utgard14 Amicus horror anthology film (the last of seven) starring Peter Cushing as the owner of an antique shop who sells items to different rotten people. Each of the film's stories are tied to these people. The first story features David Warner and is about a mirror which houses a creepy man (or spirit or whatever) who forces Warner to do bad things. The second story is about a man who is seduced by the daughter of a street peddler. Good lineup in this one: Donald Pleasence, Ian Bannen, Diana Dors. But it's just not that interesting despite its oddness. The third story features Ian Carmichael as a man who turns to a crazy old lady (Margaret Leighton) to get rid of an Elemental spirit tormenting him. Leighton is the whole show here. Lots of fun to watch. My favorite story in the film. The final story is about a writer (Ian Ogilvy) who buys a door through which he can step into a room inhabited by a weirdo from the past. This segment also features Lesley-Anne Down. The linking pieces with Cushing have another little story involving a shady man hanging around the shop. Overall, it's an entertaining movie. All the stories are enjoyable to varying degrees, although the second story is clearly the weakest. It's still watchable though. Cushing is pure class as always. Not the best of the Amicus anthologies but good.

Leofwine_draca FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE is one of the best of the Amicus horror anthologies, in that the stories are some of the most inventive and eeriest. It also benefits from an exceptionally strong cast, with at least a couple of famous actors in each and every story giving their all in the interests of horror. It's hard to pick the best anthology when Amicus were making so many good ones around this time, but FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE at least has stories which are all above average with no real duffers. It also contains a brilliantly atmospheric pan through a ghostly green Highgate cemetery while quiet orchestral music plays in the background - great stuff.The first story is basically a variant of one of the tales in DEAD OF NIGHT, except with added '70s-style sleaze and gore. Although not a gruesome film by today's standards (it got a PG certificate in the US actually), for the time it was made this is still a pretty grisly little movie with flowing blood on occasion - just don't expect to see any severed body parts as in THE VAULT OF HORROR. David Warner takes the lead and is very good as the possessed man, and there are plenty of spooky bits to enjoy (like the ghostly face in the mirror and the dream forest, plus some choice dialogue (eg. "come - you must feed me!"). The way that Warner hides all the murdered prostitutes under the floorboards recalls 10 RILLINGTON PLACE and the segment's packed with atmosphere and gritty realism.The second segment is chiefly memorable for its excellent performances by the father and son team of Donald and Angela Pleasence (who also put in a very good spooky turn in THE GODSEND and other movies). Initially they seem to be a kind and charitable people but things turn darker when Angela practises voodoo, creating a doll of Diana Dors (of all people!) and murdering her with it! This is stuff you won't see anywhere else and is highly recommended. Ian Bannen also puts in a good turn as the stuffy Christopher Lowe who is totally suckered by the Pleasences and ends up regretting his decision. Although the cast is great, the story - by once-famous horror author R. Chetwynd-Hayes (upon whose stories the whole film is based) - is also solid, throwing in a nice, surprising twist ending.The third story is the "comic" tale of the anthology, kind of like the Terry-Thomas segment in THE VAULT OF HORROR. Ian Carmichael plays a businessman who finds an invisible elemental living on his shoulder. There's an over-the-top exorcism scene taking the mickey out of THE EXORCIST and a funny performance from Margaret Leighton as "Madame Orloff", clairvoyant extraordinaire. Despite having an unexpected downbeat ending, this is probably my least favourite of the stories.Thankfully, things are once again on top form with the final story, which stars horror veteran Ian Ogilvy as a newly-wed who comes to regret his decision to purchase an ancient carved door. This has some fun, effective clichés to enjoy (the dragging steps coming from behind a closed door), a spooky set of the blue room, and an excellent ending in which Ogilvy discovers that if he "hurts" the door, the evil ghost will also be injured. Thus we have a scene of Ogilvy madly axing a bleeding oak door, classic stuff. This segment also has a brief, cheap Dracula-style death in which the ghost is reduced to a skeleton. I'm a sucker for those.The wrap-around story stars the inimitable Peter Cushing as the "Antique Shop Proprietor", who owns one of the dingiest, dustiest and most genuinely spooky antiques shop you are every likely to see. Cushing is excellent, giving life to his oddball character and enjoying himself in his flat cap, northern accent, shabby coat, and playing with a pipe. He gets lots of darkly humorous lines to deliver ("I hope you enjoy snuffing it") and is great as he chuckles to himself. The finale - in which Cushing is attacked by a robber who discovers he has made a terrible mistake - is also classic stuff. Kevin Connor's direction is pacing and interesting, the stories are all above-average and genuinely creepy, and the cast is brilliant: what more could you possibly want from a horror film?

Lee Eisenberg One of the many horror anthologies released by Amicus Productions casts Peter Cushing as the owner of an antique store whose wares have deadly consequences for the buyers. Whether it's a mirror containing a ghostly entity, a medal leading to a strange friendship, a snuff box causing demonic possession, or a door that has an evil history, everything in this shop has a "little novelty surprise".I'm not sure which was my favorite segment in "From Beyond the Grave". I did like the daughter in the second segment, though. All in all, these sorts of movies are among the best that horror can be. The releases from Hammer and Amicus are cinema for the ages! Also starring David Warner, Ian Bannen, Donald Pleasance, Diana Dors, Ian Ogilvy and Lesley-Ann Down.

The_Movie_Cat One of the best of Amicus' anthology series, From Beyond The Grave isn't as campy as the average, and has some instances of genuine horror.The camp is still there, of course, with a seemingly ad-libbing Peter Cushing as a Northern shopkeeper and Ian Carmichael breaking into an unscripted smile at Margaret Leighton's OTT turn as Madam Orloff.But there's also some genuinely nasty stuff in there, most notably David Warner as a killer of prostitutes in order to feed a ghost, and Donald Pleasence and his real-life daughter as a family practising voodoo. (Interestingly Angela Pleasence would later go on to appear in 'Scream Satan Scream!', the first episode of Steve Coogan's short-lived spoof horror series 'Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible').The first two segments and the framing story are definitely the strongest, and the memorable final two acts could perhaps have done with a fifth story to shorten their length and keep the momentum going, but this is a fine archive work.