• Directed by: Kevin Conner
• Written by: Robin Clarke, Raymond Christodoulou
• Release Date: February 23, 1974
• 98 Minutes

Wraparound Intro
     Peter Cushing is the owner of an antique shop that sells more than just once-in-a-lifetime items if you happen to treat him.
     On one hand, I am so incredibly happy that we have an interesting idea and set-up here to tell our stories. On the other hand, I am very saddened that Cushing is here and not in one individual story, though he is still great here, of course.

The Gatecrasher

     An antique mirror, taken home by David Warner’s Edward Charlton, brings an unwelcome guest along with it.

“Let’s hold a séance!”
“What a splendid idea!”
     You can’t see my face but I’m sure you can picture it.
     Every time I think I’ll enjoy this more than the last time but every time I can’t help but find The Gatecrasher frustrating. I like some things here, such as David Warner’s performance along with the fantastic camera work as it moves around the table during the séance and how the mirror is used to emphasize time passing. The issue is this story ends up really hindered by time restraints, since not only does Warner almost immediately give in to spooky mirror ghost but we don’t even get much of a tease as to who or what spooky mirror ghost is. I mean, one could say something like Michael Bryant gives in fast to man-eating murder cat in Enoch but hey, at least that cat was psychic and mentally tormenting him.
     Every time I watch the film I end up finding myself not enjoying this story as much as I feel like I should, primarily because Warner is genuinely that enjoyable in it, yet it can’t seem to properly pull itself together in a satisfying way in the time that it’s given.

An Act of Kindness

     Christopher Lowe (Ian Bannen) has a miserable home life and lies about his past to a vet who sells items on the street (Donald Pleasence), going so far as to purchasing a medal to back his story and ends up being invited over, where Lowe meets the vet’s daughter (Angela Pleasence).
     If a woman you aren’t that fully, completely familiar with says, creepily, “I wish to serve you,” leave. Please.
     I wish Donald Pleasance had shown up in one of these anthology films prior to the final one. It would have been so much fun to have him in a film that also had the likes of Christopher Lee or him working in a short with Cushing. He’s great here either way, perfectly unassuming and yet quietly sinister. Anyway, enough gushing about the always obviously deserving Donald Pleasance because this story, and probably the movie, belongs to Angela Pleasance. Starting off quiet and reserved, it’s only a matter of time until Angela really puts the pedal to the metal and pulls herself into the spotlight. She hits this sweet spot of introverted and possibly naïve until you can easily notice something lurking underneath.
     There’s a lot I really like here in a small space of time, from not knowing at all where the hell this story is going to an almost Michael Myers like sit-up on a bed from Angela to playing with black candles to her genuinely scaring the hell out of me with how a camera move reveals she is inside a bedroom she should not be in. Does all of it end up making sense once the twist hits? Not really, as the twist is the kind that adds this curve ball to it that only goes so far as to raise a heap of questions in regards to what anyone actually does around here.
     But any confusion doesn’t matter, this is a father-daughter dance that is very fun to witness. It may take its time building, but I found the mysterious aspect of the story to make a better overall piece than the first story.

The Elemental

    A newly acquired snuffbox seems to curse a husband and wife (Ian Carmichael & Nylee Dawn Porter) with an elemental, and they seek the help of a psychic (Margaret Leighton) to deal with their conundrum.
     I can see people not liking this one since it’s a vast change in tone from the first two stories, opting for a grandiose showing of camp fun, building to such a high energy crescendo it’s worth a laugh or two, including an almost parody level of over-the-top exorcism involved. That being said, I think I enjoyed this story due to two simple things, the first being that the twist is pretty well played out with Nylee Dawn Porter (returning from House That Dripped Blood) really selling it well.
     The second is that Margaret Leighton is brilliantly fantastic here, threatening to walk away with the entire movie and making this role of a random clairvoyant in a random anthology film seem like something to fight over. I wish I had even a fraction of the amount of fun she is having here in my day-to-day life. While I feel Angela Pleasance gives the best performance in terms of a more ‘creepy/spooky’ story, I do think Leighton is the most memorable aspect of the film as a whole. If you let yourself enjoy it and don’t get turned off by the tone it decides to use to tell the story, it’s bound to be a favourite.

The Door

     Writer William Seaton (Ian Ogilvy) purchases a beautiful door that he soon realizes may bring danger to him and his wife (Lesley-Anne Down) .
     The Door frustrates me less than The Gatecrasher and in a vastly different way though I really do enjoy this story. The work on the blue room is magnificent, from the design, the decorations, uses of colour both in the room and out the window (as the sun passes), the atmosphere and vibe the whole room gives off, it all comes together great in terms of building its suspense to the point that I found myself relatively unnerved in the first handful of minutes. I love the way they show the threat dissolving away since it’s a nice touch. I enjoy the performances. I genuinely do like a majority what’s going on here.
     So where does the frustration come in? I am constantly so disappointed as to how much of Sinclair we see. Obviously, he would be just a person, but every single time I so wish they had just kept the actor in complete shadow. A shadow lurking in the room, a shadow lifting and holding Lesley-Anne Down, a shadow moving over Ian Ogilvy in the finale, just some creative work to keep the character hidden. I feel it takes away from the great work the section did in the first half building its suspense and I find myself so let down by how something so mundane ends up hindering my enjoyment so much, especially since everything else feels so, so good.

Wraparound Finale
     I like Cushing talking to us, because it’s Cushing, though the whole ending bit just seems to exist as a way to wrap things up. There’s nothing really surprising here, in terms of his character. That being said, I do love the idea that these stories are specifically people getting their just desserts in a way that ties into Cushing and their actions within the store, especially with how it ties into the final story and Ian Ogilvy’s character with what we end up learning once we get back to Cushing. It’s set up great and the payoff feels almost heart-warming.

     From Beyond The Grave ends our Amicus look in a very bittersweet way. I’m sad we have worked through all of them while the movie also kind of leaves me wanting more. I get a good level of enjoyment out of a lot of aspects in this film, but I think this one might be the one I remember the least as a whole out of all of Amicus’ efforts. Still, I think it’s worth a watch, since the highs are very high for me, and it still captures a lot of that sweet, seasonal fun.