Other Titles • Two Evil Eyes (1991) • Due occhi diabolici • Edgar Allan Poe (1989) • 2 Evil Eyes
Synopses for Two Evil Eyes (1990)
1.
A double dose of terror from the directors of Dawn Of The Dead and Suspiria The masters of modern horror - George Romero and Dario Argento - bring you an unprecedented pair of shockers inspired by the tales of Edgar Allan Poe. In Romero's The Facts In The Case Of Mr. Valdemar, a conniving wife (Adrienne Barbeau of The Fog) and her lover use a hypnotic trance to embezzle a fortune from her dying husband, only to receive some chilling surprises from beyond the grave. Then in Argento's The Black Cat, a deranged crime scene photographer (Harvey Keitel of Reservoir Dogs) is driven to brutal acts of madness and murder by his girlfriend’s new pet. But will this cunning feline deliver a final sickening twist of its own?
Martin Balsam (Psycho) and Tom Atkins (Maniac Cop) co-star in this wild horror hit that also features grisly effects by gore master Tom Savini (Dawn of the Dead, The Prowler). Blue Underground is proud to present Two Evil Eyes newly transferred from an original vault negative and loaded with exclusive extras for the first time ever on DVD.
2.
Legendary horror directors George Romero and Dario Argento team up to direct a pair of short films inspired by the writing of Edgar Allen Poe. In Romero's story, a woman (Adrienne Barbeau) and her lover hypnotize her ailing, older husband into signing over his riches. But when he dies while still under their command, his soul haunts them, seeking to be freed from their hypnotic spell. In Argento's tale, a crime-scene photographer (Harvey Keitel) kills his live-in girlfriend in a fit of jealous rage, but her black cat continues to torment him after her death. While Romero's piece toys with horror conventions and Argento's plays out in his typically elongated fashion, their dramatic story lines, unexpectedly gruesome imagery, and ironic endings shock some life into the movie. It is rumored that this was originally meant to be a quartet of horror tales with contributions from Wes Craven and John Carpenter, but at least we got these two. --Bryan Reesman
3.
In Romero’s The Facts In The Case Of Mr. Valdemar, a conniving wife (Adrienne Barbeau) and her lover use a hypnotic trance to embezzle a fortune from her dying husband, only to receive some chilling surprises from beyond the grave.
Then in Argento’s The Black Cat, a deranged crime scene photographer (Harvey Keitel) is driven to brutal acts of madness and murder by his girlfriend’s new pet. But will this cunning feline deliver a final sickening twist of its own?
4.
'Two Evil Eyes' (aka Due Occhi Diobolici) brings together two of the horror genre's greatest directors, George A. Romero and Dario Argento, to remake two Edgar Allan Poe tales previously brought to the big screen by B-movie maestro Roger Corman in his 1962 film, 'Tales Of Terror'.
Directed by Romero, The Facts In The Case Of M. Valdemar tells the story of a scheming, cheating wife (Adrienne Barbeau) who convinces her psychiatrist lover (Ramy Zada) to hypnotise her dying husband (Bingo O'Malley) in order to get him to sign his fortune over to her. When the husband dies while still under hypnosis, he finds himself caught in a limbo between the worlds of the living and the dead, and hungry for revenge.
In The Black Cat directed by Argento, Harvey Keitel plays Roderick Usher, a feline-hating, Weegee-like forensic photographer who, naturally, specialises in shooting pictures of death and murder scenes. When his wife, Annabel (Madeleine Potter) brings home a stray cat, Usher wastes no time in disposing of the animal. Unfortunately, the cat refuses to stay dead, prompting Usher's terrifying, murderous descent into madness.
Starring genre movie favourites Adrienne Barbeau, Tom Atkins, Bingo O'Malley and E.G. Marshall, alongside Harvey Keitel, Sally Kirkland, Kim Hunter, Martin Balsam and John Amos, the movie also marks the feature film debut of a young Julie Benz.
Featuring plenty of bloody mayhem to please the gore-hounds, courtesy of special make-up effects wizards Tom Savini (Dawn Of The Dead, Creepshow, Day Of The Dead) and John Vulich (Day Of The Dead, TV's Buffy The Vampire Slayer), and set to a suitably chilling score by Pino Donaggio (Carrie, Dressed To Kill, The Howling), 'Two Evil Eyes' is an essential addition to every horror aficionado's collection!
5.
George A. Romero (NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD) and Dario Argento (SUSPIRIA) each try their hand at a tale by Edgar Allan Poe in this feature comprising two hour-long segments. In Romero’s THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF MR. VALDEMAR, Adrienne Barbeau is Jessica Valdemar, a former stewardess who marries an old man for his money. Through hypnosis, her ex-lover Robert tries to get Valdemar to sign his money over to Jessica, but when Valdemar dies in the process, caught between the dead and the living, Robert and Jessica find themselves in a situation from which they cannot escape. Argento transposes THE BLACK CAT to the present, with Harvey Keitel as Rod Usher, a crime scene photographer whose flighty girlfriend, Annabel, has a cat he despises. Usher kills the cat, telling Annabel that it’s gone missing. Through a chain of events that reveals itself to be nothing less than destiny, Rod’s life turns to a violent shambles.
Romero, once again using an animated corpse as a plot device, directs his wordy tale with a restrained hand. Argento’s unmistakable style comes through in the gruesome THE BLACK CAT, making this minor effort for these two major directors an interesting curiosity not to be missed by fans of the genre.
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