Cult – 1000 Films Blog

Posted on October 29, 2025October 31, 2025 by 1000filmsblog

#368 Spirits of the Dead/Histoires extraordinaires

Watched: October 7 2025

Director: Federico Fellini, Louis Malle, Roger Vadim

Starring: Jane Fonda, Brigitte Bardot, Alain Delon, Terence Stamp, Peter Fonda

Year: 1968

Runtime: 2h 1min

Spooctober continues (we expand it into November as well. And occasionally December. Not to mention January! There’s nothing scarier than a blank slate and new opportunities, after all…), and coincidentally there are quite a few fitting films coming up on the list. Such timing! In Spirits of the Dead, three directors have each made a short film based on the works of our child- and adulthood hero Edgar Allan Poe. Artistic liberties have been taken, but in each entry Poe’s spirit is present. And he is in fact dead. So the (English) title checks.

We like to think his spirit still roams wild on Hampstead Heath. Close to the meat.

Director Roger Vadim is behind the first segment, “Metzengerstein.” Here, cruel, oversexed countess Frédérique de Metzengerstein (Fonda) falls for her cousin/enemy/rival/neighbour Wilhelm Berlifitzing (also Fonda, but this time Peter), burns down his stables when he rejects her, then grows obsessed with a horse that appears out of nowhere just as Wilhelm accidentally dies in the fire. Well, technically the horse seems to appear out of a tapestry. Either way, clearly a supernatural horse. It does not end well for her.

There’s a joke in here somewhere about stallions and getting wet, but we’re better than that.

The second adaptation, Louis Malle’s “William Wilson,” follows the titular character (Delon) as he is confronted by kindness and positive qualities, things he himself does not possess in the slightest. As he goes around bullying and torturing school mates, trying to start a serial killer career by dissecting a random (and still alive) woman he picked up from the street (with a willing audience of equally psychotic medical students, it seems? WTF, guys???), and cheating at cards (ok, this one sounds relatively mild compared to the others, but he does it in order to strip and whip a woman (Bardot) in front of yet ANOTHER audience of men before offering her up for them to rape. So the cheating really was just a means to an end), he is repeatedly thwarted by a doppelganger (or the Jekyll to his Hyde, if you will). And Wilson is pretty darned indignant about it! It does not end well for him.

We see you, guys in the background who just stand by. You’re all equally culpable.

The final, and in our opinion best, entry is Fellini’s “Toby Dammit,” based on the story “Never Bet the Devil Your Head.” Now, while it might be the segment that diverges the most from the story on which it is based (it is also the only one where they did not keep the title or the historical setting), it is also the most successful (in our opinion). Toby (Stamp) is a messed up, alcoholic actor visiting Italy to star in a Catholic western and drive a Ferrari, who keeps seeing the devil everywhere. This devil is in the form of a little girl with a ball as opposed to Poe’s old man with just a girly hairstyle (actual quote: “his hair was parted in front like a girl’s”). Toby’s behaviour becomes increasingly unhinged as he falls deeper into the bottle as well as his own visions, climaxing in a wild Ferrari ride. It does not end well for him.

“Dress for the job you want, not the one you have,” they say. “Dress like a sickly Byronic vampire and reap the consequences,” we say.

Poe’s original story “Never Bet the Devil Your Head” is a hilariously passive aggressive response to his critics who accused him (and/or his tales) of lacking morals. So he wrote the most blatantly moral tale he could come up with. It is definitely worth reading if you have not – the tone is hilarious. However, it may not be the easiest story to make into an interesting film, so Fellini’s decision to basically keep only the ending and a slightly morally dubious protagonist is an understandable one. And as stated, this entry was our favourite, despite us being Poe-purists at heart.

“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night” What a legend!

While the three shorts have varying degrees of connection with the source material, they have all definitely tried to sex it up quite a bit. Poe wasn’t really known for his spicy content – he was more about the implied incest and necrophelia than explicit sexual stuff. So, much more pure. In Vadim’s “Metzengerstein,” the young count Frederic has become sexy Frédérique, and the old neighbour Berlifitzing has become young, alluring, and a cousin to boot. So at least Poe’s incest motif has been honoured, we guess. William Wilson, while always an unlikable character has, in Malle’s version, become a sexual sadist in addition to your ordinary, run-of-the-mill everyday sadist from the short story.

Admittedly, it’s been a while since we read “Metzengerstein.” It is entirely possible that Frederic wore this exact outfit in the story and the adaptation is true to its source material.

We loved the costumes, Terence Stamp, Jane Fonda, the Devil, the stressful Ferrari ride, the Catholic Western that Toby’s set to star in (complete with cowboy Jesus and all), the award ceremony and basically everything about Fellini’s entry. We also enjoyed the fact that these filmmakers have chosen relatively unknown Poe tales to adapt (at least, lesser known compared to “the big ones”). This may of course be related to the fact that there were supposed to be more directors and stories filmed for the series, but one by one they all dropped out, leaving the three we have today. While the project may not have reached the heights originally envisioned, the ones that were completed are definitely worth a watch, and the film is a perfect choice for Halloween (which, as you all know, is celebrated from October 1st through (at least) November 30th).

I believe we just found this year’s costume

What we learned: Dammit, Toby! Also, if you stand by and do nothing, or participate in the slightest, when people are trying to rape or kill, you’re as culpable as the perp. Do better!

MVP: Terence Stamp. And Edgar himself, obvi.

Next time: The Boston Strangler (1968)

Posted on October 5, 2025 by 1000filmsblog

#363 Night of the Living Dead

Watched: February 16 2023 (We know, we know… It’s been an intense few years, ok?)

Director: George A. Romero

Starring: Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Keith Wayne, Judith Ridley, Russell Streiner

Year: 1968

Runtime: 1h 36min

Heeeeey guys… So it’s been (another) minute, but we’re finally back in a place in our lives where we want to try to revive the blog. How fitting then, to talk about a movie where things refuse to stay dead and buried! It’s almost as if we planned this (we didn’t. Planning is not really part of our skill set..).

In Night of the Living Dead, siblings Barbra and Johnny expect nothing but a peaceful afternoon on their yearly road trip to place flowers on their father’s grave. Which just goes to show that expectations are meant to be crushed. Instead of a routine 6 hour trip of bickering about the inconvenience of their father being buried so far away (rude! Of him, we mean. Bury yourselves close to your relatives), they find themselves caught in a new and exciting situation: the dead walking the earth and armageddon being nigh! Well, Barbra does at least. Johnny is a lost cause from the beginning and the first one to die. But his sister makes a valiant, if somewhat hysterical, effort to escape the slooooowly creeping dread that surrounds her.

POV: the most unsettling game of Grandma’s Footsteps ever (possibly apart from the one played in Royston Vasey)

We probably don’t need to say much more about the plot – a bunch of strangers end up together in a house trying to survive, and make sense of, an inconceivable and dangerous situation. Some with more luck than others.

50+ years later, the zombies themselves might not pack the same punch (bite?) they once did, but Night of the Living Dead is still incredibly entertaining, creepy and stressful. This is the movie that cemented the modern zombie; not the Haitian undead slaves, but flesh-eating monsters with brains on their… well, brains. Interestingly enough, the word “zombie” is not used in the film – the undead are referred to as “ghouls” throughout. But you don’t fool us – we know what you really are!

A zombie, by any other name, would bite as hard

Shockingly to a lot of white audiences back at the height of the American Civil Rights Movement (and even now because the world sucks and people suck even more), the most constructive and reasonable person in the film is an African American man. Ben deals with what must be dealt with and gets shit done. Of course, once the Middle Aged White Man™ emerges from the deep dark basement, he tries to take over the leadership position. Fortunately, there are some Radical ’60s Teens™ around to help the cultural progress in the US (a.k.a. the house) and support Ben.

You don”t mess with Ben. He came there to chew bubble gum and kick undead ass. And he’s all out of bubble gum.

Progressive as that may be, the main female character is still mostly useless, prone to hysteria and easily distracted by shiny things. We can’t blame her too much, we suppose. Her reaction is pretty natural considering what she’s just gone through, which includes, but is not limited to, watching her brother be eaten by some guy in the cemetery. And as entertaining as it can be to watch characters quipping their way through mortal danger and trauma; apathy, irrationality and terror are probably more common responses to zombie apocalypses.

Flam – flames. Flames, on the side of my face, breathing-breathl- heaving breaths. Heaving breaths… Heathing…

We love this movie – it’s a regular rewatch for us, especially during spooky season (happy Halloween-month to all who observe!). From the first notes of the creepy score it is clear that this is going to be a scary ride, which it is. Not so much because of the zombies as the people and the racism, but isn’t that always the case… Night of the Living Dead is entertaining yet very dark with shocks, twists and turns. Its legacy is also undeniably significant; where would we, as a society, be without zombie movies in our horror canon? Definitely less entertained, that’s for darn tootin’.

Personally, we would hate to live in a world where every minor or major inconvenience was not met with the line “Let’s go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for all this to blow over.”

What we learned: Blades don’t need reloading, and stagnation means death.

MVP: Ben. Obvi.

Next time: Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

Posted on March 10, 2023 by 1000filmsblog

#354 If….

Watched: February 2 2023

Director: Lindsay Anderson

Starring: Malcolm McDowell, David Wood, Richard Warwick, Christine Noonan, Anthony Nicholls, Peter Jeffrey

Year: 1968

Runtime: 1h 51min

College House – a fucked up, disciplinarian boarding school (is there any other kind?). Among its students: Mick Travis. You know the type – the sort of guy whose brand of insolence and defiance is so ingrained in him you just cannot beat it out. Yes, we love him too. But that sort of attitude and his refusal to conform aren’t acceptable in polite society, so he must be cut down. And believe us, they try.

If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine

In If…, we are treated to a slice of normal British boarding school life: bullying, beatings, rape, truancy, less than engaged teachers and a strict hierarchy which is often abused. Being Norwegian, female, and ridiculously middle class, we have no idea how realistic this (insane) depiction is, but from what we’ve read and seen in other places, we fear it might be pretty accurate. As for plot, we don’t want to give too much away as we think everyone should see this for themselves. Suffice to say, Mick reaches his breaking point and shit goes off.

Chekhov would be very proud to be taken so literally!

As you may have inferred from the previous paragraph, we loved this! Malcolm McDowell is hypnotic as Mick – his impertinence spews from his very pores, and we loved him in this role. This is not your normal teenage rebellion, he embodies it as a deep-rooted character trait that can’t be eradicated through corporal punishment – the second the prefects confront him and try to make him conform, they’ve lost the battle.

“♫♬ Tell me why! Ain’t nothing but a beat down. Ain’t nothing but a spanking. (Tell me why) I never wanna hear you say “I want some basic respect and human dignity and to be treated as a person in this place” because that’s not how the Empire was built!”

Also, can we talk about all male (or all-any-gender) boarding schools? What the actual fuck? Obviously, these schools have played a crucial role in fostering a culture where men don’t see women as human beings (when you never interact with them as equals, how would you?), where bullying and violence mean “building character,” where authority is absolute, and where non-conformity = death. And personally, we rather object to such a culture.

It’s the sort of culture which fosters this. And the fact that we all have the same interpretation of this image is very sad…

We loved the psycho romance with the waitress (how much of that actually happened? We’re guessing very little), the incredibly unengaged history teacher (if teaching was like this we would never think about leaving the profession), the slow build-up, the violent conclusion, and of course the magnetic Malcolm McDowell – He of the Intense Eyes^TM. Also the random guy who showed up at the end in full medieval armour. Honestly, we wouldn’t be surprised if this was normal ceremonial attire in the formal public school setting, but we like to imagine he just woke up that day feeling a bit medieval and decided to go for it. Overall, this is definitely a movie we will recommend to others, and one we won’t easily forget.

“He’ll have the coffee, black, and I’ll take the animalistic sexgames. With milk.”

Side note: we spent a great deal of time trying to analyse why parts of the movie were in colour and parts in monochrome. We had many theories (conformity vs. non-conformity, reality vs. fantasy, etc.) although we struggled to see the connection between them. Then, once we finally gave up and googled it, we found out that it was just because the natural light they had to use in some scenes would mess with the colour quality and thus monochrome was used… Conclusion: not everything is symbolism.

What we learned: Education in Britain is like a nubile Cinderella: sparsely clad and much interfered with.

Next time: Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Posted on January 22, 2023 by 1000filmsblog

#351 Danger: Diabolik

Watched: January 5 2023

Director: Mario Bava

Starring: John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, Michel Piccoli, Adolfo Celi, Claudio Gora, Terry-Thomas, Mario Donen

Year: 1968

Runtime: 1h 45min

Diabolik: a criminal mastermind! Think 1960s Batman villain/dark James Bond. He has a suave underground lair, fast cars and even faster dames, revealing showers, infinite tricks up his (immaculately tailored) sleeves, and a lust for adventure and danger surpassing even Rick O’Connell. He also has A Dame of His Own; Eva – a trusted sidekick and confidant as well as Secret-Lover-in-the-Night-Time (or really any time, it seems). Like her man, the Dame has expensive taste and her only wish for her birthday is an emerald necklace owned by a powerful politician’s wife. Cue heist!

“I think, for this heist, I shall wear my BLACK leather daddy mask.”

“No! Wait! This calls for my sad beige mask for sad beige röbberies!”

Now, being a Criminal Mastermind™, Diabolik has managed to piss off both law inforcement, represented by inspector Ginko, and a mafia-like crime syndicate, led by the ruthless Valmont. They’re both after his hide, and throughout the movie our anti-hero and Eva must thwart their plots and avoid capture, traps and certain death.

Not to mention avoid papercuts in unmentionable places

Danger: Diabolik is the epitome of the 1960s in our minds (of course, as we are very young and nubile, we didn’t experience the decade ourselves); it’s colourful, cool, sexy and sleek. At first, Diabolik himself was presented like a clear hero – his first heist was immaculately planned with no loss of life. However, as the film progressed, he started killing people left, right and centre. Still, he is much more humane with more of a moral compass than say crime boss Valmont, and we loved how we ende up rooting for both Diabolik and Inspector Ginko. Diabolik and Eva seem very much in love and in a surprisingly healthy relationship. You know, apart from the crime of it all.

We loved the art/graphics of this, the fact that we learn nothing about the backstory of this gentleman criminal (we guess there might be more meat on that bone in the original comic, but we enjoyed the mystery of it all), the Morricone score and the drama queen that is Diabolik himself. It’s a funny, cool, stylish and thoroughly entertaining watch, and we recommend it to basically everyone. Enjoy!

“I told you this would happen, Diabolik! Look at this! Pick me up some ointment on the way home..?”

What we learned: Clearly, there’s a universe out there where cars and guns come cheap, but fabric for women’s clothing is out of everyone’s price range. Also, it is impossible NOT to pronounce Diabolik as “diabolique.”

Next time: Dark of the Sun (1968)

Posted on March 28, 2021 by 1000filmsblog · 1 Comment

#294 Quatermass and the Pit

Watched: March 19 2021

Director: Roy Ward Baker

Starring: Andrew Keir, James Donald, Barbara Shelley, Julian Glover

Year: 1967

Runtime: 1h 37min

Hobbs End: a lone bobby is walking along the wet London street, making this the most British opening scene ever. Then: Ape men! Buried in the underground! This is gonna be goooood.