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13 out of 15 people found the following review useful: Sadly Underrated, 30 March 2000 Author: (pha96lgc@sheffield.ac.uk) from Sheffield, England
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.
14 out of 17 people found the following review useful: Great anthology of British horror!, 9 June 2003 Author: HumanoidOfFlesh from Chyby, Poland
"From Beyond the Grave" is a typical horror anthology from Amicus.It's not very scary or frightening,but it still manages to raise a few chills and a few thrills.Cushing's performance as a creepy shopkeeper is simply fantastic.All the stories are intelligent,well-written and seriously memorable stuff-my favourite is the first one with David Warner,who buys an antique mirror.Anyway the mirror is haunted and demands blood,so Warner brings home a couple of women and proceeds to stab them to death!Eventually the spirit behind the mirror is released,and changes places with hapless Warner.To sum up,if you like British horror give this one a look.8 out of 10.
11 out of 12 people found the following review useful: "I hope you enjoy snuffing it", 30 September 2007 Author: TheatreX from Louisville, KY
"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.
9 out of 9 people found the following review useful: A hugely enjoyable Amicus horror anthology winner, 26 September 2007 Author: Woodyanders (Woodyanders@aol.com) from The Last New Jersey Drive-In on the Left
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Dismal fates befall various customers who buy items at a seedy antique shop run by a sinister proprietor (a splendidly creepy Peter Cushing). 1st and most chilling tale, "The Gate Crasher" - Edward Charlton (the always fine David Warner) purchases a mirror which has a murderous ghost residing inside of it who forces Edward to kill pretty young girls so he can live again. 2nd and most ironic vignette, "An Act of Kindness" - Wimpy former army officer Christopher Lowe (an excellent Ian Bannon) befriends amiable beggar Jim Underwood (a wonderfully quirky Donald Pleasence) and falls for Underwood's fetching daughter Emily (an extraordinary performance by the lovely Angela Pleasence, whose Donald's real life daughter). Diana Dors amuses as Lowe's blowzy spouse Mabel. Moreover, the punchline for this particular segment is fantastic. 3rd and funniest anecdote, "The Elemental" - A pesky demon terrorizes wealthy Reggie Warner (nicely played by Ian Carmichael) and his wife Susan (the solid Nyree Dawn Porter). Reggie hires eccentric clairvoyant Madame Orloff (a delightfully dotty Margaret Leighton) to rid himself of this troublesome fiend. 4th and most eerie vignette, "The Door" - William Seaton (the terrific Ian Olgilvy) acquires a door which acts as a portal to another past time. A wicked devil-worshiping nobleman from that past time wants to use William's wife Rosemary (the ravishing Lesley-Anne Down) as a human sacrifice. Capably directed by Kevin Connor, with a clever script by Robin Clarke and Raymond Christodoulou, crisp cinematography by Alan Hume, a spooky score by David Gamley, and uniformly sound acting from a stellar cast, this omnibus outing makes the grade as a real fun and entertaining affair.
8 out of 8 people found the following review useful: From Beyond the Grave, 23 May 2007 Author: Scarecrow-88 from United States
Four tales of terror revolving around an antique store owned by the grim-looking Peter Cushing where various characters secure objects without paying the correct price with possible doom awaiting them.The first shopper, Edward Charlton(David Warner)is a smug, narcissistic know-it-all who procures a creepy mirror from Cushing which houses an evil spirit awakened when a séance takes place in the young man's pad. This evil spirit requires blood and, through hypnotic suggestion, forces Edward to bring female victims back to his place for slaughter so that he can become whole leaving the eternal prison that has held him for so long.Christopher Lowe(Ian Bannen)is an office manager stuck in a loveless marriage to Mabel(Diana Dors)where she constantly humiliates him in front of his son. He passes by Jim Underwood(Donald Pleasence), a street salesman(peddler)using his participation in the war as a means to increase his sales. Chris pretends to be some kind of would-be war hero by stealing an Infantry medal from Cushing's shop and is invited to dinner where he meets Jim's darling daughter Emily(Angela Pleasence, Donald's actual daughter)..who just happens to practice witchcraft and is more than obliged to off his wife if Chris so commands. But, she works freelance and perhaps someone else would like to use her services..Reggie(Ian Carmichael)switches price tags on these little cases so that he can pay smaller price for classier box of the two. On board a train he meets clairvoyant Madame Orloff(Margaret Leighton, playing her eccentric psychic to the hilt and beyond)who informs Reggie he has an "elemental" on his shoulder..this elemental must be removed before it takes over his host body. Not heeding to her warnings, Reggie returns home only to realize, after it tries to strangle his wife Susan(Nyree Dawn Porter), that what Orloff said was true. In a ruckus exorcism scene, Orloff removes the evil from his shoulder as the house is destroying itself. But, despite the Madame's great efforts, the evil spirit might just find someone else to cling to..William Seaton(Ian Ogilvy)seemingly purchases a sinister door(the film sets up the possibility that William stole some of his cash back when Cushing was off to get a receipt)which is to cover a stationary cupboard in his home. What William and his beautiful wife Rosemary(the truly lovely Lesley-Anne Down)do not expect is that, at the stroke of Midnight, behind the ominous door is a blue "ghost" room created by a man with evil intent. This spirit will seek Rosemary's soul unless William can find a way to harm him.Before each story, a thief is planning to rob Cushing only to find that the proprietor of this antique shop isn't anyone to be trifled with.Entertaining anthology from the always-reliable Amicus studios. Good fun for a dark, stormy night.
9 out of 10 people found the following review useful: Excellent Amicus anthology, 13 October 2007 Author: The_Void from Beverley Hills, England
Amicus are famous for the anthology films, and that's hardly surprising since they made so many. The majority of the anthologies they made are entertaining, and I don't think I've ever really seen a bad one; Asylum, The Vault of Horror and The House That Dripped Blood usually, and rightly, are the highest regarded among the films that Amicus made. From Beyond the Grave is one of the lesser known anthology films; but don't let that faze you, because this collection of four short horror tales is good fun, and while I cant say this is the best Amicus omnibus, it's definitely up there! These films usually feature some sort of creepy wraparound story, and the one here focuses on an old antique store. Not very original, but the store is staffed by Peter Cushing (complete with dodgy accent!) so I could forgive the lack of originality. Cushing antique shop owner doesn't like it when people try and rip him off, but plenty of his customers do; and they all come a cropper when they discover the terrible secret of the item they've just bought (or robbed) from his store! These films don't usually put the best story first, and this one doesn't either. The first tale, titled "The Gate Crasher" stars David Warner and has a sort of Hellraiser feel about it, as he buys an old mirror from the antique store and it turns out to be inhabited by a ghost like thing that entices Warner into bringing it fresh blood. It's not a bad story, though I feel that more could have been made of it. Story number two is the best and focuses on a man who steals a war medal from the antique store to impress a former army man and ends up getting more than he bargained for. This tale is very strange and stars Donald Pleasance in one of his weirder roles. It's imaginative and inventive, and therefore interesting as it's impossible to tell where it's going. Story number three, "The Elemental" is a fun little story, though there isn't really a great deal of point to it. The fourth and final tale would appear to be the centrepiece and focuses on an old wooden door that gives way to an expansive blue room. This is a decent little story and we get to watch Lesley-Anne Down wielding an axe, which makes it worthwhile. Overall, From Beyond the Grave is everything an anthology should be: it's fun and interesting in the right places. There's plenty of plot holes, but also no need to pay them any mind. From Beyond the Grave comes highly recommended to horror fans!
6 out of 6 people found the following review useful: "the love of money is the root of all evil", 20 October 2007 Author: disdressed12 from Canada
if you like anthology collections like Tales From the Crypt and Creepshow,you should like this movie.i think it's better than both.basically it's five separate stories dealing with the occult.all five stories though separate,begin with an antique shop which hold many strange items.in each story, someone comes int possession of an item thinking the cam away with bargain.but the get much more than the bargained for.this is one of the better horror anthologies i have seen.each story is genuinely eerie and suspenseful and i got shivers down my spine more than a few times.there is even a bit of humour in in of the stories.the only downside is the readily apparent low budget.still,the stories are effective enough and the acting superb.so the low budget isn't really a a huge problem.for me, From Beyond the grave is an 8.5/10
6 out of 7 people found the following review useful: The best of British horror!, 27 December 2006 Author: seantheslug from Manchester, England
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!
8 out of 11 people found the following review useful: The Best Amicus By Far!!!, 30 June 2005 Author: Friendly_Milk from local shop owner
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.
11 out of 17 people found the following review useful: The Amicus Omnibus Horror Films., 27 August 2005 Author: Captain_Couth (sirjosephu@aol.com) from Sacramento, CA
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.
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