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Spirits of the Dead AKA Histoires extraordinaires AKA Tre passi nel delirio AKA Tales of Mystery and Imagination AKA Powers of Evil (Blu-ray) (1968)
Edgar Allen Poe's ultimate orgy!Director: Roger Vadim, Louis Malle, Federico Fellini
Year of Copyright: 1968
Year of Production: 1967
OVERALL: Blu-ray ALL-
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Extras:Vincent Price Voiceover (0:56)
Theatrical Trailer (3:40) -
Subtitles:Multilingual Version
English (for French/Italian portions), English (for English/French/Italian)
English Version
English HoH
French Version
English (optional) -
Aspect Ratio:1.85:1
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Picture Format:1080p24 AVC MPEG-4
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Soundtrack(s):Multilingual Version:
English/French/Italian LPCM 1.0 (48kHz)
English Version:
English/Italian LPCM 1.0
French Version:
French LPCM 1.0 -
Case type:Keep Case
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Notes:Comes with 60-page booklet containing Edgar Allan Poe's original short stories, the "Spirits of the Dead Revisited" essay by Tim Lucas, the "Literature and Cinema" essay by Peter Bondanella and re-prints of original lobby cards and posters, all inside a cardboard slipcase.
Subsequent pressings copyrighted 2011 (following the fire that destroyed stock at the Sony DADC facility in England) feature a 35-page booklet featuring Tim Lucas and Peter Bondanella essays but not the Poe story reprints. -
Have you spotted a mistake in these specifications? If so, let us know via our forums. -
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Extras:Episodes separately playable from the extras menu:
- "Metzengerstein" (39:06)
- "William Wilson" (37:05)
- "Toby Dammit" (45:13)
Image Gallery (2:33)
French Trailer (3:40) -
Subtitles:English and German
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Aspect Ratio:1.78:1
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Picture Format:1080p24 AVC MPEG-4
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Soundtrack(s):English/Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
English/French/Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono -
Case type:Special Case
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Notes:Mediabook with a 12-page booklet with a text ("The Ghosts of Evil") by Marcus Stiglegger.
Fourth audio opton features "Metzengerstein" in English, "William Wilson" in French, and "Toby Dammit" in its original mix of Italian and English (the way it also plays on the English track). -
Have you spotted a mistake in these specifications? If so, let us know via our forums. -
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OVERALL: Blu-ray ALL
The UK release for the Vincent Price extra.
GENERAL NOTES:
A French/Italian co-production, no one language version is truly definitive:
- the first story “Metzengerstein” was shot in English and French, with Jane and Peter Fonda speaking the former, Jane Fonda shooting both English and French takes for some scenes, and shooting only French takes for others;
- the second story “William Wilson” was shot and post-synchronized in French;
- the third story “Toby Dammit” was shot in English and Italian and intended to be viewed that way with some dialogue translated between characters through an interpreter (the French track dubs everyone, making hash of scenes in which the protagonist is not supposed to understand what is being said).
There are at least six versions:
- the virtually-identical French-dubbed version “Histoires extraordinaires”, Italian version “Tre passi nel delirio”, and English export version “Tales of Mystery and Imagination” (~121 minutes), the latter two including a mix of English and Italian dialogue in the Fellini segment;
- the American International version “Spirits of the Dead” (~117 minutes) with trims to the Fellini episode and added opening and closing quotes from the titular poem by Vincent Price;
- the British video version “Powers of Evil” (~80 minutes) which only included the Fellini and Vadim stories;
- and the English-subtitled Australian SBS broadcast version (~116 mins PAL master, 121 mins at 24fps) which the French version but re-recorded and added some narration passages in English.
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CUTS:
- Blu-ray ALL United Kingdom- Arrow Films - No cuts - includes a multilingual version (121:25), the English-dubbed version (121:25) and the French-dubbed version (121:17).
- Blu-ray B Germany- Koch Media - No cuts - original version (121:25).
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Do you own a release not listed? Then please visit our forums and let us know!
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Comparison added by Markus_Lang on 21/06/12
Comparison last updated by Eric_Cotenas on 12/03/22UPDATE LOG:
21/06/12: Initial entry.
Please ensure you read our disclaimer.
12/11/12: Added information about 2011 Arrow Films re-pressing.
15/09/18: Added German release; corrected typos.
14/10/18: Updated UK runtimes and languages.
12/02/22: Titles, dates, version notes, cleanup, caps-a-holic.
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