Review #506: 'Two Evil Eyes' (1990)

Originally conceived as a quartet of Edgar Allen Poe adaptations, by George A. Romero, Dario Argento, John Carpenter and Wes Craven, the previous due were to be the only contributors to the double bill film Two Evil Eyes. Modernising (and in Argento's case merging a variety of Poe's themes) two stories, 'The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar' and 'The Black Cat', Romero and Argento tackle similar themes about guilt and morality. In the first story, Romero's, Jessica (Adrienne Barbeau) is the wife of an older, rich, dying man, as she attempts to gain all of his wealth before his demise. Using her doctor/lover, Dr Hoffman (Ramy Zada), they hypnotise him, so they are able to embezzle the cash. However, when Valdemar dies, and they put him into a freezer, his disembodied voice can still be heard, a spirit trapped between two worlds.

In Argento's piece, Harvey Keitel plays a crime scene photographer, Rod Usher, who has also published a book of questionable ethics, involving (along with photos of mutilations of women from real-life crime scenes) some apparent shots of a black cat being tortured, a cat owned by his live-in girlfriend, Annabel (Madeleine Potter). After an argument, he kills her and conceals her body behind a dry wall fronted with a bookshelf. In dreams and in life, Rod is tortured by the presence of the black cat, who may possess spiritual powers. Fundamental to both of these narratives is that element of overwhelming guilt. Both characters are tormented, whether psychologically or supernaturally. This is a theme that permeates a lot of Poe's horror writing, for example in one of his most famous short stories, 'The Tell-tale Heart', the protagonist receives a visit from the police, and the trap door where a dead body is concealed, pulsates as the narrator's anguish and paranoia envelops him.

'The Black Cat' is the better of the two short films. Romero's feels at times like a macabre daytime soap opera. The Dallas iconography of dazzlingly bright-coloured decor, and immense shoulder pads, the garish face paint of the ruling classes. That said, as with many of Romero's films, he infuses the film with social commentary, coming out of the 1980's processing of our consumerist indulgence: The ethic of greed. Argento makes a more stylish attempt, which has heightened paranoia, one which is elevated largely due to a series of suspicious characters. Tom Savini's by now obligatory horror effects are also superior in the latter tale of terror. But, as with all horror films of the early 1990's, this (and they) loses something as they are consumed by television aesthetics, perhaps a project that would have benefited from being made ten years previously. The overall film experience is dampened by these production values, and the atmosphere is stilted, with little, or no sense of terror or impending horror. The definitive film adaptations of Edgar Allen Poe are still those beautiful Roger Corman productions of the early 1960's, and Two Evil Eyes is best suited to Poe/Romero/Argento purists.


Directed by: Dario Argento, George A. Romero
Starring: Adrienne Barbeau, E.G. Marshall, Harvey Keitel, Madeleine Potter
Country: Italy/USA

Rating: **

Marc Ivamy