Two Evil Eyes (1990)

Two Evil Eyes (1990) was a historic collaboration between two of the best horror film makers of their day, Dario Argento and George A. Romero. What could have been an awesome event turns into a one sided affair. The end results have Dario Argento showing up his friend and fellow film maker by making a superior film that overshadows the latter's work. The two directors worked on putting two stories from macabre writer Edgar Allen Poe's proses. One film is a tired retread whilst the other is a work of true suspense and black comedy.

I don't think it was a great idea for the two to work on a film like this. Romero's film was pretty lame. The film had little to do with the story and revamping it like the way they did was a terrible idea. But Argento's tale was a superior piece that worked in several other Poe tales and the acting by Harvey Keitel pushed the short well over the top. The Argento short is canceled out by the terrible Romero one. Instead of being a sure fire classic it's just an okay film. Just watch the second tale, The first one is non-essential and you can fast forward it.

Better luck next time Mister Romero.

Fmovies: These two tales of horror are inspired by the work of Edgar Allan Poe. The Two Tales are titled "The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar" and "The Black Cat". "The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar" is written and directed by George A. Romero (Bruiser, The Dark Half). "The Black Cat" is directed by Dario Argento (The Stendhal Syndrome, Trauma).

"The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar". The story is about a conniving wife (Adrienne Barbeau) and her lover (Ramy Zada) use a hypnotic trance to embezzle a fortune from her dying husband (Bingo O'Malley). His wife and her lover are receiving surprises messages from the behind the grave, when her husband died unexpectedly.

"The Black Cat". The story is about a talented but unfocused photographer (Harvey Keitel) is driven into madness, when his girlfriend's (Madeleine Potter) new pet. This man is driven to brutal acts of crimes and murder.

Romero's take on "The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar" is a mix of high camp, heavy handed and some real silliness but what it makes it watchable is the good performances by the three leads:Barbeau, Zada and O'Malley. E.G. Marshall has a small role. Romero's wife:Christine Forrest and Tom Atkins appears in Cameos.

Argento's take on "The Black Cat" is near perfect. Harvey Keitel gives a powerful performance and this one hour film is a study of obsession. The only fault is the shortcoming conclusion. This story has a good cast like Sally Kirkland, Martin Balsam, John Amos and Kim Hunter. This is One of Argento's best works as a director. Written by the director and Franco Ferrini (Demons).

Blue Underground did an excellent job of doing an newly transferred from an original vault negative on this two-disc set. Also the sound is been remastered to Dolby Digital 5.1 EX Surround Sound (Also in DTS 6.1 ES Surround Sound). The DVD has the original theatrical trailer, poster & still gallery and talent bios. The film features grisly terrific make-up effects by Tom Savini and great music score by Pino Donaggio (Carrie, Dressed to Kill, The Howling). Disc two has an entertaining featurette with interviews by Romero, Argento, Savini and vintage interview with an young 14 year-old Asia Argento. Second Disc also has 12 minute featurette with Savini about the F/X work, other Savini featurette showing parts of his house back in the late 1980's and an outtake from "Document of the Dead" with interview with actress Barbeau.

This independent production was briefly released into theaters in the U.S but become a wild horror hit in Europe. This is a Cult Film. I would really love to see Dario Argento's take on "The Black Cat" as a full length two hour film. Imagine what would Argento could have done with that. George A. Romero's "The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar" rates (*** ½/*****). and Dario Argento's "The Black Cat" rates (**** ½/*****). Both films rates together (****/*****). Do not miss this forgotten horror stories done by Two Talented Directors.

It's always tricky to evaluate a filmmaker when at work on a film that is in an in-between realm of short and feature. Actually, by technical ruling (or what would be considered by most festivals), it is feature-length with each segment. But I found Two Evil Eyes an underrated effort, after reading many mixed reviews (many leaning to the lesser side for especially Romero's film, and some faint praise for Argento's). The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar and The Black Cat are not the tippy-toppest best for either filmmaker, and for Romero it's a strange kind of quasi-conventional experiment while Argento stays in somewhat familiar territory. Each has its own strengths, own weaknesses, and it's a fine little treat.

'Valdemar': This starts with the veneer of what comes in the range of something like a cross between daytime Soap and a 40s melodrama. A woman (Adrienne Barbeau) married Mr. Valdemar late in life, and as he's about to die (and soon does) she stands to collect a load of money with her cuckold- a smooth operating doctor who has a knack for hypnosis.

What unfolds after his death, and their cover-up in order to secure more funds, is something still like a 'living-dead' movie for the director, but more psychological in head-games and, to be sure, a faithfulness to the Poe source. It is a peculiar feat to adjust to in seeing Romero, at least in the first half hour, directing more like an old pro of the studio era than with his trademark panache in editing and shocks.

This time he brings on the dread in a gradual fashion, built on guilt and paranoia, and then as Valdemar is in that freezer, a Gothic form of psychosis: two people stuck with a body, and a voice, they can't get rid of and become absorbed with. I liked it a lot- maybe more than I should have from what I read (the 'Soap' argument against it I read before, though Romero does try to give his actors more to work with than any hack would)- as it preys on the fear of death as not a final measure, with one last wicked kick in the nuts with that bed scene. Top shelf Romero? Not quite, but it's still oddly gripping, like a polished piece of clichés giving way to a wild head game of "old-school" horror.

8/10 'Black Cat': Argento's dip in the Poe pool goes to the lengths that he as a director always goes to: elaborate-to-the-Italian-horror degree style in camera and deranged horror, and even bits of dark horror that almost make Poe seem tame. I can't say how much this is tied into Poe more than I can Valdemar, but try as I might I couldn't see this as being totally peak Argento either, despite (or almost in spite of) everything he has going for it. Like Valdemar, it's about someone not coping with life after death; a photographer (Keitel) into the macabre, with a (color me shocked Argento) violinist girlfriend, has a black cat, whom the photographer strangles while taking some provocative photos. She knows he's behind it, but he can't stop himself- he needs another cat- just like the old cat- which will meet some grisly consequences.

Keitel's always game for something like this part, which plays like his Bad Lieutenant gone Grand Guignol, which makes for one of the best pleasures of the project. He doesn't have a whole lot of range in the role, but it's a fun one for him, chewing on the meat that Argento throws out for him scene after scene. Argento, meanwhile, even for *him* overdoes it with the horror music in certain scenes,

Two Evil Eyes fmovies. 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

Two experts and veteran film makers, George Romero and Dario Argento, transform two unknown Edgar Allan Poe's stories in a powerful and authorial cinematography's experience.Argento directs the best episode, about a photographer whose specialty resides in deaths and murders, and who is becoming a psychopath due to the metropolitan brutality that he testifies (and Argento exaggerates in this scenes,as always:the beginning of the film is a truly punch in the stomach).Harvey Keitel is great in this role, the kind of acting that made him famous. Argento uses quick edition, complex and original camera movements (as in the moment in which Keitel kills two detectives), and an extremely gloomy and unpleasant photography to accentuate the morbid climate that permeates most of his films. Even being violent and quite slow, "Two Evil Eyes" will please the horror fans, for being a show of impressive visual.

This film dedicated to Edgar Allan Poe contains 2 of his stories. "Mr. Valdemar", directed by George Romero & "The black cat" directed by Dario Argento.

The first story or segment is very good. The second is even better, although I didn´t quite understand the end of it.

If you like straight good horror films then you must watch this one.

But remember you´re going to watch two Edgar Allan Poe stories and no matter who´s directing them, got it?.

(8 out of 10)