Two Evil Eyes (1991)

Thanks for the memories!

Strong and Moving!

good back-story, and good acting

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

I blame it on my mother: she recited poetry by Edgar Allan Poe to me when I was a kid and told me scary stories when I went to bed each night; I came to treasure the chills that a good Horror story, well told, could invoke. Then came George Romero and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. It was a game changer, an uncompromising, brutal depiction of Life in these so-called "united" $tate$. Fright Films had suddenly EVOLVED into something Other than what they had been- and at the helm was Romero, co-writing and directing it all. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, with its documentary look and feel, ventured into uncharted territory (and, ironically considering the number of rip-offs it has inspired, no one else saw Fright Films as an opportunity to comment on The State of Affairs in this country) (not until John Carpenter came along, anyway). Romero became my Hero, and when it was announced that he would be producing a Horror series for television, I began submitting scripts as fast as I could write them. (In my arrogant ignorance, I'd already submitted a script for a sequel to DAWN OF THE DEAD... Two movies made me want to MAKE movies: John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN and George Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD.) While none of my scripts for TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE were ever used, I WAS lucky enough to get a kindly rejection from Romero himself. I'd sent him three issues of a self-published prose magazine I'd written and illustrated and he wrote back: "Some of the pieces are really fine." Coming from the man who gave us NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and DAWN OF THE DEAD, this was Praise, indeed! My nieces and nephews were weaned on Romero's movies. Just a few hours ago, I read that Romero died yesterday. The shock hit me first, followed by the pain that can only come when a knife has pierced the heart and entered the Soul. I tried to tell my wife, but talking was all but impossible; I went and sat in the car, numb and sick to my stomach, and cried off and on. Romero was a Hero of mine, one of only a handful of people in this life who've inspired me to try harder, to try to do something other than just sit and watch the World pass by; but his passing has taken the wind out of my sails. I'd hoped to finally meet him face to face at a Horror convention later this year. It's hard to believe that I now live in a world WITHOUT George Romero. I'll never get to shake his hand and joke with him. And I'll never again hear my Mother lulling me to sleep with a softly-whispered Tale of Terror.Damn, what a day.

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 .

So Dario Argento and George Romero decided to make some movies based off of Edgar Allan Poe. This was tough since it was two movies in one because one movie couldn't ruin the whole feature. The first film was "The Facts in the Case of Mrs. Valdemar". This was Romero's film. I enjoyed this film and how it was done. The cast was half and half though. Ramy Zada was good and so was Jonathan James who played the zombie. Adrienne Barbeau on the other hand was not that good and didn't play her part well. The movie makes you wonder if there is life between reality and Heaven? If so, are they good or evil? The film had some moments that were not scary, but creepy. Where if you were in that situation, you would really be scared. The next film was "The Black Cat". This was Argento's film. The film started off strong, but faded by the end. The cat in the film got creepy after awhile. Harvey Keitel was the lead and at points seemed pretty good. But again, near the end, his acting faded. Madeleine Potter was getting on my nerves. First off I couldn't stand how she looked. It did not fit her character and her acting didn't really work either. Even though the film kind of left the good zone by the end, the whole background to the story was pretty interesting so I will give it that. So Romero wins and I guess you could say Argento was a close second.

Here we have two stories based off the works of Edgar Allen Poe, directed and written by George Romero and Dario Argento - The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar, and The Black Cat. You would think that such a communion would cause the world to rotate off its axis! I've written several reviews discussing the works of Argento and I've even covered a few of his films - to spare yourself the lecture, travel back and familiarize yourself. I was very excited to finally get the chance to view this film, since I am a huge fan of 1982's Creepshow, and the 1987 follow up Creepshow 2 - two anthology films that combined the creativity of Stephen King and Romero. While Romero was not responsible for directing the second installment, his talents were recognized in the screenplay. Naturally when I realized that Two Evil Eyes was another anthology, I was thrilled! Especially since I greatly admire the work he did on Tales From the Darkside, an anthology TV series that ran from 1984-1988.***The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar - Directed/Screenplay written by George Romero***The lead female role, Jessica Valdemar, is played by John Carpenter's ex-wife Adrienne Barbeau (The Fog 1980, Swamp Thing 1982, Creepshow, and notable television work). The premise concerns Jessica's attempt to cheat her terminally ill father out of his assets with the help of her lover, Dr. Robert Hoffman. They achieve this by hypnotizing Ernest Valdemar with the intent of falsely misleading the lawyers that require certain paperwork to be completed on his behalf. Suddenly, Mr. Valdemar goes into cardiac arrest during a hypnosis session and his body is moved into the basement. Then...moaning and other noises are heard throughout the night.It's also worth mentioning that Tom Atkins appears in this story as Dectective Grogan. Atkins has been in a number of horror films himself, with The Fog, Creepshow, Halloween III: Season of the Witch from 1982, 1988's Maniac Cop, the 2009 remake of My Bloody Valentine, and 2000's Bruiser which I'll be reviewing in just a bit. He seems to gravitate towards the role of an old-school detective even if its a minor one. There are some who claim that Romero laced this story with an undercurrent theme of capitalism but I just enjoyed it for what it was. It was Poe's genius that created this tale but it's very entertaining to watch Romero adapt the story into film and revisit, yet again, the walking dead. There is also a very good adaptation of this Poe tale in 1962's Tales of Terror with Vincent Price, Joyce Jameson (Amaryllis from The Comedy of Terrors!), and Basil Rathbone.***The Black Cat - Directed/Screenplay written by Dario Argento***Rod Usher, played by Harvey Keitel, is a crime scene photographer who lives a gritty and harsh lifestyle in comparison to his girlfriend Annabel, who enjoys playing the violin and appreciating the arts. When Annabel introduces a new cat into the house hold, Usher grows increasingly violent towards the animal - eventually causing him to murder it. Several days after its death, Annabel grows suspicious of the whereabouts of her pet, and even concludes that Usher played a part in its disappearance. A stray cat with identical markings of the diseased animal is brought home, much to the surprise of Usher, who attempts to kill it once more. The madness that follows thereafter, builds to an exciting finale.It's a relief that Argento had access to English-speaking actors and did not have to resort to dubbing the audio - this enables the film to rest alittle easier on the viewer's patience. I read that Argento mixed several different elements from Poe short stories into his version of The Black Cat. The character name of Rod Usher, short for Roderick Usher, assuredly, is taken from another Poe short story entitled The Fall of the House of Usher - which happens to be a personal favorite of mine! Tom Savini even makes a cameo but most of his work is realized in the form of special effects. This is such a great combination of talent on all fronts...even when Argento fails to deliver in every other department, his vision, at least aesthetically, is always represented so morbidly; it's fantastic. Argento guarantees you that much.**An 18-year-old Julia Benz also appears in this film as a young violin student. You may know her as Rita from the hit TV show Dexter featured on Showtime.In conclusion, Two Evil Eyes is a must-see for anyone who appreciates anthology films, a must-see for anyone that loves Argento, and a must- see for any Romero fan. The stories chosen may not touch accurately enough to be considered true derivatives of Poe's work...but out of the many adaptations that I've seen, this almost always seems to be the case.