A series of disjointed mythical tales set in first century Rome.

When a visitor arrives in a small Italian village, he discovers that the residents are acting like soul-less zombies–and he begins to suspect that they may be under the influence of a mysterious local woman.

Three directors each adapt a Poe short story to the screen: “Toby Dammit” features a disheveled drugged and drunk English movie star who nods acceptance in the Italian press and his producers fawn over him. “Metzengerstein” features a Mediveal countess who has a love-hate relationship with a black stallion – who it turns out is really her dead lover. “William Wilson” tells the story of a sadistic Austrian student with an exact double whom he later kills.

In the near future, big wars are avoided by giving individuals with violent tendencies a chance to kill in the Big Hunt. The Hunt is the most popular form of entertainment in the world and also attracts participants who are looking for fame and fortune. It includes ten rounds for each competitor, five as the hunter and five as the victim.

Rod Steiger is ferocious as a scheming land developer in Francesco Rosi’s Hands over the City, a blistering work of social realism and the winner of the 1963 Venice Film Festival Golden Lion. This expose of the politically driven real-estate speculation that has devastated Naples’s civilian landscape moves breathlessly from a cataclysmic building collapse to the backroom negotiations of civic leaders vying for power in a city council election, laying bare the inner workings of corruption with passion and outrage.