(David as Edward Charlton looks on in terror as the mirror demon approaches)

Below:- (Haggling for the cursed mirror alongside Peter Cushing)

 

From Beyond The Grave was produced by British studio Amicus in 1973. Written by R. Chetwynd Hayes who as a character would actually appear on screen 7 years later in The Monster Club , another anthology which featured Vincent Price and John Carradine.

From Beyond The Grave was directed by Kevin Connor who also directed several other cult classics including The Land That Time Forgot and Motel Hell . David plays Edward Charlton, in the opening tale The Gate Crasher.

We first see Charlton as he wanders down a dark alley into Peter Cushing's antique store 'Temptations limited', David's character is a smooth talker, something of a British yuppie who has everything going for him at the time. nice apartment, abundance of female friends and plenty of cash. What is about to happen to him and how he will end up by the end of the story will turn him into the complete opposite. Cushing appears from behind the store as the mysterious antique store proprietor, as Charlton has an eye on a rather interesting mirror, he knows it's expensive and tries to make out that it isn't what it seems and claims it has been treated. Cushing and Warner have a nice little scene as they both haggle over the mirror, Cushing with a great hammy Irish accent says its worth several hundred pounds and Warner offers only twenty five quid as he puts it. The cheap deal is done and Charlton makes off with the mirror thinking he has ripped the antique dealer off, and we then see the Cushing's character smiling knowing that he will have the last laugh.

Charlton is ever popular amongst his friends and holds a party at his apartment, the mirror now hangs on his wall and he brags how it was good business to get it so cheap. They are bored and decide to hold a seance, an eerie looking figure appears within the mirror and as the seance is conducted, a few of Charlton's guests freak out. The real curse of the mirror is revealed when everyone leaves and Charlton is alone, the mysterious figure in the mirror hypnotises Charlton and his downward spiral into terror and the loss of everything in his life begins. The mirror figure makes him kill whoever he can bring back to his apartment and the mirror figure played very creepily by Marcus Steiner who will become stronger with each kill Charlton makes until he is fulfilled. It's very similar to Hellraiser with the Frank and Julia character and the idea is borrowed in the latter by using the box instead of the mirror as the gateway to another world. The bodies of the victims continue to stack up has Charlton goes on his posessed killing spree, hiding the remains under the floorboards. It is some great acting by Warner as he becomes a shadow of his former self, shouting at the mirror figure for how many more victims to kill. Eventually the mirror figure is fulfilled and goes from old and weary looking to refreshed and youthful as he steps out of the mirror, and Charlton is now the opposite, unshaved, extremely exhausted and in a mess in bloodstained clothing. The figure explains he has possibly been in the mirror for centuries and was also hypnotised or tricked into the mirrors curse, it helps Charlton to kill himself as he is now at his wits end, this completes the figures evil plan and they now switch places. Charlton emerges from the mirror several months later as new occupants take over his apartment, he might be trapped in there for centuries or even forever and it is a long time to think about what you have had and lost, that is the real horror and terror of the story here.

As From Beyond The Grave was an anthology, it is always important to get the tales in the right order, and I think they did that here, as ' The Gate Crasher ' is definitely the strongest episode, and it featured alot in the original trailer which can be viewed on the site, here is a brief synopsis of the other tales. The Peter Cushing character as the Antique dealer acts as the wraparound story or crypt keeper as you may put it, each story begins with a bargain being struck in Temptations Limited. Of course this is my opinion which I think are the best tales and as a massive fan of Donald Pleasence he starred with his tale 'An Act Of Kindness' which came second about him playing a war veteran embroiled in voodoo, he played alongside his real life daughter Angela Pleasence who's performance is very creepy. Third up was the weakest story ' The Elemental ' which was about elderly exorcist type lady Madame Orloff (Margeret Leighton) who spots a demon latched on to a man's shoulder and offers her assistance to remove it. The film recovers well after this tale as my second favourite tale appears last ' The Door ' and features familiar actors Ian Ogilvy and Lesley Anne-Down, and also cements the fact that if you buy your item legitamatley from Temptations Ltd you will survive, Ogilvy plays William Seaton who purchases a door and fits it in his study, but it magically opens another blue tinted room where a killer from what appears to be victorian times exists!

           (A shadow of his former self)                      (Reborn in the mirror)

Trivia:- David has appeared in three anthology features, the two others being Necronomicon (1993) and Body Bags (1993).