The Roger Vadim episode with the two Fondas is quite terrible, Jane with her left over costumes from Barbarella, is always watchable but what a mess.

It would be nice if Criterion could put this segment out on its own and give it the attention & study it deserves. "William Wilson," by Louis Malle, is an entertaining reworking of the old doppelganger theme starring Alain Delon as a pure lout AND his better half, a exact copy who drives him crazy by putting a halt to his evil impulses. It was shot around great-looking, crumbling oceanfront castles and is remarkably photographed, costumed and scored, it's just a shame the core plotting is so weak. The soundtrack for "Toby Dammit" simply stands out among the romantic and poetic gems. I found the ending slightly confusing, but still effective & tragic.#3, "Toby Dammit," directed by Federico Fellini.

'Spirits of the Dead' (1968), a French-Italian production narrated by Vincent Price, features three Edgar Allan Poe stories adapted for the screen and directed by three of Europe's most fascinating filmmakers of the period (choke! Not really, so at least he's being consistent here by turning Poe's tale into a dull, silly mess. When one of her minions burns the stable, Wilhelm dies trying to rescues his stallion and Federica is haunted by her lost cousin.This erotic female version of Caligula shows the delicious Jane Fonda, who was married to Roger Vadim at that time, wearing sexy costumes very similar to "Barbarella" (of the same year). It tells a familiar doppelgänger story of the wicked William Wilson (Alain Delon) who is also interrupted by his 'better half' who shares his name and his appearance, but none of his evil ways. Any sadism is, at most, implied: "If there is on earth a supreme and unqualified despotism, it is the despotism of a master mind in boyhood over the less energetic spirits of its companions." Online sources are still adding for Spirits of the Dead. Finally we enter Fellinian universe with the 3rd movie. It was written for the Fellini's episode in the "Tre passi nel delirio" aka "Spirits of the Dead" (1968), "Toby Dammit". This was a tight, satisfying little story. In every possible technical department, this segment is a triumph and the creepy finale (borrowing a key image from Mario Bava's KILL, BABY, KILL!) After he rejects her, she orders the burning of one of his villages, and the Baron is killed when attempting a rescue of one of his horses.

Watch Spirits of the Dead Online. ", Roger Vadim, Louis Malle, Federico Fellini, Bernardino Zapponi, Edgar Allan Poe, Roger Vadim.

Federico Fellini brings us the usual lot of half freaks half normal people with his incomparable touch of humour but always caricaturing types we may meet in everyday life giving way to our inner fears, fancies and anxieties. After winning a card game against Giuseppina (Brigitte Bardot) through repeatedly cheating, his other half exposes him, and the two face a duel.

It tells the story of a beautiful yet debauched countess Federica (Jane Fonda) who falls in love with her family rival, Baron Wilhelm (Peter Fonda - bit weird, them being real-life brother and sister), who frees her leg from a trap in the woods. In Melville's film Dargelos and Agathe are played by same person, and their mysterious resemblance is important to the story.All of these added Cocteau elements are so strong that one assumes that Malle intended viewers to recognize the reference.

Thematically similar to most of his key works, Terence Stamp's crumbling lead character is the main focus, and his disintegrating sanity is laid out on the screen with a collection of flashing images, bizarre characters, and unconventional camera-work.

The Vadim is as overdecorated and shrill as a drag ball, but still quite fun, and the Malle, based on one of Poe's best stories, is simply tedious. Toby was also offered the role of Jesus in the Catholic Western but all he remembered that he had been promised a Ferrari for participating in the ceremony and Ferrari he will get...with the ride to hell that looks exactly like Rome at night where every turn takes you to the dead end and the Devil only knows the way out but you will pay him a price...I found all three films interesting and involving in their own terms.

No comment as to the merits of these actions or her presence; nevertheless, the tale's ending doesn't quite work.Fellini's 'Toby Dammit' is classic, freakshow Fellini. Disney + Pixar + Marvel + Star Wars + Nat Geo, Get unlimited access to the largest streaming library with limited ads, Stream on up to 4 devices at the same time.

Odd story structure here and Brigitte Bardot (in a black wig) is good support during a fateful card game.

These are the full orchestrations (as heard in the movies they come from) and just listening to the familiar melodies brings back the memories and the images. An angel-faced but throughly rotten and sadistic man (Alain Delon) is hounded by a mysterious man that shares his name. However, I wouldn't mind sitting through those turkeys once again for the sheer pleasure of the third segment: Fellini's "Toby Dammit" with a superlative Terence Stamp.

"Toby Dammit": the cynical alcoholic and decadent English actor Toby Dammit (Terence Stamp) travels to Rome to make a Catholic Western, but only interested in receiving the Ferrari promised by the production.This messy segment directed by Federico Fellini uses stylish images and a great performance of Terence Stamp, but the story is confused and the boring conclusion is too long.

The universal opinion is that only Fellini's entry is worth watching and it is indeed, spectacular with Terence Stamp fitting so well in the Fellini's freak show that it is impossible to take your eyes off him.

I'm not a fan of Fellini but perhaps he found his metier in humanistic horror.

stars, Romanticism, the shadow of Edgar Allen Poe and the mark of directors. Vadim doesn't seem to have any comprehension of suspense or what it takes to present a story that, if not scary, is at least spooky. Then comes the story directed by Louis Malle a much more competent director than Vadim, if we remember such masterpieces as Les Amants and Le Feu Follet.

A jaded, alcoholic actor is invited to Rome to film a spaghetti western based on the life of Jesus Christ and attend a bizarre Italian version of the Oscars. Roger Vadim's "Metzengerstein" is incredibly beautiful.

That is all well and good (it was one of the key reasons why I loved Barbarella!) The only real negative is that Terrance Stamp, who gives an incredible performance, has his voice completely dubbed by a French actor. We're sorry but jw-app doesn't work properly without JavaScript enabled.

seductive. Later, Home Vision released a higher quality version with four additional minutes of footage, using much finer source material. And then comes the really good stuff.

again. it is strange to see a film ignoring its artistic virtues. The torture is briefly in Melville's film, but described more fully in the novel: "By the spasmodic flaring of the gas lamp he could be seen to be a small boy with his back against the wall, hemmed in by his captives...One of these...was squatting between his legs and twisting his ears...Weeping, he sought to close his eyes, to avert his head. Good stuff that. "The Ultimate Best of Federico Fellini & Nino Rota" includes the tunes arranged in the medleys for 16 films directed by Fellini. Spirits of the Dead, based on Edgar Allen Poe stories and directed by Europe's most acclaimed filmmakers of the time, didn't disappoint...well, except for the first story.#1, "Metzengerstein," directed by Roger Vadim. Watch Spirits of the Dead. In the opening school sequence, Poe's Wilson is, to be sure, a leader of the other students: "the ardor, the enthusiasm, and the imperiousness of my disposition, soon rendered me a marked character among my schoolmates, and by slow, but natural gradations, gave me an ascendancy over all not greatly older than myself." Another focuses on a religious man (Alain Delon) who seeks absolution for a murder only to find that his violent impulses come rushing back. A: Not me.Malle's segment (‘William Wilson') is solid but not worth repeated screenings.

The first, entitled Metzengerstein, is directed by the man that helmed Barbarella, Roger Vadim.

He approaches the other's bed at night, apparently sees his own face on the sleeping boy and "passed silently from the chamber, and left at once, the halls of that old academy, never to enter them again.

because, maybe at the first sigh only, the film seems use his work only as pretext. has lost absolutely none of its impact.The score by Nino Rota and cinematography by Giuseppe Rotunno deserve special recognition, as well. Has Vadim ever made a truly good film? Even more to the point, Dargelos has a doppelganger in the form of the character Agathe. The two described how they invite spirits of the dead to help fight today's alleged racial injustice. My vote is six. Brigitte Bardot is very different with black hair. Please enable it to continue. She is rich, bored, corrupted, and ruthless, a "petty Caligula", until she meets her cousin Wilhelm (played by Jane's brother, Peter Fonda). As I think I’ve already conveyed, I found Spirits of the Dead highly entertaining and a very welcome gap-filler in my knowledge of the respective directors and actors involved in its creation. The doppelganger makes his first appearance by hitting Wilson with a snowball. The evil Baroness Frederique (Jane Fonda, the directors wife at the time) is an insatiable tyrant who presides over orgies and sadistic, dehumanizing games. But the story is weak.

I enjoyed reading the Poe stories (linked below), noting the unique twists that each creative team introduced into their narratives. It seems to be nothing more than an excuse to get Jane Fonda into some skimpy medieval outfits.

It's interesting that no IMDb commenters seem to have caught Malle's significant homage in "William Wilson. When she moves with her friends to one of her castles nearby the lands of her poor cousin Baron Wilhelm (Peter Fonda), she desires him but is not corresponded.

"Spirits of the Dead"(1968) - adaptations of three Edgar Allen Poe stories by three European directors, Roger Vadim's "Metzengerstein" with Jane and Peter Fonda, Louis Malle's "William Wilson" (with Alain Delon and Briget Bardout), and Federico Fellini's "Toby Dammit". An enjoyable, if unspectacular overall film, with the stories getting notably better as the film goes on.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com. American International Pictures distributed this horror anthology film featuring three stories by Edgar Allan Poe directed by European directors Roger Vadim, Louis Malle and Federico Fellini. If you really must ogle the young Jane Fonda, get Barbarella. My vote of 9 is only for Fellini's entry, Toby Dammit.

Image used a less-than-satisfactory source print, and the transfer looks crummy.

The English-language version features narration by Vincent Price. and full of nostalgia. and bizarre.

The snowball fight not only is featured in Jean-Pierre Melville's film of the novel, but Cocteau filmed the scene earlier in his own BLOOD OF A POET. It is also an attack on celebrity, as the characters that Dammit comes across don't react or flinch at his increasingly strange and unpredictable behaviour.