Two Evil Eyes

Two Evil Eyes is a collaboration by two horror masters; George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead), and Dario Argento (Suspiria). Special effects are also provided by the top name in horror movies of the period, Tom Savini. To top it off, both stories are based on works by Edgar Allan Poe, arguably one of the largest influences on works of horror, well... ever. And the efforts of these great names quite lives up to expectations. In fact, it may succeed them if you are aware of the decline in the quality of output by both of these directors around this time period. Romero's next film after Two Evil Eyes was the appalling King adaptation The Dark Half, and Argento's the lukewarm Trauma. So if one is knowledgeable of this it would be nothing but natural to approach this film tentatively. Fortunately, your fears will be calmed. The first half is titled The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, and is based on the Poe short story of the same name. Romero's adaptation is a fun and concise update. The storyline is engaging, easy to follow, well acted, well shot. I wouldn't say that it's going to blow your mind but it's certainly enjoyable. Argento's effort, as would be expected, was somewhat more complicated. In terms of quality, plot, and appearance. The Black Cat is, mainly, based on the well known Poe story of the same name. It also incorporates nods to other works by the author and the main character's last name is Usher. The story is somewhat muddled and confusing, but that really comes with the territory when Argento is concerned. There are also a few questionable set choices but overall I really found the second half very enjoyable as well. Overall I really think that Two Evil Eyes is a pretty damn enjoyable selection and probably more even than I've made it sound. It's better than its place in the filmographies of the respective directors would suggest as well.

When the two greatest Horror directors alive (and two of the greatest of all-time), George A. Romero and Dario Argento make a movie together, a fan of Horror might rightly hope for a masterpiece. "Due Occhi Diabolici" aka. "Two Evil Eyes" from 1990 features two separate 1 hour films based on the work of Edgar Alan Poe, "The Facts In The Case Of Mr. Valdemar", directed by Romero, and "The Black Cat" directed by Argento. "Two Evil Eyes" is certainly great entertainment and a pleasant Horror experience, however it does not quite come up to the high expectations one might have of a film by these two brilliant directors. It must be said, however, that it may be very difficult for a Poe-themed movie to impress me after Roger Corman's brilliant Poe-cycle from the sixties, starring my all-time favorite actor, the great Horror icon Vincent Price. These films, such as "Pit And The Pendulum", "The Haunted Palace" and "Masque Of The Red Death" (just to name the three most ingenious masterpieces of this brilliant cycle) are essential all-time Horror greats, no Poe-themed film has ever come close to those flicks, and it is very unlikely that any ever will.

The second segment, Argento's "The Black Cat" is, in my opinion, a lot better than Romero's "Mr. Valdemar", not only for the fact that one of the greatest living actors, Harvey Keitel, plays the lead, but also since it is far more twisted and atmospheric.

"The Facts In The Case Of Mr. Valdemar", mainly based on Poe's short story of the same name, tells the tale of a woman named Jessica (Adrienne Barbeau), who, alongside her ex-lover (Ramy Zada), is willing to do quite anything to inherit the entire property of her terminally ill older husband (Bingo O Malley)... The 1 hour segment has some very eerie moments, and a chilling atmosphere over-all. As mentioned above, however, Roger Corman handled the same topic with a lot more depth in 30 minutes as the final segment of "Tales Of Terror" (1962). Admittedly, Corman had a brilliant cast, Vincent Price, Basil Rathbone and Debra Paget.

"The Black Cat", is also mainly based on Poe's short of the same name. However, this second segment furthermore contains elements from certain other Poe works. A crime-scene photographer with a familiar name, Roderick Usher (Harvey Keitel) and his younger girlfriend Annabel (Madeleine Porter) live happily together in a nice old building. Until one day Anabel takes a black cat home... The second segment is highly atmospheric, nightmarish and very eerie, and crowned by Harvey Keitel's leading performance.

All said, "Two Evil Eyes" is neither a highlight of Romero's nor Argento's career, however it is still a good film. Let's not forget we're talking about two geniuses here! If you set your expectations too high and expect a masterpiece of the brilliance of "Night Of The Living Dead" Or "Suspiria" you'll be disappointed. Nevertheless, this is great Horror entertainment. Just keep in mind that you're not about to watch something comparable to Romero's or Argento's masterpieces in quality, and you will have a great time as a Horror fan. My rating: 6/10 for Romero's segment and 8/10 for Argento's segment, makes an overall 7/10. Recommended!

Instead of your usual trilogy or anthology, TWO EVIL EYES is two hour-long Edgar Allan Poe adaptations written for the screen and directed by two top horror directors. "The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar" (by George A. Romero) concerns a money-hungry wife (Adrienne Barbeau) and a greedy doctor (Ramy Zada) who team up to kill off the elderly husband Ernest (Bingo O'Malley) for his money. They unwisely use hypnotism to lure the victim to catatonia, which also allows Ernest to return from the dead and seek revenge. The storyline is too cliché in this outing and it's pretty dull despite an excellent lead performance from Barbeau and good (though sparsely used) Tom Savini make up FX. "The Black Cat" (by Dario Argento) is the reason to watch the movie. Harvey Keitel is typically good as Roderick Usher, an alcoholic crime photographer who makes a living publishing mondo photographs. His book ("Metropolitan Horrors") stirs up lots of controversy. The horror angle is added by a sinister black cat that constantly pops up in Usher's life and starts to drive him mad. Mixing elements from several Poe stories, Argento's flair for visual style and color schemes, loads of clever Poe reference (including nods to his "Pit and the Pendulum" and "Premature Burial") and lots of surprises, "The Black Cat" manages to be both entertaining and disturbing. Tom Savini also did FX for the segment (and appears). Pino Dinaggio did music for both.

Two horror stories based on short stories by Edgar Allan Poe directed by two leading terror filmmakers . An uneven and unoriginal anthology of terror stories adapted from the works of Edgar Allan Poe . Two famous horror directors , George A. Romero and Dario Argento realize a pair of Poe tales , though poorly rendered . In the first titled ¨Valdemar¨ by Romero deals with an egoistic , adulterous wife (Adrienne Barbeau) and a greedy , ambitious medic (Zada) leaving the husband in limbo between death and life . In the second part titled ¨The black cat¨, by Dario Argento , an unscrupulous , vengeful photographer (standout Harvey Keitel as a self-obsessed cameraman) murders his mistress (Madeleine Potter)'s black feline and walling it up . This second episode results to be slightly better than the first .

Interesting though average and poorly adapted but with imaginatively staged gory killings by the masters of horror, the talented writers/directors Dario Argento and George A Romero ; resulting to be the Argento part more successful than Romero first entry . American George Romero and Italian cult director Dario Argento , masters of arty gore, bring this eerie and stylish story plagued with depraved gore murders . Exciting film with effective aesthetic that packs lots of gore , guts , chilling assassinations and twists plots . Large support cast and cameos as Edgar G Marshall , Sally Kirkland , John Amos as a detective , Tom Savini as the Monomaniac and brief acting of a newcomer , the young Julie Benz of Dexter . This is a trademark terror work for the Horrormeisters Argento-Romero with high tension quotient and equally elevated suspense by means of an ever-fluid camera that achieves colorful shots well photographed . Atmospheric cinematography by Peter Reiners and odd wide screen , though color effects will suffer on small TV set . Thrilling and frightening musical score by Pino Donaggio . It's a homage to Allan Poe and cult director Roger Corman who directed the notorious ¨Tales of terror¨ with various stories distilled by Richard Matheson , being starred by Peter Lorre , Basil Rathbone and Vincent Price appears in all three segments . ¨Two evil eyes¨ is an acceptable and passable entertainment with surprising and intriguing situations , it does have a few good moments .

This scary motion picture is professionally directed by Dario Argento and George A Romero , though uninspired and with no too much originality . George A Romero directed the successful ¨The night of the living dead¨ and three equally celebrated sequels, ¨Dawn of the dead (78)¨ where the zombies attack a shopping mall ,¨Day of the dead dead (85)¨ about flesh-eating zombies taking over the world and scientific experimenting on zombies and ¨Land of dead(2005)¨ with high budget played by Simon Baker , Asia Argento and Dennis Hooper . While Dario Argento is one of those film-makers who set off simple for frightening us to death . His period of biggest hits were the 70s when he directed the animals trilogy : ¨Four flies over gray velvet¨, ¨The cat of nine tails¨, ¨Bird with the crystal plumage¨, after he directed some masterpieces as ¨Suspiria¨, ¨Inferno¨ , ¨Tenebre¨ and of course ¨Deep red¨ , one of the best ¨Giallo . In 1995 Argento made a comeback to the horror genre with ¨La Sindrome Di Stendhal (1996)¨ and then by another version of ¨The phantom of the Opera¨ (1998) both of which starred by his daughter Asia Argento . Most recently, Argento directed a number of 'giallo' mystery thrillers which include Insomnio (2001), ¨Il Cartaio (2004)¨, and ¨Ti Piace Hitchcock?¨ (2005), as well as two creepy , supernatural-themed episodes of the USA TV cable anthology series "Masters of Horror". Furthermore , to his Gothic and violent style of storytelling , ¨La Terza Madre (2007)¨ has a lot of references to the previous two movies as 'Suspiria and Inferno' which is a must for fans of the trilogy . And finally directed this so-so film called ¨Giallo¨ . This bloody fun plenty of graphic gore and weirdness may not be for all tastes but to be liked for Argento and Romero connoisseurs especially .

This teaming of DAWN OF THE DEAD collaborators George Romero and Dario Argento and horror maestro Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most underrated horror movies in recent memory.

TWO EVIL EYES received minimal theatrical distribution in the USA (where most people wouldn't know a good horror movie if they tripped over it), and went practically straight to video, where it didn't do too impressively either. This was undoubtedly due to some scathing reviews that labelled this movie as abysmal, boring and pointless.

I, on the other hand, think TWO EVIL EYES is a great movie. True Romero fans will see the director's brilliance at work in "The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar". Romero steers clear of blood and guts (which is why most "fans" were disappointed by it) and instead creates a macabre atmosphere, and gives the piece the look and feel of an EC or Warren horror comic, complete with campy dialogue and over-the-top performances. Pick up a copy of TALES FROM THE CRYPT or CREEPY and compare it to Romero's segment.

You'll see how perfectly Romero captures the flavor of a bygone era in illustrated horror. When the mesmerized Valdemar wails "Jessica", you can almost see the wavy dialogue bubble appear next to his head. It's as worthy a tribute to such publications as the Romero-Stephen King masterpiece, CREEPSHOW. Romero takes liberties with Poe's story, but keeps the feeling of irony and sardonic wit that makes Poe's work so rich. It's a great little movie from one of the true masters of the genre, though, unfortunately, it's his best work to date since DAY OF THE DEAD.

I may be one of the only defenders of this movie who likes Romero's part better than Argento's. This is because Romero keeps Poe's spirit alive throughout his segment. Argento simply takes one basic story ("The Black Cat"), adding elements from a few other Poe stories (including "Berenice" and "Pit and the Pendulum") and uses them as a clothesline for his own twisted and bizarre nightmare fantasies. There's nothing wrong with that, but I think he fails to capture the feel of Poe, which I thought was the point of the movie (which was his idea). At any rate, it's very good Argento. His camera constantly swoops and creeps along the corridors of the house in which the story takes place, and he creates some genuinely disturbing imagery. He also gets an excellent performance from Harvey Keitel, who brings a cruelty and maliciousness to his character most actors would not dare attempt.

Overall, TWO EVIL EYES is an entertaining movie for horror fans who enjoy more than just blood and guts, and are patient enough to let a story take its time developing. Give it another chance.