Kevin Connor’s ‘FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE’ (1974) – Movie Review – PopHorror

Between 1965 and 1974, Amicus Productions, a famous British competitor to Hammer Films, made seven horror anthology movies. While The House That Dripped Blood and Tales From The Crypt are widely considered the best, there’s another complete gem that often gets forgotten. From Beyond The Grave was the final Amicus anthology, and also perhaps the greatest.

Let’s examine why.

From Beyond The Grave is written by Robin Clarke (in their only writing credit), Raymond Christodoulou (Nutcracker 1982) and R. Chetwynd-Hayes (Night Gallery TV Series 1973), and is directed by Kevin Connor (Motel Hell 1980). It is a 1974 portmanteau story centering around an antique shop named Temptations Limited, run by “The Proprietor” (played by Peter Crushing; The Curse Of Frankenstein 1957). Those that have evil intentions and try to steal from or cheat The Proprietor are met with a grizzly fate, courtesy of the objects that come from his cursed shop.

The third story is titled “The Elemental”. It starts as a standard ghost haunting story, and lays in spoof acting, with effects that are ahead of their time. It’s the silliest of the four, but still effective in its twist. And finally, “The Door” concludes the shorts. It’s about a cursed door that opens a portal to an old world, and it rides a bit too closely to the first story. But what makes it special is that the protagonists survive, because the main character didn’t cheat The Proprietor when he bought the door.

From Beyond The Grave is a fast-moving anthology with pointed endings, timeless cameos, and a powerful wrapper led by genre legend Cushing. As of this writing, it’s available to stream for free on Plex and Hoopla. It comes highly recommended, as do all of the underrated Amicus anthologies.