The Last Project Leon Vitali Was In Before He Died

The devastating death of Leon Vitali at age 74 marked the departure of one of the great unsung talents of the world of cinema. On numerous occasions, Vitali worked with Stanley Kubrick on both sides of the camera, and his almost five decades of filmography saw him take on a number of diverse roles ... as well as a vast array of behind-the-scenes jobs, from dialogue coach to, famously, Kubrick's personal assistant in some of his best-known works. Apart from assisting the famed director in making "The Shining," "Full Metal Jacket," and "Eyes Wide Shut," he also served as the casting director in the latter two movies — as well as starred in Kubrick's 1975 epic "Barry Lyndon" as Lord Bullingdon, the titular character's (Ryan O'Neal) disdainful stepson and nemesis. 

While Vitali's association with Kubrick is an enduring part of his legacy, he worked in plenty of other projects as well — including a handful of on-screen appearances after Kubrick passed away in 1999. Let's take a look at Vitali's final project before he died.

Leon Vitali's final on-screen appearance is in the 2018 short film "Haunted, Horrifying Sounds from Beyond the Grave," which was made for Hulu as part of the Halloween-themed Huluween Film Fest. Vitali plays Nigel, a record producer who convinces an experimental music maker called Martin Stockdotter (Noah Segan from "Knives Out" and "Star Wars: The Last Jedi") to make a quick buck by creating a record of Halloween-themed sound effects. Of course, Stockdotter becomes a bit too ambitious while hunting for the ultimate horror sound effect, and a brief "Tales from the Crypt"-style horror story ensues. 

Credits included, director Rodney Ascher's short is well under seven minutes long. Still, even with this limited screen time, Vitali is utterly magnetic as a 1970s producer who genuinely likes Stockdotter's artistry and attempts to throw him a financial bone, only to unwittingly set the musician on a doomed path.