Spirits of the Dead A.K.A Tales of Mystery
A.K.A. Histoires extraordinaires A.K.A. Tre passi nel delirio
(1968) 121 min
Rated: R (Blood, Nudity)
Country: France | Italy
Director: Roger Vadim, Louis Malle, Federico Fellini
Starring: Jane Fonda, Brigitte Bardot, Alain Delon, Peter Fonda, Terence Stamp
Links: IMDB | Wikipedia
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Three horror stories based on works by Edgar Allen Poe.
Synopsis:
Metzengerstein
A young 22 year old Countess Frederique de Metzengerstein (Jane Fonda) inherits her family’s large fortune. She lives a life of debauchery and she can do anything she wishes. She is cruel and immoral holding orgies and killing peasants for fun.
Frederique’s land was near her cousin’s whom she did not speak to. She would openly mock him if she saw him from afar, but Wilhelm (Peter Fonda) would not acknowledge her. One day while in the forest her leg gets caught in a trap. Wilhelm frees her and disappears quietly. Frederique longs to see him again after this.
They meet again but Wilhelm rejects her and tells her he is a happy man without her.
This angers Federique and she has one of her helpers set fire to Wilhelm’s stable of horses. Wilhelm goes into the burning building to save his horse but dies inside it.
A mysterious black horse shows up that only Federique can ride. She is more somber now and does not take joy in the debauchery as she used to. A tapestry in her castle has hole where a black horse once was and she demands the work be repaired. Meanwhile, she spends most of her time riding the mysterious horse and being obsessed with it.
One night there is a thunderstorm and Federique is compelled to ride the horse which runs into a burning fire caused by lightening. She accepts this fate and wishes to die this way. Meanwhile, the tapestry is finished and the artist has given the horse blood red eyes of fire.
William Wilson
The story takes place in Northern Italy, when it was part of Austrian rule. A young man named William Wilson (Delon) begs to confess his sins to a priest.
It began when he was a young boy a young man who joined his school was also named William Wilson. William grows to detest this boy and attempts to choke him while he sleeps. He is caught and the two boys are expelled from school.
Later William joins a medical school. At night he ties up a woman to the dissection table and threatens to cut her open. Suddenly William’s Double appears and frees the woman. The woman runs to William and is cut on his scalpel.
William explains to the Priest that he left the university and joined the Austrian army to go to war.
One day during carnival time he attends a gambling room and plays cards against a woman named Giuseppina (Bardot).
She makes fun of William and is very good at poker. William plays against her and has a winning streak. He tells her that she will be his if he wins the next round. He wins and starts to whip Giuseppina’s bare back.
The Double arrives and shows everyone that William cheated hiding cards in his jacket. Giuseppina slaps William. He is asked to leave town as well as the military since he is a disgraceful cheat.
William chases after the Double and starts a sword duel. The Double wins the fight and begins to walk away. William, ever the scoundrel, runs up to his Double and stabs him with a small blade.
The Double starts to die in the streets and tells William that if he dies William will also die because the Double was William’s hope and humanity.
The priest tells William to reject his life of sin and start a new life devoid of vices. William is enraged, believing the priest does not believe him. He runs to the top of a bell tower and leaps off.
The Priest runs outside and turns over William’s body which now has a knife plunged into it in the same location the Double also was stabbed.
Toby Dammit
Toby Dammit (Stamp) is an alcoholic British actor who comes to Rome to star in an Italian Western. He is promised a Ferrari as part of his compensation.
He sees a young Girl dressed in white who bounces a silent ball at the airport. She does not play with him.
He gives an interview. He is asked whether he believes in God. He says no, but he does believe in the Devil and he believes the Devil to be cheerful and agile. He claims the Devil looks like a little girl.
Toby arrives at an Italian Cinema Awards ceremony. He is slowly losing his mind and drifting in and out of focus as the ceremony carries on in a dream-like state. A mysterious woman comforts him and tells him that she will always be by his side if he seeks for her.
Toby is literally thrust into the spotlight and asked to make a speech. Instead Toby complains about how he hasn’t worked in over a year and how his last director complained that he was drunk. He then reveals that a woman tried to comfort him and said that she’d always be there. Toby starts to scream that he doesn’t need anyone and runs off the stage.
He climbs into the Ferarri that he was promised. He starts to drive recklessly in the pitch black night. He gets lost in the outskirts of town.
He almost drives over a collapsed bridge. He stops the car and people nearby warn him to turn around. He sees that at the other end of the bridge is the Girl playing with her ball. Despite the huge gap, Toby vows that he will get across.
He climbs into the car and drives at high speed into the inky void.
A wire across the road has blood on it. A white ball starts to bounce and lands near Toby’s decapitated head. The Girl in white reaches and grabs the head with a smile plastered on her face.
Review:
This film is an anthology of Poe stories done by some well known directors.
The first film (directed by Roger Vadim) is a bit slow-paced and focuses on the drama. There’s some creepy incestuous subtext with the two main actors being siblings in real life and lovers in the film.
The second film, by Louis Malle, is the more straightforward of the three. The only highlight is the tension of the poker game.
The best is saved for last with the Toby Dammit segment directed by Roberto Fellini. It’s full of dreamy sequences and strong use of images and color.
The film is fairly well done and worth a watch if only for the amount of talent put into the film. It’s fairly entertaining and has some memorable sequences.