Two Evil Eyes

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!

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.

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 .

Horror meinsters George Romero and Dario Argento each direct an hour long(or so) segment based on stories by Edgar Allan Poe. Romero's is first and is based on a lesser Poe story "The Strange Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar." A wealthy man is dying and hypnotized by a doctor who is aiding the rich man's beautiful wife for money and other fringe benefits. This segment is fairly well-conceived by Romero(who also wrote the script). The horror is more subtle than what you might expect and not very gory. Adrienne Barbeau, still quite a dish, does a good job as the ruthless wife and Ramy Zada does a mediocre job as her accomplice. E. G. Marshall has a bit part that he devours with gusto. The second segment by Argento naturally is the more bizarre and bloody. It is based on the oft-filmed story "The Black Cat." Argento creates a story about a photographer, played by Harvey Keitel, specializing in crime scene photos that also enjoys killing cats. Eventually his instincts lead to much higher organisms. This is also a decent piece as a whole. It has a load of famous actors: John Amos, Martin Balsam, and Kim Hunter. Argento puts a weird dream sequence that is nicely shot but has little relevance to the plot at all. This segment has a big payoff scene at the end that was very original if nothing else. Although certainly more suspenseful then Romero's piece, I liked the first one a bit more. It seemed to have greater continuity. Neither piece has any real life to it, and I think the film suffers a bit from the two story format. It is entertaining though and does provide a few honest chills.

George Romero and Dario Argento, two great horror directors, tackling two short stories by Edgar Allan Poe. Sounds like a surefire hit. So why isn't it? Romero writes and directs his story, "The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar." It's about a woman (Adrienne Barbeau) whose rich husband, Ernest Valdemar, is on his deathbed. A doctor (Ramy Zada) she's been having an affair with hypnotizes Valdemar into signing over all of his money to his wife. But Valdemar dies while hypnotized so he's stuck in between life & death and is surprisingly unhappy about it.

The biggest problem with Romero's story is that it feels like it was made for television. The annoyingly cheap and ceaseless music score doesn't help. Barbeau is the best part. She makes a paper-thin character work. She's also some very nice eye candy. E.G. Marshall plays Valdemar's attorney, who knows something is up but can't do much about it. Tom Atkins plays a homicide detective who conveniently answers 911 calls about screaming neighbors. The climax sees Romero turning Poe's story into something that belonged in Creepshow, which Romero directed and Barbeau, Atkins, and Marshall also appeared in. If this story was the entire movie, I might rate it a little higher. It's not great and there are big problems (that music!) but it's a passable time-killer. However, the other story drags the score down.

The Argento story is more stylishly directed, as you might expect. It's also more poorly written, as you might also expect. It's got lots of Poe references to establish Argento is clearly a fan but there's nothing of Poe's talent in this one. The story is "The Black Cat" and it's about a crime scene photographer (Harvey Keitel) who kills his girlfriend's cat. Then he goes crazy and it's a whole thing. Honestly, even with Keitel's bizarre performance and Argento's visuals, this one was a snoozer for me.

I think if you look at some of the other reviews here, particularly from those who love the movie, you'll see I'm in the minority on this. Most people seem to prefer Argento's story and hate Romero's. In a way, I get that. Argento has more style and a devoted cult following. I have enjoyed several of his horror films, though not enough to call myself a big fan of his. So take that into consideration. If you're someone who generally prefers a Dario Argento type of horror film, you are likely to prefer the second story to the first. Either way I'll be surprised if you love either of them, as they are both pretty mediocre.