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Jane Fonda, Terence Stamp, Brigitte Bardot, Alain Delon, James Robertson Justice ... see more see more... , Peter Fonda , Francoise Prévost , Fabrizio Angeli , Rick Boyd , Katia Christina , Ernesto Colli , Paul Cooper , Umberto D'Orsi , Georges Douking , Anny Duperey , Philippe Lemaire , Carla Marlier , Serge Marquand , Renzo Palmer , Jérôme Polidor , Vincent Price , Salvo Randone , Anne Tonietti , Daniele Vargas , Andreas Voutsinas , Alcardo Ward , Marina Yaru , Clement Biddle Wood , Marco Stefanelli , Katia Christine

Released in Europe as Histoires Extraordinaires and Tre Passi Nel Delirio, this is a portmanteau picture, comprised of three supernatural playlets based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. "Metzengerstei... read more read more...n," directed by Roger Vadim, stars the director's then-wife Jane Fonda as a medieval woman prone to acts of vengeance. Her brother Peter Fonda is somewhat perversely cast as her cousin, for whom she holds incestuous yearnings. When he gives her the cold shoulder, she spitefully sets fire to his stable of horses. He is himself killed in the blaze, but it seems that he has been reincarnated as a horse. In "William Wilson," directed by Louis Malle, a sadistic Austrian officer (Alain Delon) commits various S&M misdeeds upon a variety of victims, including a woman (Brigitte Bardot) with whom he plays cards. The officer himself comes to grief when he finds that the Church will not allow him to say an act of contrition. And "Never Bet Your Head," directed by Federico Fellini, updates the Poe original by casting Terence Stamp as a self-indulgent movie star. Driving drunk one evening, the actor literally bets his head that he can escape a potentially fatal accident. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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64% liked it

2,068 ratings

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89% liked it

18 critics

R, 1 hr. 57 min.

Directed by: Federico Fellini, Louis Malle, Roger Vadim

Release Date: July 23, 1969

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DVD Release Date: February 4, 1999

Stats: 119 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (119)

  • ajv2688
    December 11, 2010
    ajv2688
    This movie features three stories directed by three great foreign directors, and the cast features some of the best foreign actors at the time too. I really liked the stories and seeing all the different directing styles is so cool. I highly recommend this movie.
  • bookmunki
    May 27, 2009
    bookmunki
    Poe's macabre tales are re-envisioned by three auteurs: Vadim, Malle, and Fellini. Vadim's 'Metzemgerstein' is reinterpreted in the form of a debauched, depraved, decadent countess -- Jane Fonda. Her nature is aptly described as a 'petty Caligula.' Orgies, bisexuality, and hedo... read morenism abound. Her costumes were late 60's outrageousness. Falling in love with her cousin, played by her brother, Peter, just added to the creepiness factor. Eventually, she and her spirited black stallion are literally consumed by flames.

    Malle's vision of 'William Wilson' was my personal favorite. Alain Delon is perfectly cast as a sadist, haunted by his conscience, which is manifested as his doppelganger. Malle's jumpy camera perfectly translates the terror and anxiety experienced by Delon after murdering his doppelganger. By eliminating his superego, he has essentially murdered himself.

    Fellini's loose adaptation of Poe's story is replete with surrealistic trademarks. This heightens the absurdity of the story. Terrence Stamp is well cast as an amoralist, tormented actor. His joyride to hell is the most shocking scene in the trilogy.

    The combination of the tales is quite moralistic: the devil will always get his due.
  • adammahler1
    January 9, 2008
    adammahler1
    the 3rd segment by Fellini, "Toby Dammit", is amazingly kinetic, and Malle's has some disturbing touches
  • pier007
    August 12, 2007
    pier007
    european filmmakers paid homage to the great Edgar Allan Poe. Fellini's Toby Dammit, with a great performance by a deranged Terence Stamp, is the best of them all. excellent feminine presence by the two sexy Jane Fonda and Brigitte Bardot.
  • DrStrangeblog
    January 25, 2009
    DrStrangeblog
    3 Edgar Allen Poe tales, I haven't read any of them:

    Roger Vadim's entry which he also scripted seems like it was sourced from a twelve-page tale and extended to forty minutes. Easily the least of the series, but features Jane Fonda during her hottie '60s era. ... read moreLuridly interesting/uncomfortable to see her in a couple three-way scenes since she recently revealed that her then-husband (the very same Roger Vadim) would force her into such trysts. They always say to write what you know.

    Louie Malle's tale is the best, and quite disturbing with Alain Delon as a completely evil sadistic bastard - even as a child, he would tear up letters from his mother unread and dangle schoolmates into a barrel of rats. Yikes. However, his evilest plans are constantly thwarted by a strange alter-ego.

    Fellini's tale is the weirdest, and a segment I found very entertaining until the last 15 minutes which seems aimless and padded. Still, the Italian Oscars sendup is a marvelous mix of satire and surrealism. Even the title character's name is funny: Toby Dammit.

    All told, an entertaining and visually stimulating waltz of the macabre.
  • julito32
    December 20, 2008
    julito32
    This is strange collection of Poe tales I got to catch on TCM. All the writing is in English, with English actors, speaking in English, but is dubbed in French. OK. The doppelganger story was the most interesting to me, followed by the Fonda one, who is just breathtakingly al... read moreluring. Funny, all the reviews I read of this laud the Terance Stamp story, by I just couldn't take it after 20 or so minutes, and this final one did run particularly long. I guess I'd find it interesting if I was as high as the surreal atmosphere was. I as just as uninterested as Stamp was at the awards. I just fast forwarded through it.
  • engrymfilm
    October 17, 2008
    engrymfilm
    I confess to owning this but not having watched Vadim's or Malle's segments. I'm giving five stars to 'Toby Dammit'. Such a playful little short horror film
  • capkronos
    October 4, 2007
    capkronos
    Three top European directors take on the works of Edgar Allan Poe in what is one of my favorite anthology horrors, right up there with DEAD OF NIGHT (1945) and BLACK SABBATH (1963).

    Roger Vadim's "Metzengerstein" is incredibly beautiful. It was shot around great-looking, crumb... read moreling oceanfront castles and is remarkably photographed, costumed and scored, it's just a shame the core plotting is so weak. The evil Baroness Frederique (Jane Fonda, the directors wife at the time) is an insatiable tyrant who presides over orgies and sadistic, dehumanizing games. When she destroys a pure soul, her distant cousin Wilhelm (Peter Fonda), horses and fire play a key role in her demise.

    "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. Odd story structure here and Brigitte Bardot (in a black wig) is good support during a fateful card game. And then comes the really good stuff.

    "Toby Dammit" (released separately as "Never Bet the Devil Your Head"), a brilliant and sometimes very chilling piece of enigmatic filmmaking from Federico Fellini. Terence Stamp is a marvel of facial expressions as boozy, obnoxious British movie star Toby Dammit, who falls apart at the seems upon arriving in Italy to start production on a Western reworking of the story of Christ. Instead he becomes imprisoned in his own personal hell. 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!) has lost absolutely none of its impact.

    The score by Nino Rota and cinematography by Giuseppe Rotunno deserve special recognition, as well. The version I saw (titled TALES OF MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION) is subtitled, but a dubbed version also exists featuring narration by Vincent Price.

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Critic Reviews

Vincent Canby
May 9, 2005
Vincent Canby, New York Times

[Toby Dammit] is marvelous: a short movie but a major one. 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 te... Full Review

Rob Gonsalves
July 6, 2010
Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com

Definitely worth a look for fans of the involved directors, though such fans probably already own it. Full Review

Fernando F. Croce
January 27, 2010
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion

Three devout libertines have a go at Poe, fear and trembling invade their debauchery voluptuously Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
January 5, 2009
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

None of the three European director's stories catches the macabre flavor of Poe. Full Review

September 25, 2007
Empire Magazine

Intriguing and mostly successful. Full Review

August 29, 2006
TV Guide's Movie Guide

If the other two stories had also been done by Fellini, the whole offering might have been much better. Full Review

Mark Bourne
April 5, 2006
Mark Bourne, DVDJournal.com

Episode 3, however -- this is the one people talk about when they talk about Spirits of the Dead. Federico Fellini's 'Toby Dammit' stars Terence Stamp in a piece that's a Fellini film festival in mini... Full Review

February 9, 2006
Time Out

Only Fellini (Toby Dammit) really manages to make much of his source. Full Review

Widgett Walls
July 2, 2004
Widgett Walls, Needcoffee.com

Horrific? Not really. But interesting to watch.

Jake Euker
March 10, 2004
Jake Euker, F5 (Wichita, KS)

See it for Fellini's hilarious "Toby Dammit" sequence. (Elsewhere Jane and Peter Fonda play lovers...)

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Spirits of the Dead Trivia

  • What actor links Lilo and Stitch, Con Air, Mission Impossible III, Pulp Fiction, Jacob's Ladder, Bringing Out The Dead, Mission Impossible, Rosewood, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Baby Boy and Idle Wild? (this question better get a thumbs up just off of all the typing)  Answer »
  • What are the spirits of dead kings called in "The Lord of the Rings" series?  Answer »
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  • In what movie was a magician arrested for insulting a prince with his tricks and contacting the spirits of the dead?  Answer »
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