Two Evil Eyes

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the finest of all of the Gothic horror writers and his poems and short stories have been featured in numerous horror films by myriad directors and even then something like The Simpsons where his poem The Raven is brilliantly read by James Earl Jones. In this diptych film, two of the greatest living horror directors, one of which will be considered the favourite director by most genre fans, make one film each based on a Poe story to be played back to back.

The first is George A. Romero's take on The Facts in the Case of M Valdemar in which Jessica, a young woman, whose elderly husband is dying and only has weeks to live, plans, with his doctor, to take all of his money. The physician has developed an extremely unusual and innovative way of making sure that Mr Ernest Valdemar plays along, hypnotise him and make him sign contracts and even speak on the telephone, writing and saying anything that the good doctor tells him to.

The only stipulation that his lawyer demands is that Mr Valdemar must live at least as long as he is expected to, there can be no chance of foul play. This is quite easy as Mr Valdemar is in no pain when under hypnosis and can be easily medicated and cared for. When he unexpectedly dies, Jessica suggests keeping the whole thing up but Robert says he can use his position as an MD to sign the death certificate and have Ernest buried at a later date when all the transactions have gone through. The problem is: what to do with the body until then?

The only way of keeping a corpse in good condition for several weeks is obviously to freeze it so Jessica and Robert clear one of the chest freezers in the basement of food and Robert, as Jessica can't handle herself, let alone a corpse, takes Ernest Valdemar down to the basement and puts him in the freezer. So far, so good but Jessica begins hearing voices and mysterious sounds from downstairs and Robert learns that, as Valdemar died whilst under hypnosis, he is trapped in between two worlds.



Next up is Dario Argento's adaptation of The Black Cat which stars Harvey Keitel as Roderick Usher, a crime scene photographer whose work is appreciated by both the police and the artistic community. When his girlfriend brings in a stray cat, he finds it annoying and violent, constantly hissing and clawing at him. Eventually, the cat drives him to the point of insanity and he violently kills the creature.

Strangely, another cat shows up their exactly the same 'unique' markings -- the white spot on the chest with a strange picture -- as the feline he killed and he is haunted by dreams in which he is executed as a witch because of the black cat. Because of this descent into madness, Usher tries to kill another cat and then murders his girlfriend, boarding her body up in one of the bedrooms behind a false wall with a bookcase in front of it. Soon, he starts hearing things, a cat meowing, and finds a black cat living behind the false wall.


After removing the feline, he patches up the wall and takes a week's break in the country, leaving on a rainy night with a dummy of his girlfriend in the front seat so, when he drives past his elderly neighbours, they will see both of them leave and give him a perfect alibi. However, Usher is unable to keep his story straight and the suspicions of one of her music students and the next-door neighbours begin to grow and it isn't long before the police come knocking.

Opinion about this film and the two short films that comprise it is just about split through the horror community with some people not caring at all for the movie, others really liking it and preference for which segment just about split 50-50. Personally, I think this is a really interesting idea and both films work although I do think Romero's is the tightest of the two. Argento's segment contains all of his trademark visual flair but the narrative gets a bit baggy at times and it could really do with being about 10 minutes shorter. However, Two Evil Eyes is a really well made and interesting film which shows just how different Romero's style is to Argento's. It would have been even more fascinating to have a film where each director adapted both stories and that would have really highlighted the differences between them.

The Disc

Extra Features
This was due to be released a couple of months ago but there was a bit of a negative reaction to the proposed disc on the Arrow Video website (www.cult-labs.com) so the release was delayed whilst the discs were sorted out. There is still little in the way of any major featurettes -- retrospective interviews, commentaries or making of documentaries, for example -- so all you get is the theatrical trailer and a Dario Argento trailer reel.

Unlike most of Arrow's previous DVDs, this one has optional subtitles.


The Picture
Reasonably impressive for its age with clarity, colours and contrast that are all of a fairly high quality. The special make-up effects, by Tom Savini and his team, are all excellent, especially the 'metronome in the chest' stunt that features in the Document of the Dead featurette from the Dawn of the Dead DVD and Blu-ray. Another one that looks great, and is featured on the cover, is the dead woman with her mouth held open by a metal clamp and all of her teeth removed

Perhaps predictably, The Black Cat is the most visually intense of the two with some lurid colours which as an issue with the otherwise quite muted palette.

The Sound
This was another bugbear of the online community so Arrow have added an extra couple of tracks to the initial release so you have Dolby Digital 5.1 English, 2.0 Stereo English and 2.0 Stereo Italian. I found the 5.1 mix to be a little muddy and not as clear as either of the stereo options so watched it with the English stereo track. As the film was also released in Italian and, officially, has an Italian title, it makes perfect sense to include the Italian audio option and it's quite funny to see Harvey Keitel or Adrienne Barbeau dubbed into Italian.

Each segment is scored very well and there is good use of source music which has now become very dated. The music in The Black Cat is less dated than any other segment as Usher listens to jazz.


Final Thoughts
I like Two Evil Eyes and have had the Blue Underground DVD for years. I suppose this release is in direct competition with the BU version but will appeal to those who don't own the film on DVD already due to its price and that it is easily available. If you already have the Blue Underground one (which is superior in terms of extra features), you might feel like a double-dip because of the superb cover artwork and to fulfil a feeling of wanting to own all of the Arrow DVDs.