Dark Stories: Tales from Beyond the Grave

"When the curtain goes up, let the horror begin!"

2001 1h 23m EN

😐

5.5

MID

★5.5TMDB · 2

Horror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Witness a dinner party with a diabolical main course - obsession is put to the limit when a scorned and demonic woman traps the man of her dreams, submission has never been so terrifying!!! - a grizzly murderer is forced to cover his trail without losing his mind. These eerie tales from the grave will leave you at the edge of your seat, screaming for more. Things are often not what they seem.

“When the curtain goes up, let the horror begin!”

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Cast

Sarah Smuts-Kennedy
Sarah (segment 'Eau de la vie')
Kirsty Hamilton
Catherine (segment 'Eau de la vie')
David Geary
Grant (segment 'Eau de la vie')
Jeff Boyd
Maitre'd (segment 'Eau de la vie')
Peter Daube
Tank Man (segment 'Eau de la vie') / Paul (segment 'Bitch')
Janet Roddick
Singer (segment 'Eau de la vie')
Joanne Simpson
Isabel (segment 'Bitch')
Carol Smith
Ruth (segment 'Bitch')

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Simon Baré
Writers: Simon Baré, Fiona Samuel, Anna Reeves
Languages: English
Countries: New Zealand

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

83 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

25 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Dark Stories Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CAST

Did you know

213+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Simon Baré, shot by Richard Bluck. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jeremy Dempsey. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Eric De Beus shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sarah Smuts-Kennedy and Kirsty Hamilton and David Geary carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Simon Baré directs. Richard Bluck behind the camera. Jeremy Dempsey scores. Eric De Beus cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in New Zealand. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

183 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
225 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Part of the "Dark Stories Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4213+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
5Directed by Simon Baré, shot by Richard Bluck. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Jeremy Dempsey. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Eric De Beus shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Sarah Smuts-Kennedy and Kirsty Hamilton and David Geary carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "When the curtain goes up, let the horror begin!".
10IMDB entry: tt0326819 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Only 2 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Richard Bluck
Original score: Jeremy Dempsey
Editing: Eric De Beus
Production design: Tanea Chapman
Costume design: Denise Kum
Makeup / hair: Susan Davis
Sound: Chris Burt
Stunt coordinator: Sally Rodwell
Runtime: 83 min · 1h 23m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Dark Stories: Tales from Beyond the Grave (2001)

Part of

Dark Stories Collection

Across a series of chilling, stand-alone short films, the Dark Stories trilogy plunges into the bleak underbelly of life, proving that the most terrifying evils are often human. From the quiet, obsessive paranoia of suburban homes to the dark secrets buried in the country’s remote corners, each tale explores themes of entrapment, moral decay, and retribution. This anthology is a descent into a world where ghosts, monsters, and demons lurk not in the fog, but in the heart of humanity itself. The grave is not the end, but merely the next stop in a relentless cycle of horror... and the reckoning is always waiting.