Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Loui Blair It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Hitchcoc Many of the reviewers were on the same page. I have to fall in line, I'm afraid. The first of the trio, "Mazzengerstein", was just plain dull. You have the beautiful young Jane Fonda becoming an heiress from hell. She runs the show at all times because of her financial power. Don't cross her. However, could they have chosen someone else but brother Peter as the ultimate love interest? Fortunately, I didn't notice him in the credits. Beyond that, the story was slow moving and downright dull. "William Wilson" is a great example for English teachers of the "Doppelganger" story. In this one the young Wilson does terrible things, primarily to women. He is a psychotic. Getting quite Freudian, we see where his corporeal superego moves in to stop him. Unfortunately, in at least one case, the damage has been done. The story works better than the first, but it is hackneyed. In the third, Terrence Stamp, "Far from the Madding Crowd," is an alcoholic actor who comes to Italy to make a weird western. He is accosted by the paparazzi and driven to distraction. Of course, he is drunk the whole time. But in typical Fellini fashion, he is met by a herd of surrealist images. He has been promised a Ferrari and when he gets his hands on it, he goes crazy. We can see this coming, but no one can create a nightmare world like the wonderful Fellini. All in all, I had never heard of this film and hung in there until the highly superior last offering.

Kirpianuscus it is strange to see a film ignoring its artistic virtues. because it is only a puzzle of directors and texts and actors and memories. a sort of experiment. seductive. and full of nostalgia. eccentric. and bizarre. stars, Romanticism, the shadow of Edgar Allen Poe and the mark of directors. it is strange to say what part is most remarkable. because, after the final credits , remains only the drawings in dust. and pieces of old velvet. a good kick to read Poe. again. because, maybe at the first sigh only, the film seems use his work only as pretext. but, like each part of film, it could be an impression.

GL84 A collection of three different Edgar Allen Poe tales by three different directors.The Good Stor(ies): Metzengerstein-Living a life of decadence and depravity, a sadistic baroness enjoys living alone in her castle watching her distant cousin carry on his life whilst ignoring her advances and existence. When word reaches her that he has perished in a deadly fire on his land, she becomes distraught and begins a fanatical obsession with restoring a tapestry depicting a fiery, wild horse he supposedly own by him, while carrying on an equally deadly obsession with a stray horse that appears shortly afterword that bears a striking resemblance to the individual in the cloth. Easily the best of the stories, with a rather impressive mixture of Gothic atmosphere here with it's crumbling castle setting, expansive layouts and decadence littering the entire area, which creates a visually haunting location to use here. As well, the lone action scene, the fire to the adjacent estate, is equally impressive with it's large-scale impact, noteworthy fire stunt and visual dynamics as this is usually the ending to many of these Gothic horrors with the burning-the-house-down finale here placed in the middle section, which is quite innovative, and with both of these segments meshing with her sense of sadism and depravity with humiliation games, orgies and other forms of entertainment overall create a rather impressive entry.William Wilson-Rushing into a church, a distraught man begs the local priest to hear his confession. Starting with his first introduction, he relates the story of a man who is his identical in every way, even sharing the same name as each other, and whenever he tries to entertain himself through his usual sense of depraved fun, his doppelganger appears to ruin it, and by the time it finally grows to a maddening scale, he engages his mysterious twin in a final game of fate. This here is certainly watchable enough as the depravity here is increased with games as the dunking into the rats, surgery on the nude woman and whipping the woman he won in the card game, which creates a rather creepy air when they're all interrupted and dropped with clever rationalizations. There's even a bloody sword-fight to give it some nice action as well. The only real flaw to this one is that the segment tends to meander from the same set-up to the next without any variation, really keeping this one from doing anything entertaining with it's premise. It does grow tiresome to know everything is going to keep repeating, regardless of what's going on, so it looses a little there but is overall quite enjoyable.The Bad Stor(ies): Toby Dammit-Arriving in Italy, a boozing, drugged actor is constantly shuffled around from one personal requested-appearance to the next without delay, causing him to sink deeper into his sense of personal despair. Finally arriving at a gala award show for his honor, he finds the locals gathered there far too much for his sanity to overcome, and when he begins to let his inhibitions loose to their fullest extent, finds himself in a deeper Hell than before. This was overall quite boring as the entire segment plays out as though it's an acid-trip nightmare. Sure, it's overtly weird and generally quite stylish visually, but that doesn't really make it scary. The drive through the deserted streets at night is about the only thing worthwhile here, as it's a lengthy, extended sequence that really gets far more enjoyable over time, though the majority of time taken up by the strange award ceremony rather than being scary really dooms this entry. Not enough for the movie overall, but just slightly.Today's Rating/R: Violence, Nudity and Language

rooprect It's reassuring to see that other IMDb reviewers have had the good sense to pan this disappointing film, at the risk of blaspheming against the great Vadim, Malle and Fellini.These directors may be talented & artistic in their own right; however in attempting to pass off this hodgepodge of attempted eroticism and 60s chic as *in any way* related to Edgar Allen Poe's stories, they exposed themselves as frauds. Either (A) they didn't bother to read the Poe stories, or (B) they read them but were so transfixed by their own egotistical agenda that they didn't pay Poe any mind.Imagine if Metallica plugged in their guitars, cranked the amps up to 11 and moshed out 3 chords claiming it to be Beethoven's 9th Symphony. That's the feeling you'll get after sitting through this film. If you're a Vadim/Malle/Fellini fan (Metallica), you'll dig it. If you're a Beethoven fan (Poe), you'll puke.METZERGENSTEIN...Here we begin with a bizarre porno version of Poe. OK, "porno" may be a bit extreme haha, but at the very least you have to call it a Barbarella version (including, I don't doubt, some of Jane's outfits coming directly from the set of that scifi romp). Vadim falls into old clichés of his own: the girl lying on a bed being pleasured by some man whilst from the pillow-cam we see the apathy in her eyes; the general lassitude and ennui of a woman who finds no satisfaction in hedonism. Cute stuff, but "Metzergenstein" ain't the place for it. And in addition to the Barbarella outfits and irrelevant erotic themes, Jane Fonda's awful American accent and unconvincing performance as a European countess made this the worst casting since Julia Roberts in that lousy version of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.WILLIAM Wilson...Here's a great Poe story about the madness that claims a man when he realizes that he is no longer unique in the world. If you really want to see a fantastic visual interpretation of this theme, go watch Star Trek episode #27 "The Alternative Factor". But here, Malle glazes over that central theme and instead focuses on... any guesses...? yup, eroticism, sadism and debauchery. Ho hum. Brigitte Bardot's role is a complete fabrication to accomplish that end, and once again the director distorts a classic Poe story into a masturbatory catharsis of his own unrequited sexual issues. Do it on your own time, Malle. I thought we're here on Poe's dime.TOBY DAMMIT....The absolute worst of the three and possibly the worst film I've seen since "Staying Alive". At least Fellini showed some tact in changing the title, but his departure from the original plot, theme and humour of the story is so vast, I wonder if he just picked this reel out of his private collection of home movies, stamped "Edgar Allen Poe story" on it and submitted it to this collection. I strained very hard to find any thread of familiarity with Poe's works, but there was absolutely none.The original Poe story ("Never Bet the Devil Your Head") is a short and hilarious dark fable about a man who constantly exclaims "I'll bet the devil my head..." On a foggy morning, the devil takes him up on his offer. The result is the sickest and silliest thing you've ever read. This was Poe, the comedian, at his finest (yes, Poe wrote many comedies. Also check out "A Predicament" and "Devil in the Belfry" if you want a taste of his witty, satirical works).This Fellini version? It's bland, soulless, and not funny at all (unless you consider it funny to see a drunk stumbling over himself for 45 minutes). Here Fellini's egotistical rant is about an artist struggling with the hypocrisy, pretense and mediocrity of cinema. Most of it is set at an awards ceremony where Fellini beats us over the head with sarcasm, cynicism and that classic "sour grapes" attitude that we find in all Fellini films dealing with cinema. Note the sarcastic jabs at "the critics", a recurring theme in Fellini's films. For someone who considered himself above the critics, Fellini sure spent a lot of time talking about them. At any rate, I feel like Fellini just took some outtakes from 8 1/2, spliced them together and sold it as a Poe story. Worst "adaptation" ever.I think I put more effort into typing this review than any of the three directors put into making a Poe movie.