Peter Cushing in From Beyond the Grave (1973)

It’s hard to keep track of all the great horror films finding their way onto on DVD lately and this week is no exception. My DVD pick of the week is the great Amicus horror anthology From Beyond the Grave (1973) from Warner Home Video which was released on Tuesday. This is the first time From Beyond the Grave has been made available on DVD and it’s part of Warner’s new Twisted Terror Collection.

From Beyond the Grave features a terrific cast of British actors that includes Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasence, Ian Bannen, David Warner, Lesley-Anne Down, Ian Carmichael, Diana Dors, Ian Ogilvy, Margaret Leighton and Donald Pleasence’s daughter Angela Pleasence. It’s definitely one of the more solid Amicus horror anthologies and all of the stories flow together rather well. It was directed by Kevin Connor who’s responsible for some entertaining and often under-appreciated fantasy and horror films such as The Land That Time Forgot (1975), At the Earth’s Core (1976), The People That Time Forgot (1977) and Motel Hell (1980). From Beyond the Grave was Conner’s first feature film and he clearly shows that he has the ability to create tension and atmosphere here. He also got some good performances out of his actors, who were obviously working with a rather thin script.

In From Beyond the Grave, Peter Cushing plays a mysterious shopkeeper who sells cursed antiques to unknowing buyers. The first two episodes in this anthology are called The Gate Crasher and An Act of Kindness, and they’re my favorites of the bunch, but all the episodes are worth a look. The Gate Crasher features a young and rather groovy looking David Warner who buys an old mirror for his apartment and ends up being haunted by a Jack the Ripper-like specter. Soon Warner is cruising local nightspots looking for cute girls to take home to his shag pad for some late night “fun.” The Gate Crasher is undoubtedly one of the most gory and violent episodes from any Amicus anthology and it’s sure to surprise a few viewers. David Warner is a great actor and a personal favorite, and in some ways his performance in From Beyond the Grave foreshadows his future performance as Jack the Ripper in Nicholas Meyer’s terrific science fiction thriller Time After Time (1979).

Top: David Warner in The Gate Crasher
Bottom: David and Angela Pleasence in An Act of Kindness

In the second episode called An Act of Kindness, the talented Ian Bannen plays a depressed and cowardly working-class man who’s stuck in a miserable marriage to the nagging Diana Dors. When he comes across an old solider (Donald Pleasence) who’s selling matches and shoelaces on a street corner, he sympathizes with him and buys some of his goods. The two men strike up a conversation and Donald Pleasence mistakes Ian Bannen for a fellow solider who must have been decorated for his heroic deeds during the war. This makes Bannen very uncomfortable, but he’s clearly looking for friendship so he doesn’t correct Pleasence’s assumptions and even goes so far as to visit Peter Cushing’s antique shop to purchase a Medal of Service so he can pass it off as his own. When Cushing tells Bannen that he won’t sell him the medal unless he can prove that he’s actually been a recipient of it, Bannen steals it, which sets off a series of strange events. Donald Pleasence ends up inviting Ian Bannen to his home where he meets Pleasence’s daughter Angela (played by his real-life daughter) and the two unusual characters develop a friendship with the sad and lonely Bannen. Donald Pleasence has always been one of my favorite horror actors and he’s terrific here with his daughter Angela. The pair are both appropriately creepy in From Beyond the Grave and it’s really enjoyable to watch them working together. Ian Bannen also delivers and incredibly sympathetic performance here and Diana Dorrs is fun to watch as his shrill wife.

The two other episodes in the anthology are The Elemental and The Door. The Elemental takes a more humorous approach to its subject matter, but it is really entertaining and The Door features some of the anthologies best cinematography and set designs. The Door, as well as The Gate Crasher, both contain elements which seem somewhat inspired by Italian horror maestro Mario Bava’s gothic color films like I Tre volti della paura (Black Sabbath, 1963) and Operazione paura (Kill, Baby… Kill!, 1966).

The release of From Beyond the Grave follows the release of two other good Amicus horror anthologies, Tales From the Crypt and Vault of Horror, from MGM’s Midnight Movies series. I wrote about Tales From the Crypt earlier this year after the death of its director Freddie Francis, and it’s wonderful to see that so many of these Amicus productions are finding their way onto DVD lately. Unfortunately the MGM DVDs contain edited and censored prints of Tales From the Crypt and Vault of Horror so it’s hard for me to to recommend them, which is a shame. Hopefully MGM will release full-uncut DVDs of these films in the future. In the meantime, Warner should be applauded for making From Beyond the Grave available to horror fans uncut.

The new Warner DVD of From Beyond the Grave doesn’t contain any extras except the original theatrical trailer, but the film is presented in widescreen and the new print really looks terrific. As far as I know this is the first time that From the Grave has been made availed uncut in the U.S. so this new DVD is a welcome release if you enjoy Amicus horror productions as much as I do. The new DVD is currently available from Amazon and it should be available for rent from online sources like Netflix and Greencine.

Recommended Links:
- A fan site devoted to director Kevin Connor
- Neil at The Bleeding Tree reviews the new MGM Tales From the Crypt and Vault of Horror DVDs

I’ve been interested in seeing Alan Cooke’s film The Mind of Mr. Soames (1970) for many years mainly because it’s an Amicus production with a great cast that includes Terence Stamp, Robert Vaughn, Nigel Davenport, Christian Roberts, Donal Donnelly and Vickery Turner. The film also features cinematography by the talented Billy Williams. I’ve seen just about every film that Amicus produced during the ’60s and ’70s and many of them are personal favorites so I assumed I would probably really enjoy The Mind of Mr. Soames as well. The film didn’t exactly live up to my high expectations, but it had plenty of interesting moments and explored many fascinating ideas. The cast was truly exceptional and composer Michael Dress’s score is very good, but unfortunately Alan Cooke’s direction is rather dull and uninspired at times.

The Mind of Mr. Soames is based on a bestselling 1961 novel of the same name written by the British science fiction author Charles Eric Maine (pen name for David McIlwain). It tells the story of a thirty-year-old man named John Soames (Terence Stamp) who suffered a mild brain injury during birth that has kept him in a deep sleep his entire life. As the film opens Dr. Bergen (Robert Vaughn) is traveling to London to meet Dr. Maitland (Nigel Davenport) and perform a revolutionary type of brain surgery that will awaken Soames from his lifelong slumber, but he’s surprised by what he finds at the hospital when he arrives there.

Dr. Maitland (Nigel Davenport) has turned the entire hospital into a sort of set for a reality television program that plans to broadcast the operation and follow John Soames recovery. The ongoing interviews between the doctors and the television crew are conducted by a failed medical student and budding reporter named Thomas Fleming (Christian Roberts) who seems eager to exploit the situation as much as possible for his own gain.

When Soames awakens in a childlike state he is put under the care of the rather severe Dr. Maitland and his more sensitive assistant Joe (Donal Donnelly). Dr. Maitland is determined to accelerate Soames’ developmental process and he subjects him to countless tests and educational classes that leave no room for downtime or meaningful human interactions. Thankfully Dr. Bergen and Joe occasionally step in and try to offer Soames their friendship and understanding, but their acts of kindness seems strangely at odds with the cold and clinical environment Soames is trapped in.

One of the most fascinating things about the film is the way it explores early ideas about reality television. As John Soames slowly develops into an adult he is continually filmed by a television crew that watches his every move. Back in 1961 when The Mind of Mr. Soames was first written, reality television was a somewhat impossible idea and very few people besides smart science fiction writers could have imagined what television would be like today. So much of what is shown in The Mind of Mr. Soames has become commonplace now that it might be easy for some viewers to overlook the film’s somewhat groundbreaking take on modern media.

Mr. Soames (Terence Stamp) rests after the operation

It’s possible that the British documentary series Seven Up! (1964) was a minor inspiration for director Alan Cooke when he decided to turn The Mind of Mr. Soames into a film, but that’s debatable. Before making The Mind of Mr. Soames the director had previously worked in television and his previous experience both hinders and adds to the film in my opinion. Cooke’s directing is very static at times and I sometimes wondered if I was watching a television production instead of a feature film, but he does a wonderful job of portraying the subtle effects that an unblinking camera can have when it’s pointed on an unwilling subject. Cooke clearly understood the power as well as the limits of television and his knowledge of the medium is occasionally used to great effect in The Mind of Mr. Soames.

As the film progresses John Soames becomes more and more disenchanted with the claustrophobic environment he’s trapped in and he longs to escape the hospital as well as the cameras. In some of the films best moments Terence Stamp beautifully portrays Soames as someone who longs to be outside among nature and naively imagines the freedom that it offers. When Soames finally gets to explore the world outside the confines of the hospital walls, the film takes on an unearthly beauty that makes you wish the director had chosen to spend more time there instead of spending so much time inside the sterile hospital.

Top: Terence Stamp as Mr. Soames Bottom: James Dean (1955) in a similar shot

In one beautiful scene Stamp’s character lays down in the grass and stares wistfully at some flowers which are just beginning to blossom. The scene recalls the wonderful moment in Elia Kazan’s East of Eden (1955) when James Dean laid on the ground and willed the crops to grow. As I mentioned before in my previous piece about Terence Stamp, East of Eden is one of the actor’s favorite films and it was James Dean’s amazing performance as Cal that inspired Terence Stamp to become an actor. I have no idea if The Mind of Mr. Soames mimicked that important scene from East of Eden intentionally or if it was taken straight out of the book, but I can’t help wondering if Terence Stamp himself suggested it since the moment seems so clearly inspired by the film that encouraged him to start acting.

The Mind of Mr. Soames has an interesting, but somewhat unsatisfying ending. I liked the fact that the film didn’t offer any easy answers to John Soames complicated predicament but it somehow felt unfinished. Viewers are left to wonder what will finally become of this infantile character trapped in a man’s body and ruled by an adult world. I have no problem with inconclusive endings, but the movie seemed like it had more to say and never got the opportunity to say it.

Another complaint I have about the film is the lack of time given to the interesting cast of characters such as the kind and sensitive Joe who is played wonderfully by Donal Donnelly (The Knack …and How to Get It) and the pushy reporter Thomas who’s played by the edgy Christian Roberts (To Sir, with Love, Twisted Nerve, etc.) and his girlfriend Naomi who’s played by the cute Vickery Turner. Vickery Turner had lots of small roles in great British films and she was a popular stage actress in Britain during the sixties. When The Mind of Mr. Soames was released she was mostly known in the US as the wife of American actor Warren Oates who she met on the set of the 1969 comedy Crooks and Coronets a year earlier. The two were only married for five years and during that time Turner didn’t seem to do much acting. She’s terribly wasted in The Mind of Mr. Soames which is a shame. I think if her role had been fleshed out a bit more it would have given the film another interesting angle to explore.

Vickery Turner and Christian Roberts in The Mind of Mr. Soames

The Mind of Mr. Soames is hard to see in the US now, but it was originally distributed by Columbia Pictures. The film is definitely worthy of an offical DVD release and I’d love to see a nice widescreen presentation of the film with audio commentary from the main actors who are all still alive, except for Vickery Turner who passed away last year. Even though the movie suffers from some lackluster direction at times and poor editing, the actors raise the production to unexpected heights and Terence Stamp is especially noteworthy as the childlike John Soames.

If you’d like to see more still shots from the film please visit my Mind of Mr. Soames Gallery at Flickr.

I had planned on finishing up the Lucio Fulci tribute I started last week, which was slowed down by unexpected computer troubles, but I was deeply saddened to learn that the great British filmmaker & cinematographer Freddie Francis had passed away on March 17th due to complications following a stroke and I decided to spend some time writing about Francis instead since he’s long been one of my favorite filmmakers.

Freddie Francis began his career in cinema as a camera operator working with directors like Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger on The Tales of Hoffmann (1951) and John Huston on Moulin Rouge (1952), Beat the Devil (1953) and Moby Dick (1956).

In the late 50s Francis started focusing on cinematography and quickly became a master of his craft. He helped form what would later be called the British New Wave and was responsible for the impressive look of some of the best “angry young men” films of the period such as Saturday Night And Sunday Morning (1960). He also worked with great British directors like Joseph Losey on Time Without Pity (1957) and Jack Cardiff on the Oscar winning Sons and Lovers (1960). His early work helped breathe new life into British cinema and his black & white cinematography for director Jack Clayton was especially groundbreaking. The thoughtful drama Room at the Top (1959) and the haunting thriller The Innocents (1961) are both wonderful examples of what Freddie Francis was able to do with his camera.

Francis later turned to directing and was inspired by filmmakers such as Billy Wilder, William Wyler and Tod Browning, as well as his mentors which included John Huston and Michael Powell.

Some of his best work can be seen in the early films he made for Hammer Studios. Paranoiac is an under-appreciated gem made by Francis in 1963 which is beautifully directed and shot in stunning black & white. The director also manages to get Oliver Reed to deliver one of his greatest performances in Paranoiac as a tormented alcoholic. Another impressive early effort from Francis was the disturbing thriller Nightmare made in 1964. In Nightmare Jennie Linden plays a young girl who’s plagued by nightmarish visions and Francis does a stellar job of bringing the dark dream world she inhabits to life.

His color films were often just as interesting as his early black & white efforts, and some of his best movies included the seven horror films he made with the great Peter Cushing. Their first Hammer film together was the impressive Evil of Frankenstein (1964). Many fans of the Hammer Frankenstein films shun The Evil of Frankenstein because it takes a much different approach to the the character of the Doctor compared to how he’s usually portrayed in Hammer films. Instead of making Doctor Frankenstein a crazy & nasty man who’s out to do harm by making a monster, Freddie Francis turned him into a sympathetic character who’s horrified by his creation. I personally think the film is a great homage to the classic Universal Frankenstein movies of the 1930s & 40s, and the “birth of the monster” is especially well executed.

Following The Evil of Frankenstein, Freddie Francis made my favorite British horror anthology, Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965) which has some extremely effective moments and is creatively shot. It also has a terrific cast that includes Christopher Lee, Donald Sutherland and Peter Cushing as the mysterious fortune teller Dr. Sandor Schreck. Francis had the ability to weave shorter films into a wonderful whole. They didn’t always work, but more often than not they did and in Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors he was once again able to coax his cast of actors into giving some memorable performances as the tormented victims of Dr. Sandor Schreck’s prophecies.

Freddie Francis would later on go to direct many other great horror anthologies including Torture Garden (1967) and Tales of the Crypt (1972). Tales of the Crypt is based on the EC Comic series of the same name and it was the first film Peter Cushing made after the sad death of his wife Helen. I’ve always been touched by the way Freddie Francis and Peter Cushing worked together on Tales of the Crypt. Both men decided to come up with a way to pay their respects to the woman Peter had deeply loved and lost, so they changed the name of Cushing’s deceased wife in the film to Helen and brought actual pictures of her onto the set. Many people assume that Peter Cushing was distraught at the time, but Freddie Francis has always said that it was a choice that he and Peter made together to honor her memory. I’m sure that working on the film probably helped Peter Cushing work through his grief, because he delivered a terrific and sympathetic performance in Tales of the Crypt as the eccentric Mr. Grimsdyke.

Other memorable films that Francis and Cushing made together include the excellent occult thriller The Skull, the creative werewolf film Legend of the Werewolf (1975), the creepy and entertaining Ghoul (1975) and The Creeping Flesh (1973) which brought Peter Cushing together with Christopher Lee in one of their best parings. I recently watched The Creeping Flesh again and was planning on writing up a review for it so you can expect a longer analysis of the film from me soon.

Oddly enough, one film that Francis and Cushing did not work on together was Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968). The film was Francis’ feature entry into Hammer’s Dracula series, but like The Evil of Frankenstein, Francis didn’t necessarily follow Hammer formula in Dracula Has Risen from the Grave and Peter Cushing’s Van Helsing is nowhere to be found. What his Dracula film does include is some breathtaking studio photography and lovely use of color, which makes it’s one of the most visually striking of all the Hammer Dracula movies. It also has some surprisingly gory moments and Lee’s Dracula is smartly presented as a seductive, yet scary creature with animal instincts and a nasty temper.

As the 1970s approached Freddie Francis was becoming increasingly tired of the British horror genre he helped create. He had never intended on making a name for himself in horror cinema, but the dramas and comedies he wanted to direct never materialized. Horror fans greatly admired his skills as a director and cinematographer so studios like Hammer, Tigon and Amicus continued to offer him projects which he reluctantly accepted. I’m thankful that he did, because I think some of his best work can be found in the atmospheric horror films he directed.

Even his failures were interesting such as the The Vampire Happening (1971) which plays like a stylish gothic episode of Benny Hill and the musical horror comedy Son of Dracula (1974) which features an impressive cast of musicians including Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, Peter Frampton, Keith Moon and John Bonham.

In the 80s Francis worked as a cinematographer on such films as The Elephant Man (1980, David Lynch), The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981, Karel Reisz), Dune (1984, David Lynch), Cape Fear (1991, Martin Scorsese) and Glory (1989, Edward Zwick) which won him his second Oscar.

Thankfully he returned to directing for a brief time to make the terrific chiller The Doctor and the Devils (1985). The Doctor and the Devils was a film that Freddie Francis had wanted to make for 10 years and he got the opportunity to direct it when Mel Brooks (who he had met while working on The Elephant Man) agreed to help produce it. The film is based on a script by Dylan Thomas about the infamous Burke & Hare murders, and it features some terrific performances by a great cast that includes Timothy Dalton, Jonathan Pryce, Stephen Rea, Julian Sands, Patrick Stewart and model/pop singer turned actress Twiggy. Unfortunately Francis was upset with the cuts that 20th Century Fox decided to made to the film. His disappointment and frustration with making The Doctor and the Devils lead him to end his career as a director and focus on cinematography exclusively.

There are few cinematographers that can compare to Freddie Francis and he will be greatly missed, but I also think his wonderful career as a filmmaker has few rivals as well. It’s a shame that he didn’t direct more films in his later years, but thankfully he left us with an amazing filmography of work to enjoy. Even though he often regretted the years he spent in the British horror industry, I believe he achieved his greatest success there and we are lucky that his talent was used to advance horror cinema in creative and smart new directions.

A Selected Filmography of Recommended Films:
The Doctor and the Devils (1985)
Dune (1984) - cinematography
The Jigsaw Man (1983) - cinematography
The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981) - cinematography
The Elephant Man (1980) - cinematography
The Ghoul (1975)
Legend of The Werewolf (1975)
The Creeping Flesh (1973)
Tales That Witness Madness (1973)
Tales From the Crypt (1972)
Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly (1969)
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968)
Torture Garden (1967)
The Psychopath (1966)
The Skull (1965)
Hysteria (1965)
Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965)
Das Verrätertor (1964)
Night Must Fall (1964) - cinematography
The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)
Nightmare (1964)
Paranoiac (1963)
The Day of the Triffids (1962)
The Innocents (1961) - cinematography
Saturday Night And Sunday Morning (1960) - cinematography
Sons and Lovers (1960) - cinematography
Never Take Sweets from a Stranger (1960) - cinematography
Room at the Top (1959) - cinematography
Time Without Pity (1957) - cinematography

Recommended Links:
Freddie Francis Biography @ Brit Movie
Freddie Francis @ IMDb
Freddie Francis (1917-2007) by Tim Lucas at Video WatchBlog
Freddie Francis Obituary by Sheila Whitaker

The official Hammer Films website has been bustling with activity lately. As a long time lover of Hammer films, it’s been nice to see the site alive and kicking again. You can also find Hammer news at their new Myspace page.

Hammer has recently announced the release of lots of new offical movie related merchandise such as a nice looking t-shirt line available from Razamataz.com as well as upcoming board games, poker chips and playing cards. Besides releasing new merchandise, Hammer has also been busy signing a deal to make Majestic Films (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Icon Entertainment) its exclusive sales agent. What does that mean for Hammer fans? According to the Hammer Films website:

“In recent years Hammer has licensed a package of 20 leading video and DVD titles in a number of major territories. Majestic will continue this work, packaging other titles from the Hammer catalogue and targeting the hitherto unsold territories.”

Christopher Lee and Stephanie Beacham in Dracula A.D. 1972
Hopefully this new deal with Majestic will lead to a lot more Hammer films being released on DVD in the next few years. Late last year Hammer fans in the US were rewarded with the release of the very groovy Dracula A.D. 1972 on DVD and the wonderful Hammer Horror Series DVD Collection which featured some of Hammer’s best films including Brides of Dracula, Curse of the Werewolf, Phantom of the Opera, Paranoiac, Nightmare, Kiss of the Vampire, Night Creatures and The Evil of Frankenstein. While the quality of the Universal DVD release left a lot to be desired and came with no bonus materials, it was still a great treat for Hammer fans since many of the movies in the set had never been officially released on DVD in the US before.

The most recent Hammer DVD has been the nice widescreen release of The Anniversary from Anchor Bay. This unusual black comedy from Hammer stars the great Bette Davis in one of her most interesting roles and comes with some really nice bonus materials such as Audio Commentary with Director Roy Ward Baker, the original Trailer & TV Spot, Poster & Still Gallery and Talent Bios. Hopefully Anchor Bay will continue to release more Hammer films as part of their ongoing Hammer Collection series.

Next week on May 30th, Hammer fans can expect the release of the Hammer Film Noir Collector’s Set, Vol. 1-3. This nice collection from VCI Entertainment contains six rarely seen Hammer crime films made during the 1950s including Bad Blonde, Man Bait, Stolen Face, Blackout, The Gambler and the Lady and Heat Wave. Many of them are directed by the talented Terence Fisher who is most well known as the man behind some of Hammer’s best horror films. It’s nice to see his non-horror work for Hammer getting some attention now.

Next Month Hammer fans in Southern California can look forward to the exciting three-week retrospective The Golden Age of British Horror: 1955-1975 taking place at the Egyptian theatre in Los Angeles June 8-25th. This impressive event will feature screenings of many great Hammer horror films sourced from brand new prints including films still not offically available on DVD in the US such as The Gorgon, The Stranglers of Bombay, The Nanny, The Quatermass Xperiment and The Two Faces of Dr Jekyll. Other Hammer films playing in the festival include The Revenge of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula and Taste the Blood of Dracula. On June 17 the festival will even hold a Memorial Tribute to the recently deceased director Val Guest (1911-2006) who made many great films for Hammer.

The other two big British horror studios of the same era (Amicus & Tigon) will also be well represented at the festival. Some terrific films will be shown from both studios including The Skull (Amicus) and Corruption (Tigon). Both films star the late great horror legend Peter Cushing and have never been released on DVD. I wish I could move to Los Angeles for a month just to attend this incredible event!

Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in The Gorgon
British horror fans might be able to look forward to future DVD releases of the movies playing at the festival. There are many great Hammer films besides the titles I mentioned above that have still not gotten offical DVD releases yet and that’s a real shame. Many of these movies are made by great British directors like Terence Fisher, Freddie Francis, Joseph Losey and Seth Holt. These films also feature stellar performances from many talented actors such as Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Bette Davis, Oliver Reed, Michael Ripper, Dennis Price and Barbara Shelley. If The Golden Age of British Horror festival is a success it might encourage studios like Sony and Anchor Bay to finally release many of these films. If you’re a local, don’t miss it!