Like so many late 1960s and early 1970s European horror movies, I first saw SPIRITS OF THE DEAD at my local drive-in (which thanks to COVID, are making something of a comeback). I saw the American International English dubbed version which has a Vincent Price voiceover during the credits. AIP was hoping to tie it in with Price’s earlier Poe series. Even though it had 3 different directors, I was struck by the sheer beauty of the film and its overall dreamlike quality. I did not see it again until it came out on VHS in the 1990s. The picture quality wasn’t great but the movie still intrigued me although unlike most of the reviewers here, I think it’s about more than just Fellini’s TOBY DAMMIT.
The first story, METZENGERSTEIN, was directed by Roger Vadim and featured Jane Fonda during her BARBARELLA period (she was married to Vadim at the time). Although the dubbing was atrocious and Fonda’s outfits were outrageous, the cinematography by Claude Renoir was stunning (the burning barn is unforgettable) and the faux Medieval score was melancholy and effective. Seeing a pre-EASY RIDER Peter Fonda all decked out in leather as sister Jane’s unrequited love interest was quite the novelty and actually scandalized some people at the time. The photo spread in Playboy added to the sequence’s notoriety.
I consider the next segment, WILLIAM WILSON, to be the weakest of the three stories depicted. Director Louis Malle said he did it only for the money and it shows. The original Poe story about a doppelganger (exact double) is one of his best but you’d never know it from this. Alain Delon does his best (his bad dubbing doesn’t help) and certainly looks the part of the dashing officer but the set pieces around him are uninspired and often sadistic. They include lowering a boy into a barrel of rats and flogging Brigitte Bardot (in a ridiculous black wig that makes her look like Claudia Cardinale). It also has the worst falling dummy that I have ever seen. Not a total waste of time, but close.
Which brings us to TOBY DAMMIT (NEVER BET THE DEVIL YOUR HEAD is the title of the Poe story). So much has been written about this sequence in other reviews that I will let you read them for greater detail. I will say that it is Fellini at his most unbridled and features a marvelous Terrence Stamp performance which I’m sure he patterned after the post-CLEOPATRA Richard Burton. The use of the devilish little girl is straight out of Mario Bava’s KILL BABY KILL which was made 2 years earlier. Like so much late Fellini, it’s all about the visuals. Whatever you do, don’t try and make sense of it. Just go along for the ride. This is the one episode where the English version is essential thanks to Stamp’s vocal wizardry. The Italian version robs it of that extra dimension.
Finally we come to the issue of the various versions that are currently available. The 1998 Image DVD has a worn print but at least you have the option of the English dubbed soundtrack. Unfortunately you cannot turn off the subtitles which don’t match the English version in several places. The 2001 Home Vision edition has a much better picture and sound but there is no English version. While that doesn’t hurt Jane Fonda whose French is better than her English, it seriously impacts Terrence Stamp’s performance by robbing him of his voice. This Region 2 Arrow DVD is very expensive and the Region 2 Blu-Ray is dubbed into Spanish. It’s time for Criterion or perhaps Kino Lorber to give us a quality Region 1 Blu-Ray with both original and English soundtracks as well as removable subtitles.
The Capsule Critic 