FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE (1973)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: A
Rating: PG
Duration: 98 Minutes
Audio: English DTS HD-MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Kevin Connor
Cast: Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasence, Ian Bannen, Diana Dors, David Warner, Angela Pleasence, Ian Carmichael, Margaret Leighton, Lesley-Anne Down
From Beyond the Grave (1974) was the last of the Amicus British horror anthologies, and also the last of them to finally find it's way to Blu-ray - thank you Warner Archive! - and it was worth the wait! The anthology offers four frightfully fun tales of the macabre with a wrap-around story starring horror legend Peter Cushing (Corruption) as the seemingly kingly, pipe-smoking proprietor of an dilapidated antiquities shoppe called Temptation Ltd., selling what turns out be cursed objects to the unsuspecting, but oftentimes quite deserving clientele.
The first story “The Gate Crasher,” follows Edward Charlton (David Warner, Time After Time) when he buys an antique mirror from Temptation Ltd, thinking that he's gotten quite a bargain after haggling with Cushing's devilish character. Bringing it home he hosts a party and he a roomful of friends hold a seance, unleashing a malevolent phantom living inside the mirror. The spirit (Marcel Steiner) begins to take a strange hold of Edward, demanding he make blood sacrifices to it, which will free him from the mirror, but also trap Edward inside it in his place. Edward is helpless to resist the phantom's influence, turning his apartment into a bloodbath in the process, with the ending showing a montage of the aftermath, and it's a good bit of frightful fun.
In 'The Elemental' stuffy Brit businessman Reggie Warren (Ian Carmichael) visits the curio shop and switches price tags on a vintage snuff box, hoping to get a god deal, but he gets more than he bargained for when he becomes the host of a supernatural parasite-entity, something called an "elemental", which seems a bit like a poltergeist to me. On the train home he is approached by eccentric psychic Madame Orloff (Margaret Leighton, The Sound and the Fury) who tells him she can see the invisible
malevolent imp on his shoulder, but he blows it off as craziness. However, once at home things begin to get strange when the elemental begins abusing his poor wife (Nyree Dawn Porter, The House That Dripped Blood), who thinks her husband is the culprit. At his wits end Reggie calls upon Madame Orloff who performs a cleansing ritual, seemingly ridding him of the elemental, but it's a horror anthology, so of course something goes sideways! This one is fun stuff, and is really the only one the tales here to even be slightly humorous.
The fourth and final of the tales proper is "The Door" starring Ian Ogilvy (Witchfinder General) as writer William who haggles down the price of an ancient and intricately ornate wood-carved door from Temptation Ltd., and of course we know know that no matter how good the bargain might seem you always get some sort of supernatural novelty free with every purchase! William has the ornate door installing at his flat, not to a room but for a stationary supply closet. We come to discover that the door becomes a secret passageway to a hidden blue-tinged room where lives a 17th century vampiric sorcerer who attempts to collect the souls of William and his wife (Lesley-Anne Down, Nomads), and in a nice touch since William paid for the door and there were no shenanigans involved, the outcome is actually not-too-bad for him.
Directed by first-timer Kevin Connor (Motel Hell) with attractive lensing by Alan Hume (Hammer's Kiss of the Vampire, The Return of the Jedi), the film has the proper polish and style of earlier Amicus anthologies, plus we get a wonderful wrap-around starring a pipe-smoking Peter Cushing, and a handful of macabre tales that hold up nicely, if you're a fan of horror anthologies this is a top-notch watch, highly recommended.
Audio/Video: From Beyond the Grave (1973) arrives on Blu-ray from Warner Archive with a brand new 2019 HD scan framed in 1.85:1 widescreen. There's a nice velvety grain structure throughout, clarity and depth are excellent and the colors are reproduced accurately with wonderful saturation, some eerie greens and blue hues seen throughout are particularly striking. Black levels hold-up consistently and there's a pleasing amount of fine detail throughout the presentation. a close-up of David Warner revealing all sorts of crags in his visage. The English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono audio is solid, dialogue is cleanly reproduced without any distortion, and the Douglas Gamley (And Now The Screaming Starts) score and special effect cues are nicely balanced, optional English subtitles are provided.
The only extra on the disc is a theatrical trailer for the film. The single-disc release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a one-sided sleeve of artwork featuring the original movie poster illustration, with the disc featuring an excerpt of the same artwork.
Special Features:
- Theatrical Trailer (3 min)
As a fan of horror anthologies I am tickled blue-in-the-face that all of the Amicus produced anthology films are now available on Blu-ray. If you don't own them already I am here to tell you that you definitely need them in your life, so grab yourself Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) from Olive Films, Torture Garden (1967) on a triple-feature Blu-ray from Mill Creek Entertainment (or on stand alone Blu-ray from Indicator in the UK), The House That Dripped Blood (1970) from Scream Factory, Asylum (1972) from Severin Films, and Tales from the Crypt (1972) and The Vault of Horror (1973) on a double-feature Blu-ray from Scream Factory. All these films are fantastic and spooky fun, and now we have the final Amicus anthology From Beyond the Grave (1973) wonderfully restored and looking better than ever from Warner Archive!
