Wednesday, August 10, 2011

FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE - David Gamely - "Creatures" (1974)

R.E.S.P.E.C.T., do the Wooley Bully or the Hokey Pokey, that's what it's all about!!! For a while there, Amicus had a love affair going with anthologies that combined four or five stories into one film, you know, like "Torture Garden," "The House That Dripped Blood," "Tales From The Crypt," "The Vault Of Horror," and/or tonight's feature, "From Beyond The Grave." The original music was composed by Douglas (What the Hell happened to this guy?) Gamely in his only credit ever! There seems to be no other information about the man! Do a Google search, and they'll ask you if you meant Game Fly, an American online video game rental subscription service, WTF?!

And "what's it all about, Ralphie?" Pretty basic in my church, Don't F with people......Period!! And especially don't F with kindly old men that look like Peter Cushing! Okay, that is Peter Cushing, don't F with him either, and whatever you do, don't rip-off or steal from him!

The first of these R. Chetwynd-Hayes tales called "The Gate Crasher" concerns David Warner as supreme jackass Edward Charlton! David is still working today and is one of the few people you can use his name and any of the following in the same sentence and it makes sense! TRON, Scooby-Doo, Captain Planet, Babylon 5, Batman, Rasputin, Dr. Who, Titanic, Toonsylvania, and Freakazoid!

Nice antique mirror, too bad it comes with a previous owner still embedded!

You know, maybe your life isn't so bad, after all! Things can always be worse!!

After Edward and his new best friend thrash his apartment, it's time for a little cleanup and a new resident, and you can even rent it out for a higher price now because it's been completely redecorated!!

Next up is tale number two, titled "An Act Of Kindness," starring Donald Pleasence, and Ian Bannen, neither whom are strangers around these parts! Ian was the star of the recently profiled "Doomwatch," and Donald Pleasence is a household word in the depths of The Dungeon!

Ian steals a military medal from The Proprietor, because he has told Donald that he is a veteran!

Ian's home life with Diana Mary Fluck, The English Marilyn Monroe, The Siren of Swindon, Miss Diana Dors is anything but pleasant! I'll tell you one thing, somebody had a good time decking out this set ala 1970's floral pattern city!

So it's time for Ian to take shelter in the arms of another, and although she looks slightly like a character from Tod Browning's "Freaks," Donald's real life daughter Angela Pleasence is lookin' damn fine to Ian, and she likes him, and she pays attention to him!

Ian's home life isn't getting any better, and his son is just as obnoxious as his wife. Although Diana is looking kinda saggy and over the hill, you have to remember that Marilyn never made it anywhere near this age!

Angela Pleasence is a fascinating woman with issues, and pays Diana a visit in the middle of the night!

You didn't really expect this to work out, did you? Instead of a knobjob, Ian ends up with a nutjob!!

NEXT!!! Pompous jerk Ian Carmichael steps into the batting circle to square off with The Proprietor in "The Elemental!" In his second role ever, Ian played Bill the Postman in a 1949 film titled "The Gay Lady," after that, it was continuous roles on TV as Bertie Wooster, Peter Lamb, Lord Peter Wimsey, Sir James Menzies, Lord Cumnor, and T.J. Middleditch! Ian passed away at the age of 89 just last year!

Great shot of Peter Cushing peering out from behind some of the treasures in his shop!

Lucky dog that he is, Nyree "Madame Bovary" Dawn Porter is Ian's wife!

Ian needs some help delivering himself from evil by the hands of Margaret "The Upper Crusts" Leighton!!

Once you're in this deep, there's no help for you!

The last story is about a door that is actually a portal to another world! Guy's got some weird stuff in his shop, you got to admit!

So what's the deal? You had to be named Ian to try out for a lead part in this film? This fourth segment is titled "The Door" and stars Ian Oglivy! A couple of this Ian's credits include "She Beast," The Sorcerors," and "Witchfinder General!"

So you put a new door in your pad, and because you obtained it in a less than correct manner, suddenly the door leads to another world where an insane pirate lives! No thanks, I'll stay in my garage!

Bummer! At least it's over! Right?!

In between all the other stories, there was always a seedy character milling around outside the shop. Ben "The Land That Time Forgot" Howard, is The Burglar, and the last vignette depicts this poor bastard's fruitless attempt at robbery! You should have no doubt that one more rocket scientist is going to bite the dust!

"Temptations Limited, Offers You Cannot Resist," that pretty much sums up the whole thing! Catchy! Soul Catchy!

5 comments:

zillagord said...

Thanks for the pics of David Warner. Reaffirming. Yeah, maybe life is alright....

Prof. Grewbeard said...

wow, this looks great and is yet another new one on me! David Warner was great as Jack The Ripper vs. Malcolm McDowell as H. G. Wells in whatever that movie was called, i'm drawing a blank...

Eegah!! said...

"Time After Time!" I forgot about that one!!

zillagord said...

I liked him in Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs." One creepy MF!

Douglas McEwan said...

Tiem After Time is such a good movie, and a real life love story, since Malcolm McDowell fell in love with Mary Steenburgen when they made it, and they married and had kids together.

When it opened at Gruman's Chinese Theater, they had the time machine from the movie on display in the forecourt.

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