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Post by dem bones on Apr 22, 2008 1:07:00 GMT
From Beyond The Grave (1973) "Why, customers. Come in, come in. I'm sure I have the very thing to tempt you. Lots of bargains, all tastes catered for. Oh, and a big novelty surprise goes with every purchase." Deceptively fragile, cloth-capped Northerner Peter Cushing runs Temptations Ltd, an antique shop reminiscent of Geoffrey Bayldon's sinister establishment in The House That Dripped Blood. Taking him for a pushover, a succession of customers try rip him off only to learn that his "big novelty surprise"s aren't conducive to their continued well-being. First through the door is Edward Charlton who duly knocks the Cush down to a ridiculously cheap price for an antique mirror. It comes into its own when one of Charlton's groovy guests suggests they hold a seance. This segment is faithful to RCH's original, although, as RCH ruefully reflected in the Steve Jones-Jo Fletcher interview I'm always going on about, he felt the audience wouldn't realise the demon who steps out from the glass and controls Edward's actions is supposed to be Jack the Ripper. Our next victim is henpecked Christopher Lowe who lies about his war record so that the kindly proprietor will sell him a distinguished service medal. In reality, he only wants it to impress Underwood, a war veteran reduced to selling matchboxes to make ends meet. Underwood and his daughter Emily are the only people who show him any respect, but slowly they inveigle themselves into his life to the point where they've taken it over completely, Emily first seducing him and then ridding him of his battle-axe of a wife Mabel by means of her witchy powers. Reggie Warren swipes a snuff box and is henceforth preyed upon by an ever-present, invisible entity for his sins. After he's attempted his wife, he turns to Madam Orloff - a veteran of several RCH stories - to exorcise it, she being the first person to warn him of its presence when they shared a tube journey together. It's a painful exorcism and those who've encountered the self-styled 'Medium Extraordinary' will know that she hasn't the most encouraging success rate. Even if you play straight with the proprietor, there's no guarantee that your purchase will be to your satisfaction, as author William Seaton discovers when he decides to buy The Door (it originates from the recently demolished Clavering Grange, the most haunted stretch of ground in Kent). The door is a portal to and from the past and is the means by which cavalier and black magician Sir Michael Sinclair is released back to life to continue his malarkey. The Seaton's survive, but there's still time for the proprietor to visit ghastly retribution on a thuggish burglar before the end. Main Cast & Crew Producers - Max J. Rosenberg & Milton Subotsky Director: Kevin Connor Writers: Raymond Christodoulou and Robin Clark, adapted from the original stories by R. Chetwynd-Hayes. Peter Cushing - Proprietor of Temptations Ltd. The Gate Crasher David Warner - Edward Charlton Wendy Alnutt - Pamela Rosalind Ayres - Prostitute/Edward's first victim Marcel Steiner - The demon in the mirrorAn Act of Kindness Ian Bannen - Christopher Lowe Diana Dors - Mabel Lowe Donald Pleasence - Jim Underwood Angela Pleasence - Emily UnderwoodThe Elemental Ian Carmichael - Reggie Warren Margaret Leighton - Madame Orloff Nyree Dawn Porter - Susan Warren The Door Ian Ogilvy - William Seaton Lesley-Anne Down - Rosemary Seaton Jack Watson - Sir Michael Sinclair Tommy Godfrey - Mr. Jeffries
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Post by Johnlprobert on Apr 22, 2008 7:28:41 GMT
Oh yes! One of my favourites, this. I'm halfway through writing an appreciation of it which someday may even see completion. In the meantime Mark Gatiss has a lot of nice things to say about it in the book 'Cinema Macabre'.
This one's got so much class you have to freeze frame straight after the credits to get the joke about the 'All Hallows in the Field' church whose graveyard we've just been exploring
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Post by franklinmarsh on Apr 22, 2008 7:32:34 GMT
Excellent cast, Windsor locations, but not one I've any particular fondness for. Perhaps its the pathos in the Ian Bannen story, or the dodgy comedy in the Ian Carmichael segment. I haven't seen it for years though.
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Post by dem bones on Apr 22, 2008 7:55:52 GMT
This one's got so much class you have to freeze frame straight after the credits to get the joke about the 'All Hallows in the Field' church whose graveyard we've just been exploring 'All Hallows in the Field' is, of course, none other than Highgate Cemetery and I'd not be surprised if that footage was left over from the Tales From The Crypt shoot. Who's the appreciation for, John? I've not seen this for years either, FM, but I was particularly taken with the An Act Of Kindness episode, one of Chetwynd-Hayes' finest stories and a seductively creepy performance from Angela 'Daughter of the Ples' Pleasence.
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Post by Johnlprobert on Apr 22, 2008 8:43:10 GMT
And the freeze frame reveals that the vicar is the Reverend B Goodenough and the verger is a Mr Butcher.
It's planned for All Hallows' Haunted Cinema section
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Post by marksamuels on Apr 22, 2008 11:26:01 GMT
Mention of the rather sweet Angela Pleasance reminds me. Has anyone seen this 1974 film SYMPTOMS? It looks like it could be a real corker, but it seems quite obscure. I'm desperate to obtain a copy! www.horrorexpress.com/moviereview/symptomsMark S.
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Post by Johnlprobert on Apr 22, 2008 11:42:50 GMT
It is very obscure & I'm afraid I don't have a copy, but I saw it many years ago when I was going through my Jose Larraz period.
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Post by carolinec on Apr 22, 2008 19:03:39 GMT
From Beyond The Grave is another of my all time favourite films (along with Carnival of Souls, mentioned the other day). I've watched it umpteen times (on grotty video taped from the telly ages back).
I particularly enjoy Cushing's performance as the shop proprietor, and my favourite story is probably the one with the Pleasances in it - both father and daughter are superb.
I even enjoy the Ian Carmichael story for a bit of light relief! "The Door" is probably the weakest story in my opinion, but the creepy mirror story still scares me to this day! ;D
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coral
New Face In Hell
Posts: 3
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Post by coral on Apr 25, 2008 22:07:32 GMT
Me too!
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albie
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 134
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Post by albie on Aug 13, 2008 12:28:19 GMT
I thought THE DOOR was the strongest story. I loved the notion of what was OUTSIDE that room, beyond the walls, the window.
Nothing?
Or haunted trees? Stuffed animals on hillocks of black grass? A pond with glowing green skeletons at the bottom?
Probably everything you ever saw on a PAN BOOK OF HORROR cover. Imagine that: that's where they took all the photos!
I'm rambling.( Better here, than THERE)
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Post by valdemar on Apr 9, 2012 1:08:51 GMT
I was haunted by the idea behind the 'Door' segment for years, and prior to that, having seen a still from it, in, I believe, Denis Gifford's large format monster book [if memory serves, the image shared a page with the 'Hand Of Glory' scene from 'The Wicker Man', which did my young head in]. It's obvious that 'From Beyond The Grave' is a film beloved of Mark Gatiss, and possibly his co-conspirators in 'The League Of Gentlemen'. It is used as an in-joke on their tie-in book, 'A Local Book For Local People', which features a disturbing dust-jacket which appears to be cobbled together from offcuts of human skin [with an embossed navel on the back flap, and a scrotum on the front flap]; the inside back page is the rear of a picture frame, bearing several labels, including: 'SEND TO SIR MICHAEL SINCLAIR, AUG. 1682', and: 'TEMPTATIONS LTD. JUST OFF THE EDGEWARE ROAD'. There's another sticker there for: 'BARLOW & STRAKER, SALEM'S LOT, MAINE'. Just seeing these, and laughing like a drain at the hideous picture on the back cover of Mark Gatiss in the role of 'Aunty Val' in naked prostheses, made me buy the book. It's full of disgusting but clever rubbish - a bit like the 'Monty Python', and 'Goodies' books. Great fun, and, like the show only really accessible if you're a fan of classic horror. Indeed, one of the team has said that he would use 'Blood On Satan's Claw' as a conversation piece to judge if the person he was speaking to was worth arguing about films with. ;D
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Post by pulphack on Apr 9, 2012 10:01:52 GMT
The League's commentary and the short extra doc on the Blood On Satan's Claw disk in the Tigon box set is worth a listen and watch. Ah, the Goodies and Python books - fondly remembered if now disappeared (where do they go? I don't remember getting rid of them?).
On another thread, you mention Mark Gattiss as appearing to follow the same path as Nigel Kneal in his work - it might be worth searching out the Dr Who novel Nightshade, which Gattiss wrote about 20 years back (his second book, I think) before the League were established, and is set in 1963 and features an actor who used to play Nighshade - a Quatermass figure - on TV going up against a real-life version of the perils he fought on screen. An excelent read from the Dr Who Virgin p/b years.
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Post by andydecker on Apr 9, 2012 12:57:00 GMT
On another thread, you mention Mark Gattiss as appearing to follow the same path as Nigel Kneal in his work - it might be worth searching out the Dr Who novel Nightshade, which Gattiss wrote about 20 years back (his second book, I think) before the League were established, and is set in 1963 and features an actor who used to play Nighshade - a Quatermass figure - on TV going up against a real-life version of the perils he fought on screen. An excelent read from the Dr Who Virgin p/b years. This was a good one. I remember it fondly. Gattiss and Moffatt seem to be the dynamic duo at the moment, even if they worked 20 years for that. I guess it helps if you are a writer first and a genre-writer second.
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Post by valdemar on Apr 9, 2012 16:47:34 GMT
'Nightshade' is by far, my favourite 'New Adventure' book. although Andy Lane's 'All Consuming Fire' comes damn close. I stopped reading these books when they got to number 50 - my wallet couldn't take the strain! ;D
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Post by andydecker on Apr 9, 2012 19:10:42 GMT
although Andy Lane's 'All Consuming Fire' comes damn close. The Lane was a nice Sherlock Holmes pastiche. The Virgin line had some great novels. Not always what I would call an easy read, but some damn good books.
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