Pass the fish n' chips, it's "From Beyond the Grave"

Here's one style of horror flick in desperate need of a comeback. Anthology horror films used to be a fairly commonplace thing; during the '60s and '70s, the landscape was dotted with these little gems that contained several smaller stories within the framework of a larger one. Many of them came from Amicus Productions, the British studio responsible for this particular movie. And one of them - the 1972 film entitled "Tales From the Crypt" (no relation to the legendary TV series) - is an undisputed (in my own mind, anyway) classic, containing one segment where a widower wishes her undead husband back to life, not knowing that he'll come back to life f**king AS IS. Namely, dilapidated, decaying, and burning like hell from the formaldehyde. Money.

At any rate, "From Beyond the Grave" is definitely one of the better anthology horror movies to come down the pike. It may not be quite up to horror hall of fame status that the likes of "Creepshow" and "Tales From the Darkside" occupy, but it's definitely up there with the second wave ("Trick r Treat" from a couple years also fits this bill). For star power, it's also got three crusty dudes that are well known to fellow miscriants like myself who follow stuffy British horror films. More on that later.

Ladies and gentlemen, crusty dude British horror film luminary #1 - Peter Cushing, a.k.a. Grand Moff Tarkin from "Star Wars." Way back before Hugh Jackman was guest hosting Monday Night Raw and/or being the most Australian Australian guy since Paul Hogan, this guy was laying the smack down on Christopher Lee and roughing up countless hot women in a manner most awesome in several of the awesome Hammer studios Dracula and Frankenstein films. In this film, he's your star player in the movie's "framework" story that holds the rest of the movie together.

Yup, in this movie, Tarkin plays the proprietor of an antique shop. Each mini-story begins with a morally suspect character purchasing, stealing, or swindling something from the shop only to get their theoretical just desserts in the end. In between the segments, a shady character seems to be casing the establishment, which leads us to one jim dandy of an ending sequence. No spoiler alerts needed here - watch it for yourself and be surprised, dammit.

SEGMENT ONE - "The Gatecrasher"
Meet crusty dude British horror film luminary #2 - David Warner, perhaps best known as the gun-wielding assassin/thorn in Leo's side from "Titanic." Back in the day, he was a big time horror movie vet and had a major role in the original (read: good) "Omen" film. In this flick, he's a socialite of sorts who convinces Cushing that an antique mirror in his shop is a reproduction, and thus gets it for a much cheaper price. After taking it home, he performs a makeshift seance to impress his friends...and winds up with a devil/ghost friend who promptly orders him to bring fresh bodies home to feed on. As in, their "BLOOOOODDDDD!" (spelled because this is how the specter says the word) This segment is really creepy and effective, with a decent payoff and a great performance, as usual, from Warner. It may even be up to par with his effort in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze."

SEGMENT TWO - "An Act of Kindness"
Ahhhh, here we go. Definitely the strongest chapter of this particular go-round. I REALLY felt for the main character in this one - a civil service manager named Christopher (Ian Bannen) who is weighed down by his shrew of a wife and his son, neither of whom respect him. While carousing the street, he meets fellow soldier Jim Underwood (played by crusty dude British horror film luminary #3 Donald Pleasence, who would later go on to star as the single greatest Van Helsing character since Van Helsing himself Peter Cushing in the "Halloween" series), and in an effort to impress his new friend steals a service medal from Cushing's shop. Underwood takes Christopher home to meet his daughter Emily (Angela Pleasence, amazingly enough Donald's real life-daughter and also a luminary of horror films, although not quite up to snuff with her father and Warner). Pretty much every male who watches this segment, despite Christopher's theft of the medal, has a strong reaction to this aspect of the segment, as in stark contrast to Christopher's conniving, critical wife, Emily dotes on him hand and foot and we find ourselves strangely rooting for Christopher. The ending of this story is an absolute masterpiece on so many levels - it's emotionally heartbreaking, genuinely scary, ironic, and marvelously laid out.

SEGMENT THREE - "The Elemental"
From here, the movie drops by a peg, although not by much. Reggie Warren (Ian Carmichael) goes into the shop and switches price tags on an expensive snuff box. While on the train ride home, a strange psychic woman (Margaret Leighton) informs Reggie that he has an "elemental" (old-school/new-age term for devil/demon) infecting his shoulder. Thinking nothing of it, he returns home to his wife (Nyree Dawn Porter). Acting ever-so-promptly, the unseen elemental goes to work tormenting the holy hell out of the family dog and choking the holy hell out of Mrs. Warren. This results in the segment's climactic seance/exorcism scene, and a perfectly telegraphed ending swerve. Not as strong as the first two segments, but well-played by Carmichael and Porter, and features some good (for the time) visual effects.

SEGMENT FOUR - "The Door"
A solid if unspectacular ending to the preceding segments. A writer (Ian Ogilvy - man, what is it with the British and the name Ian? There's THREE freakin' Ians in this movie!!) manages to purchase an ornate door at the Cursed Antique shop (TM). During this scene, Cushing leaves the till open, and after the purchase, he begins counting his money. Of course, any student of horror movies knows that said door must also be a gateway to hell, and you wouldn't be far off. After taking the door home to his wife (Lesley-Anne Down), he finds a strange world that exists beyond the door as well as the writings of an evil occultist who designed the door as a means to capture souls and live forever. During the course of the film, the strange hypnotic power of the door seems to spread, resulting in a final sequence in which the occultist holds the wife hostage in the otherworld. This one is notable for a neat ending twist in relation to the means by which Ogilvy purchased the door. Well-acted, but not especially scary.

As is the case with a lot of Amicus productions, there's a lot to admire in this flick. '70s horror is a completely different animal from pretty much every decade that came before or after it. The tone is VERY dark, and rare is the occasion in many '70s horror films (especially the religious-themed ones and British films) when a single hero character makes it out of the occurrences alive. In that respect, these stories all take on the E.C. Horror Comics morality tale approach to horror. Be a good person or else bad things will happen to you. A tried and true formula, and when used well (as it is here), it generally works. Director Kevin Connor does an excellent job with the atmosphere of the film, working in the trademark darkness and color contrast that defined '70s horror and getting the most out of his cheeseburger and fries budget (that makes fast food budget reference #3 in the last three weeks, so hooray for me).

Of course, this movie is worth seeing just for the names alone. Pleasence, Warner and Cushing are all legends in the storied history of the British horror film, with Pleasence being right up there on the Mount Rushmore of horror hero characters for his portrayal of Dr. Loomis in "Halloween." All are in top form here, and really, that's all the persuasion you need to give this movie a look-see. Definitely not perfect (as AFOREMENTIONED, the third segment isn't terribly interesting and is quite predictable while the fourth drags a bit), but the good definitely outweighs the bad. And the second segment with the father-and-daughter Pleasence duo and that ungodly wedding sequence? Legendary.

*** 1/2 out of ****. Highly recommended if you're a horror fan and/or have a short attention span and want shorter stories to keep track of, mildly recommended for the general public.