One of the greatest Amicus horror anthologies, From Beyond the Grave (1974) was released in America fifty years ago today.
Directed by first-timer Kevin Connor, the film involves a strange shop, Temptations Ltd., (think Curious Goods or Needful Things) and its shopkeeper (Peter Cushing) dispatching cursed objects to a quartet of patrons. The first tale involves a haunted mirror, the second a cursed war medal , the third a snuff box, and the last story involves an antique door that opens a gateway to the dimension of a dastardly sadist.
In 2024, the film holds up remarkably well, and the first story plays like a spiritual predecessor to Clive Barker's Hellraiser (1987), featuring a spinning camera and blood splatter galore. The second story and third stories feel more lighthearted in comparison, and the last tale is the real showstopper:a spiritual predecessor perhaps, to A Nightmare on Elm Street, and anearly step into rubber reality-type horror.
I had the great pleasure of meeting film director Kevin Connor at the Space:1999 Main Mission Convention in Manhattan in the year 2000. We sat on at least one panel together, and late one evening, a group of fans and I got together with Mr. Connor at the hotel bar and he recounted some amazing stories of his film and TV career.
A few years later, I interviewed Mr. Connor for Horror Films of the 1980s (2007), and for Filmfax Magazine (2008). One subject we discussed is the now 50-year old From Beyond the Grave (1974)
KEVIN CONNOR: I purchased an option on a book called The Undead by Chetwynd-Hayes (1919- 2001) and took twelve of the best short stories and turned them into a half-hour TV series. I couldn't sell them for love nor money until they fell into the hands of Milton Subotsky of Amicus Films. He took them to Warner Bros. who bought the idea as a feature film.
Milton took four of the best stories and devised a link using Peter Cushing as a sort of a narrator. Milton then suggested I direct the piece which hadn't been my intention, but he said that editors make good directors because they know what is required to make a scene. So I am ever thankful to Milton for giving me my break.
MUIR: What are your memories of working with David Warner on the first story, (which involves a man luring unsuspecting prostitutes back to his apartment, and an evil mirror)?
KEVIN CONNOR: I was very lucky to have such a wonderful cast for my first movie, and David Warner is a marvelous actor. I'm not sure whether he really enjoyed doing a horror film, but he gave his all and was to me, as a first-time director, extremely supportive and not difficult.
KEVIN CONNOR: I was very lucky to have such a wonderful cast for my first movie, and David Warner is a marvelous actor. I'm not sure whether he really enjoyed doing a horror film, but he gave his all and was to me, as a first-time director, extremely supportive and not difficult.
MUIR: What about the second story, involving Donald Pleasence?
KEVIN CONNOR: The fun thing in this story was that Donald's real daughter, Angela, played his daughter in the movie. They were a really spooky pair. In this section I also had the wonderful Ian Bannen and Diana Dors. The third story had Maggie Leighton and Ian Carmichael. It was a tongue-in-cheek spoof.
MUIR: The fourth story, about a doorway into the realm of an undead sadist, is quite terrifying. What are your memories of working on this installment?
KEVIN CONNOR: In this story we had Lesley Anne Down (her first feature film) and the exceptional Ian Ogilvy. This did have a bloody element, but it worked out very well. My cameraman was the excellent Alan Hume and we had great fun creating some stop-motion tricks with a disintegrating body.
MUIR: The wraparound segments involved Peter Cushing as a shopkeeper selling cursed antiques. What was it like working with Cushing?
KEVIN CONNOR: Peter Cushing was a gentleman and really supportive of me as a first-time director. I worked with him on several other movies and he became a good friend. Peter was a very particular actor and took his craft very seriously. He was very detail-conscious and didn't look down on the genre.
MUIR: Did you know that this very premise later became the format of a TV show (Friday the 13th: The Series).
KEVIN CONNOR: I didn't know that it became a format for the TV show. Although the compilation film is nothing new. I seem to recall two black-and-white movies of Somerset Maugham short stories called Trio and Quartet, and of course Amicus made several films along this format.
MUIR: Do you think that your background in editing helped make From Beyond the Grave move along at such a good clip, and tell short stories more effectively?
KEVIN CONNOR: Yes, editing really helps. As an editor, I learned more from bad directors than I did from good directors. When a scene had been badly shot and I didn't have the material to speed up the action you realize very quickly that cover can get you out of a lot of trouble.
Saw this on first release at an AFB theater in the midwest. At the end, there was applause. This happened rarely, and from comments I overheard while leaving the theater, I gleaned that the film was much better than expected and I had to agree. It's a cut above all the other Amicus anthologies, IMO, and leaves one satisfied. Good work from all involved, and it holds up well today, despite having a somewhat mystifying negative critical reputation. I thought the last episode was exceptional, and highly ambitious in terms of the idea and the execution. The sting with Cushing finding he hadn't been cheated after all is what provoked the applause. Nice! Great article!
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