Grave Tales

So you are probably aware that I'm a big fan of older British horror movies, right? Not just Hammer (although they are my main love), but the Amicus studio portmanteau horrors which frequently found Hammer alumni involved.

Fast forward to the 21st Century and we have a new anthology film to watch - Grave Tales.

The film opens with a researcher looking into gravestones and coming across a grave digger (the excellent Brian Murphy, probably best known for George & Mildred) who proceeds to tell her tales about the inhabitants of the plots...

Watching the four stories (featuring old Hammer hands Eduard de Souza and Damien Thomas) I had a strange sense of deja vu and then another connection dawned on me: three of the tales were based on short comic strips from the 70s magazine House of Hammer

One Man's Meat sees a butcher disposing of a body with unforeseen consequences.

Callistro's Mirror has a collector taking extreme measures to acquire a valuable mirror which has a dark history.

The Hand tells of two convicts on the run - one of which is determined not to go back to prison, at any cost.

the fourth story (and in my view, the weakest) features Norman J Warren (director of Satan's Slaves) as a pop video director with a band willing to pay any price for success.

At only 75 mins it's a short running time and nips among quit nicely. It's worth catching up with (despite some dodgy dubbing) but I'm surprised Dez Skinn hasn't sued them yet!