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From Beyond the Grave (1974)
Rate:
3
Viewed:
11/19
11/19:
It seems there's no such thing as a good horror anthology movie.
That's because the vignettes are so disconnected that each of them can be a stand-alone for these worthless short film
Oscar competitions. Worse, almost all aren't good. Sure, there's "The Raft" in
Creepshow 2 that did
wow me, but to get there is to wade through many terrible, lifeless stories.
From Beyond the Grave is such that, but it's of the low-budget crap. I didn't even realize that I was watching a horror
anthology until half an hour later. It's not the earliest of its kind for the British cinema; the distinction goes to
Dead of Night which was produced in 1945 by the same company that would be hellbent in repeating the same formula
for From Beyond the Grave.
The Gatecrasher: I've always thought David Warner had the perfect face for horror films ever since I saw his head
get sliced off by a flying sheet of glass in The Omen. He mostly disappoints here which has no story. It's
just some stupid dude in the mirror who demands murders.
An Act of Kindness: Talk about weird and fascinating all rolled into one. The Marilyn Manson female look-alike is
actually Donald Pleasence's daughter. It's a "what the hell?" moment for me. Equally so is the sight of the washed-up Diana
Dors who was England's Marilyn Monroe and became infamous for staging sex parties for over three decades until her death of
cancer in 1984. Interestingly, she was once married to Family Feud host Richard Dawson. Anyway, this segment is dead
on arrival, and we shall move along to the next one.
The Elemental: It's by far the only good (and I'm being kind here) segment, thanks to Margaret Leighton for
enlivening things for a change of scenery. The only question I have is: why perform exorcism in the house and break
all valuables around the room? It must have cost the husband and wife a pretty penny, especially in England.
The Door: One of the earliest movie roles for Lesley-Anne Down, it's no wonder why she was voted Britain's most
beautiful teenager at the age of 15. Lesley-Anne was 19 or 20 years old in the film, but in spite of her, this segment is
boring to sit through.
The most interesting parts are between these lackluster stories when the unbelievably gaunt Peter Cushing has his
chance to shine while a thief is trying to case the antique store (an overly familiar concept in Stephen King's
films) but is foiled each time by a sudden walk-in customer. What I like the best is if the customer rips off the owner,
he ends up paying the price in the upcoming horror story. To make me feel better, Peter Cushing ends the film on a high note.
All in all, the stories told in From Beyond the Grave must have been heavily dredged from the bottom of the barrel.