Good movie but grossly overrated

A lot of fun.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Pete Cushing plays a sinister proprietor who sells cursed objects that wreck havoc on the customers lives'.Decent anthology horror movie that provides legitimate thrills and chills. First, "The Gate Crasher," and fourth, "The Door'" segment provide the best art direction, lighting, set decoration, and special effects. The second segment, "An Act of Kindness," is the creepiest. The third segment, "The Elemental," excels in humor. Donald Pleasance and Margaret Leighton give the best performances in this underrated horror movie.Don't go in expecting too much, it's only anthology horror. "The Gate Crasher" is a little sleazy (similar to "Hellraiser"). "An Act of Kindness" is low quality and a little offbeat for modern audiences. "The Elemental" is more goofy and silly. "The Door"has cheesy moments. In fact, all of the stories have cheesy moments.

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.

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?

"From Beyond the Grave" (1973) is one of seven horror anthology pictures released by Hammer rival Amicus over an eight-year period. The last of the bunch, it had been preceded by "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors," "Torture Garden," "The House That Dripped Blood," "Asylum," "Tales From the Crypt" and "Vault of Horror." This time around, the tales are based on the works of British author R. Chetwynd-Hayes (1919-2001), and the obligatory framing story takes place in a seedy antique shop called Temptations, Ltd. ("Offers you cannot resist"). Thus, we follow the fates of four customers who, in one way or another, try to pull "fast ones" with the shop's proprietor, played by the great Peter Cushing. In "The Gatecrasher," one of the best of the quartet, a man (David Warner) buys an antique mirror that houses a blood-lusting demon of sorts. Director Kevin Connor gives this segment some surreal and disorienting touches, some effective shock cuts, and one great swivel shot around a seance table. Impressive work! In "An Act of Kindness," a henpecked husband (Ian Bannen), seeking escape from his termagant wife (Diana Dors, in full bloat), befriends a street peddler and his daughter (real-life father and daughter Donald and Angela Pleasence), only to find that the pair has a hidden agenda or two. This tale features a rather otherworldly performance by Ms. Angela, especially while singing the creepiest little dirge you've ever heard! In "The Elemental," Margaret Leighton plays what must be the wackiest British psychic since Margaret Rutherford's Madame Arcati in "Blithe Spirit" (1945). She helps a middle-aged couple (Ian Carmichael and Nyree Dawn Porter) rid their home of the titular nasty...or does she? Leighton's memorable performance is surely the keynote of this amusing segment. Finally, in "The Door," a man (Ian Ogilvy) purchases an antique, beautifully carved door to put on his stationery bureau, only to find that the portal leads him to the lair of a sorcerer who had schemed in "the 22nd year of Charles II" (that would be 1682). This section turns quite unsettling indeed, especially when we discover that the ancient sorcerer is still alive and well and thirsting for souls. In all, a very entertaining quartet of chillers, to close out this wonderful Amicus series. Hint for savvy marketers: A boxed DVD set of all seven would be a dream purchase for all horror fans!