In 1968, filmmaking giants Federico Fellini, Louis Malle and Roger Vadim all contributed an Edgar Allen Poe adaptation to a mostly-forgotten horror omnibus called Spirits of the Dead. It's been unavailable in the U.S. for a long time, but Arrow Films has finally released a new region-free Blu-ray of the film. And while Malle and Vadim's entries are a bit underwhelming, Fellini's psychedelic, totally insane take on Never Bet the Devil Your Head starring Terence Stamp makes this Blu-ray an essential for cinephiles and horror buffs alike.
In this segment, titled Toby Dammit, Stamp plays an American Actor who has sold his soul to the devil. Fellini makes it pretty clear that this was a bad idea from the first seconds of the film, which are filled with fog, ultra-stylized locations and a wider assortment of odd Italians than 8 1/2 and La Dolce Vida combined. The first half plays out as an eerie critique of celebrity and performance, with Stamp's pale, tortured face carrying the film as much as Fellini's creepy take on television interviews and fancy cocktail parties. But the real re-watch value comes during the second half, which basically consists of Terrence Stamp speeding through the narrow, winding streets of Rome screaming at the top of his lungs while tortured by visions of a creepy little girl with a ball. Yep, Fellini realized the frightening potential of ghost kids years before most of Hollywood. I've yet to see a horror movie that comes close to matching this nightmarish vision in terms of sheer madness.
Again, the DVD is region free, so it will play in US players.
£12.99 (about $20.44) @ Amazon UK