charging you for it!! great stuff.

Finally From Beyond The Grave concludes with "The Door" in which hard up William (Ogilvy) visits Temptations Ltd and spends £40 on a curious looking antique door. When the proprietor leaves the cash register unattended William momentarily seems to contemplate getting back his £40 but he refrains from doing so. Back home William installs his new door to his stationary cupboard but when he opens the door, he discovers a mysterious room beyond the door bathed in an eerie blue light. William and his wife Rosemary (Down) soon discover that the mysterious room is haunted by an evil sorcerer from the time of Charles II. Luckily Ian (and his gorgeous wife) manage to find a way to stop the ghost before things go too badly wrong. The last segment was great with some decent acting from the cast and the sets looked fantastic and had an almost gothic look to them.

What's great about all of these stories is that they are intelligent, well-written and are a bit creepy without resorting to over the top gore and violence (O.K. so there were some bloody parts but it was still a bit tame). All in all this is quite a fun anthology horror film, not 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 and Asylum, I definitely recommend this great and highly entertaining classic British horror film, the dvd was also part of the Twisted Terror Collection released by Warner Brothers. November 15, 2008

From Beyond the Grave to the Brink of Dreamland....

I love classic British horror. Unfortunately a superb cast and promising title do not make for an enjoyable experience as witnessed in this film. After the first couple of story, the movie plods along at a sleep-inducing pace. Even the likes of the brilliant Margaret Leighton couldn't save this anthology horror film from losing steam after the first 45 minutes. Skip this and check out the superior Amicus anthology film THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD. August 3, 2008

Why so many high ratings for this movie?

While the movie Tales from the Crypt deserves the highest rating, this movie was extremely disappointing and almost comical rather than terrifying. I'll be giving it away to someone that might appreciate it more than myself. August 1, 2008

"Temptations" from Amicus

This is another entry of British Amicus producers with Peter Cushing as the main attraction here. Compared with other "story collection" like movies by same producers (Dr. Terror's house of horrors, Vault of horror) I would say this one is a bit weaker, except may be for the main connection character played by Peter Cushing. Nevertheless, it has its moments and it is a must see for any fan of early 1970s British horror. The DVD does not bring much extras, but they provide a good analog to digital transfer in widescreen format (English, French and Spanish subtitles are provided). July 12, 2008

PETER CUSHING'S TERROR

I watch this movie a long time ago in a tv program and I consider me a undeniable ardorous fan of Peter Cushing, while to take many dvd fims of this actor in my collection. Unfortunally,this film and many others not was produced in dvd format in Brazil,making myself than I purchase it at the Aamzon.com.
Peter Cushing always exceed your talents and here like antique shop owner,the terror and the macabre are your remarkable personnel marks. It's a british classic horror movie produced by Hammer's rival,the Amicus studios. July 7, 2008

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