Spirits of the Dead (1969)
Film:
DVD:

Directed by Federico Fellini, Louis Malle & Roger Vadim
Written by Daniel Boulanger, Pascal Cousin, Federico Fellini, Louis Malle, Roger Vadim, Clement Biddle Wood & Bernardino Zapponi, based on the stories "Metzengerstein", "William Wilson", & "Never Bet the Devil Your Head" by Edgar Allan Poe
Starring Jane Fonda, Alain Delon, Terence Stamp, Brigitte Bardot, Peter Fonda

Anamorphic: Yes.

My Advice: Rent It.

When people think of films based on the works of our old pal Ed Poe, what springs to mind is something starring Vincent Price, of course, and perhaps directed by Roger Corman. But with more than a hundred credits on the IMDB, there's a lot more out there. This trio of tales are three bits helmed by different directors, and they each give their own unique spin on the original stories. A countess who thrives on debauchery dooms herself by her own jealous hand. An evil man who lives for the abuse and humiliation of others is continually thwarted by what could only be termed as his mysterious "good" twin. And an British actor in Italy to film a movie has to come to terms with a wager he should never have made.

The first segment, Metzengerstein, stars Jane Fonda and is directed by Roger Vadim, who directed her in Barbarella. All three of these segments, I should mention, are rather comical in that they were obviously filmed in English, dubbed in French, and now they're subtitled in English. Because this is Vadim, you get go-go boots. Lots and lots of go-go boots. At least they're...ah...period go-go boots, which is amusing in itself. But this is the weakest of the three parts, because it's basically Caligula Lite, with the tamest orgies you've ever seen. The closest it gets to tittilating is Fonda in a bathtub with another woman and they seem to be...ah...tweaking each other's nipples. I say seem because everything is very carefully hidden by the rim of the bathtub. This wouldn't be so bad but these lame attempts to show debauchery are second only to long drawn-out sequences of Fonda riding a horse. So the first segment is pretty much a wash.

The second, William Wilson, directed by Louis (Damage) Malle, starts off slow and stale and is rescued by the timely intervention of Brigitte Bardot. She and the titular character of the section share an extended poker game that would have dragged the segment into oblivion were it not for a combination of fascinating editing and camera shots along with the intensity of both Alain Delon and Bardot. That portion of the Wilson segment gives enough momentum to make it out the other side.

The third, Toby Dammit, stars a very young Terence Stamp, who has come to Italy star in a Catholic western. Drunk and half-mad with visions, he wants a fast car out of the deal. This last bit is directed by Fellini and is the only one of the three to have a sense of pervading horror about it. This is due to the amount of information thrown at you by the director, everything from nuns with very large sunglasses to people sitting around with photographs over their real faces. It's bizarre, grotesque and strangely satisfying. Not to mention it contains one of the freakiest little girls in the history of cinema.

As for the DVD presentation itself, there are no extra features. However, the menus are simple, but nice and fluid, featuring pictures from the film along with chapter and segment stops for the whole shebang. In a nutshell, the film serves primarily as a historical document, as seekers of true horror are probably going to be disappointed. Completist followers of the directors involved should purchase, but it's worth an amusing rental for the rest of us at the very least.