Two Evil Eyes (1990)

With Halloween around the corner, what a better way to spend the evening but watching some great horror. Tonight’s movie, Two Evil Eyes the 1990 film based on stories by Edgar Allan Poe.

Plot / Two horror tales based on short stories by Edgar Allan Poe directed by two famous horror directors, George A. Romero and Dario Argento. The Facts About Mr. Valdeman, a woman's husband is on his deathbed, and a psychiatrist with whom she's having an affair hypnotizes him so they can get him to sign all his money over to his wife before he dies. The husband dies when he is still in a trance and becomes stuck between the two worlds, and seeks revenge and release. The Black Cat, a forensic photographer resents his girlfriend bringing a stray cat home. He dispatches the little fur ball, only to find out he cannot rid himself of it that easily.

This was a very nice mixture of camp and horror, with both directors staying true to the premise of Poe’s classics, but varying the story enough to make them modernized. While the acting was solid throughout both stories, the first segment, while very good, played a bit stiff. To me, Argento’s adaptation of The Black Cat is one of my favorite versions and is a lot more fluid. The effects and make-up throughout the movie are great and add quite a bit to the overall visualization. While dated in costuming, the late 80s / early 90s feel is a perfect flashback to the period. Yes, this is not a great flick featuring an uneven soundtrack and some slow pacing, but it is well worth watching (especially the impaling scene) and should quench the bloodlust of horror fans everywhere.