THE COMFORT OF CAT AND SLIPPERS : HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEVIN CONNOR DIRECTOR OF 'FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE'!

PETER CUSHING: The Comfort of Slippers and a CAT! I am sure many of you will enjoy this rare photograph, of Peter relaxing, not at home... but sitting in the study of his long time friend and secretary, Joyce Broughton, in Herne Bay, near Peter's home in Whitstable, Kent. For those of you who know Peter's work well, I am sure you'll see the interesting connections in this photograph . . despite the terrible time his character Wilbur Gray endured in the 1977 film 'The Uncanny', personally he did have quite a passion and love of animals, birds, cats, dogs and wildlife. This cat lived in Joyce's home, a family pet...along with a dog too.

TO MY KNOWLEDGE, neither Peter or his wife Helen, ever had pets at home . . they preferred to enjoy the children and pets of their friends . . and have a quiet life! The slippers...well, we ALL know the connection there, I am sure . . 😊 This photograph was taken by and is the property of photographer Colin Bourner. 😉 Marcus *NOTE the book on the foot stool 😉

HAPPY BIRTHDAY director KEVIN CONNOR . .born today in 1937. He joined the Amicus films train, a little late in their journey, but in his very first outing as director, did amazing job on 'From Beyond The Grave' in 1974. It was also the first time he worked with Peter Cushing. Connor's timing, having served as an editor, brought a tighter beat to the Amicus style, managing to create what certainly looks like much higher production values, but I am sure the budget was as tight as ever. Released during the opening tip -toe, death march steps, of the collapse and fall of the British film industry.. From Beyond The Grave arrived a little late, when horror and fantasy films had moved on from spooky supernatural to full on exorcisms and gore . . though it did feature the lifting of nasty and mischievous Elemental demon . .

IT WOULD TAKE until the arrive of Home Cinema and the arrival of VHS and BBC double bills on TV, before it started to get the praise and recognition it deserved. Conner was also director and working with Peter on the last Amicus film, 'At The Earth's Core', managing to make a good ol family feature and get the best from Peter's almost second cousin to his Dr who. It was a huge production to manage.. at the time filing most of Pinewood studios lots with staggering jungle sets, caves, lava and men in suits! Hey! It's for the kids!

SOMEWHERE around this time, Peter stepped in with a guest appearance in another Connor directed feature called, 'Trail By Combat' aka 'A Dirty Knights Work' with John Mills... Connor also directed other very popular Amicus / AIP fantasy films too.. The Land That Time Forgot (1975), The People That Time Forgot (1977), Warlords of Atlantis (1978) by this time, Connor was certainly off Milton Subotsky's Christmas card list... but he did manage one more with Peter Cushing, 'Arabian Adventure' in 1978, with Peter making a guest appearance alongside it's star, Christopher Lee with...Milo O'Shea, Oliver Tobias, Emma Samms and...Mickey Rooney!

SINCE THOSE DAYS, Connor now spends most of his time and working and living in Hollywood directing films like Motel Hell (1980), The House Where Evil Dwells (1982), Sunset Grill (1993) and Domestic Import (2006), as well as many TV miniseries and films, including Goliath Awaits, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, Great Expectations, Diana: Her True Story, Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story, Mother Teresa: In the Name of God's Poor, In the Beginning, Frankenstein, Blackbeard, Marco Polo and many more, as they say... 

TODAY, we thank Kevin Connor for bringing out some very entertaining films which thankfully also included Peter, if not starring, certainly in the mix. Beyond The Grave for many, is in their top three of the Amicus portmanteau productions, and deservedly so...as we will all see when it is released on blu ray by Warner Brothers next month.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEVIN CONNOR, have certainly entertained us, took us BEYOND the grave, into the CORE, all while certainly making your mark as part of the Amicus adventure !!

A REMINDER: BACK LAST WEEK we shared the news that Warner Archive had just announced that the Amicus films 'From Beyond The Grave' (1974) . . . . .starring Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasence, David Warner plus a rostra of other stars names, in the true Amicus portmanteau tradition, and directed by Kevin Connor . . was coming to blu-ray. Warner have also announced that this release will be a NEW 2019 1080p HD MASTER too! The SPEC as we have right now is as follows: FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE (1973) Running Time 98:00.Sound Quality DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 - English Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, 16 X 9 WIDESCREEN: Product Color COLOR Disc Configuration BD 50. TO PLACE YOUR PRE-ORDER JUST CLICK : HERE!