not horrible nor great

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

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.

Here we have two short stories based on the works by Edger Allen Poe, and joint directed by 2 of the greatest horror directors alive George A Romeo & Dario Argento, as well as featuring a great cast that includes Adrienne Barbeau (Creepshow, The Fog), Harvey Keitel (Bad Lieutenant, Reservoir Dogs), & Tom Atkins (Halloween III, Night Of The Creeps) and not to mention wonderful special effects done by Tom Savini.Now all this sounds like a recipe for greatness and while the entire movie is highly enjoyable and entertaining, but however it doesn't quite live up to the high expectations that you would expect from the finest directors of the horror genre. Both segments of this story are about an hour long and both do feel rather stretched with too much padding.The first story 'The Facts In The Case Of Mr Valdemar" which was directed by Romero follows a young gold digging wife plots her husband's death so she and her lover can steal his fortune, only for the husband to come back from the dead and out for revenge. While the storyline is certainly intriguing and its small cast is good with Adrienne Barbeau being the clear standout with the complexity of her character creating much of the tension and Ramy Zada does well as her secret lover as we constantly doubt whether or not he can be trusted. Firstly it's nowhere near Romero's best work with quite a few dull moments, and definitely the most padded one out of the 2 stories and is not tackled with the imagination that this story should have had and the cinematography also falls flat and has that made of TV feel to it, making it look far dated than 1990.The second segment 'The Black Cat' directed by Argento is definitely the strongest one out of the 2 which tells the story of a photographer driven insane by cat and therefore is cursed with bar karma. With some stunning and gory visuals and a brilliantly unhinged performance by Harvey Kietel who definitely steals the entire show as he steadily spirals into complete madness is just thrilling to watch, with a fast pace, an even more intriguing story and solid visuals, Argento balances his strong direction flare on an intense focused story with such style.So all in all 'Two Evil Eyes' should have been a masterpiece, but sadly doesn't quite live up to that level, although both stories are entertaining , they're just not up to the level of what these directors have done previously and comes off on the whole feeling a little bit flat.

On the surface, this would seem like a horror fan's wet dream. Two of horror's most celebrated directors, George Romero and Dario Argento, in a pseudo-anthology film, dedicated to the works of American legend, E.A. Poe. The reality, however, is that the film has its' shining moments, but the negatives outweighed the positives for me.Most of us have some passing familiarity with Poe's work, maybe you've read it in grade school, or maybe you're more familiar with the Corman adaptations from the 60s. He is considered to be the father of American horror, as well as the inventor of the detective story. His work has been used as a launching point for many horror films and here they attempt to adapt his work somewhat faithfully, though with plenty of additions and embellishments. The stories were originally created for a proposed television series. Unfortunately it was abandoned with only two episodes and, thus, we get the two one-hour segments shown here. The fact that they were created for the small screen is one of the biggest drawbacks to the film. Romero's segment, especially, just reeks of low budget and bad production values. The first story is THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF M VALDEMAR done by Romero. It utilizes some of the weakest parts of the Poe oeuvre, in my opinion. It's very indicative of the sort of "detective fiction" that was crafted by Poe letting a plot VERY slowly unwind and, also, shows his preoccupation with the mysticism and hypnotism so popular at the time. The problem is that all the tension that he tries to build just goes nowhere and never provides a satisfying resolution. Maybe I'm just too jaded, but a guy laying frozen with a disembodied voice just doesn't elicit many chills for me. Of course, being Romero, he uses the story as an excuse to comment on capitalism and drag out one of his trademark zombies. The second story is THE BLACK CAT by Argento, which is really a strange melange of several Poe stories, including THE CASK OF AMONTIDALLO. It stars Harvey Keitel a few years before his Tarantino-fueled resurgence. The story has a few of the best elements of Argento's work, including some gorgeous looking crime scenes. Unfortunately, it has some of the worst elements of his work, as well, namely an odd, meandering plot and a bad male lead character that is hard for anyone to relate to because I've never met one person who acted remotely like him. Both directors were about five years past their prime, at this point, and do a serviceable job of translating stories that are now over a hundred years old, to make them more modern. I found the Argento segment to be much better than the Romero, but neither one would even have made a very good episode of TALES FROM THE CRYPT, let alone an entertaining horror film.

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.