Deux Yeux maléfiques

Instead of your usual trilogy or anthology, TWO EVIL EYES is two hour-long Edgar Allan Poe adaptations written for the screen and directed by two top horror directors. "The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar" (by George A. Romero) concerns a money-hungry wife (Adrienne Barbeau) and a greedy doctor (Ramy Zada) who team up to kill off the elderly husband Ernest (Bingo O'Malley) for his money. They unwisely use hypnotism to lure the victim to catatonia, which also allows Ernest to return from the dead and seek revenge. The storyline is too cliché in this outing and it's pretty dull despite an excellent lead performance from Barbeau and good (though sparsely used) Tom Savini make up FX. "The Black Cat" (by Dario Argento) is the reason to watch the movie. Harvey Keitel is typically good as Roderick Usher, an alcoholic crime photographer who makes a living publishing mondo photographs. His book ("Metropolitan Horrors") stirs up lots of controversy. The horror angle is added by a sinister black cat that constantly pops up in Usher's life and starts to drive him mad. Mixing elements from several Poe stories, Argento's flair for visual style and color schemes, loads of clever Poe reference (including nods to his "Pit and the Pendulum" and "Premature Burial") and lots of surprises, "The Black Cat" manages to be both entertaining and disturbing. Tom Savini also did FX for the segment (and appears). Pino Dinaggio did music for both.