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6
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10 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Guest
Review by Rod
Barnett |
Two
Evil Eyes is a great
idea with a pretty good execution. It could have been fantastic
but it never quite reaches that level. For this project horror
film icons George Romero (Night Of The Living
Dead) and Dario Argento (Suspiria)
each adapt an Edgar Allan Poe story in their own cinematic style
as a throwback to the great anthology films of the '60s and
'70s. Both men set their stories in the present day and modernize
the details but leave the plots and various complications intact.
As I said, it's a great idea and the film is pretty darned good...
but neither tale represents the directors' best work.
First up is Romero's The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar.
Adrienne Barbeau (The Fog) plays Jessica
Valdemar, the young trophy wife of the very rich and very sick
Ernest (Bingo O'Malley). Having realized that dear old hubby
is not the most giving of men, she's decided to force a sizable
inheritance from him. Calling in former lover Dr. Robert Hoffman
(Ramy Zada) to help, the duo hit upon a brilliant scheme. By
hypnotizing Mr. Valdemar the good doctor can make him sign anything
they want including a new will leaving everything to his loving
wife. They carefully go about their plan and have begun to get
their hands on some of the wealth when, against all luck, the
old man dies. Figuring that they can forge the final needed
signatures they place his corpse in a large basement freezer
to retard decomposition. All is proceeding well again when they
discover that since Ernest was hypnotized when he died his soul
has not left his body! Hoffman becomes fascinated by this phenomenon
and starts questioning the dead man for details of whatever
he is experiencing after death. Valdemar warns him that there
are "Others" who are trying to use his unnatural link
to the world of the living as a way to cross over and return.
Jessica is completely unnerved by her husband's continued presence,
finally breaking down and putting a couple of bullets through
his frozen head. Knowing now that they'll never be able to fake
Valdemar's death as natural, they resign themselves to burying
him and running with the cash they have. But the thawing corpse
is showing signs of life again and the Others are on the move.
This
is a good story and is very well realized by Romero on screen
but it doesn't reach the heights of which the director is capable.
The performances are very strong; Romero shows his excellent
sense of plot structure and dialog repeatedly throughout, with
his master's skill as an editor shining as well. Tom Savini's
effects work is great with the cadaver of Valdemar being particularly
effective. My only real compliant with the visualizations in
this tale is the look chosen for the Others when we finally
glimpse them. I can't help but think that there was a better
way to imagine these ghostly terrors than as gray, leotard-wearing
sprites! Still, this is a good story and worth seeing for Poe,
Romero or just plain horror fans.
The second story is
Argento's version of The Black Cat. Since this is the
umpteenth filming of the story (not counting the many films
that simply co-opt the title), newcomers will be happy to know
that while this telling stays very close to the story, Dario
has also thrown in references to several other Poe stories as
well. Poe's unnamed protagonist is here called Rod Usher (Harvey
Kietel) and is a crime photographer known for his ability to
capture grisly images very beautifully. (Shades of Mr. Argento!)
He lives with his long time girlfriend/wife Annabel (Madeleine
Potter), who works as a violin teacher and has recently taken
in a stray black cat as a pet. Usher becomes fascinated with
the cat and in a flash of mad inspiration strangles the feline,
photographing the act for his new book. Annabel accuses him
of doing something to the missing cat but he denies everything
to the point of violent arguments. When the photo book is published,
a horrified Annabel realizes what has happened and makes immediate
plans to leave. Unfortunately Rod returns home before she can
get out and in a drunken rage he kills her with a handy kitchen
cleaver.
Sobering quickly,
Usher puts the body in the bathtub and makes arrangements to
hide the corpse permanently. He strings her upright in a hallway
and builds a new wall in front of her in what appears to be
a perfect plan to get away with murder. He convinces next door
neighbors Martin Balsam and Kim Hunter that she's gone away
with him for a weekend but not returned, but the scheme hits
a snag when a love-struck music student of Annabel's suspects
foul play. As Usher's old buddy Detective Legrand (John Amos)
shows up to ask some questions, any Poe reader knows that the
murdered wife will be found and that the dead cat just might
play a part. Of course, any Argento fan will also expect the
denouncement to be grotesque and shocking —
that's certainly the case here. The final image of Annabel's
corpse is amazing and one of Savini's best horror creations.
Argento's many strengths
and weaknesses are on display in this story. Those not enamored
of his style won't find anything here to change their minds.
The tone of the piece swings wildly, the acting goes from brilliant
to ridiculous, and some scenes are completely unnecessary. But
the overall feel of the piece is very good. Trying to cram as
many Poe references in as possible, we are given a bloody death
by bladed pendulum, a madman removing a dead woman's teeth,
and a nightmare vision of Kietel being transported to the past
and impaled on a spike. Needless to say, there is a little too
much extraneous detail on display, but I didn't find the film
to be convoluted. While it would've been possible to remove
several scenes I'm not sure it would help the story since the
mood seems to be more important than the destination. The end
of the tale is never really in doubt to most horror film watchers
but Argento's path there is truly entertaining to follow. As
with Romero's story I do have one major complaint though: just
what the hell is Usher trying to do at the very end of this
story? I've looked at it again and again but can find no clue
as to what he's trying to accomplish. I really feel the story
should have ended about two minutes earlier on an image that
could have provided the film with a perfect final shot. Oh well.
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Blue
Underground has taken one of the less perfect films from these
filmmakers and made one of the best DVD sets either of them has
yet had. On Disc 1 the film is presented in a beautiful anamorphic
1.85:1 widescreen display with 6.1 DTS, 5.1 Dolby, and 2.0 Dolby
soundtracks. I can't imagine a better looking or sounding version
of the movie will ever be released to video. I was glad to be
able to study Pino Donaggio's wonderful score with these options
and it made me ache to have it on CD. The extras on this first
disc are the trailer, an extensive poster and still gallery and
some very nice talent bios. But it's on Disc 2 that 'Extras Heaven'
is reached! First is a brand new 30-minute interview with Romero,
Argento and Savini called Two Masters' Eyes. They discuss
the beginning of the project and intriguingly reveal the first
choices of Poe stories for both directors. (I would have really
loved to see Romero's Masque of the Red Death.) This is
a first-rate piece and really enhanced my appreciation of the
film.
Next up is a great
behind-the-scenes look at the film's special effects called Savini's
EFX that affords a look not just at the work that ended up
on screen, but the failed mechanical cat's head that didn't. Third
on the disc is an odd little short called At Home with Tom
Savini which is simply a home video tour of Tom's house circa
1989 during Two Evil Eyes' production.
I really expected it to be a waste of time but Savini is an amusing
(if exhausted) host and his collection of horror related books
and ephemera is fascinating. Topping off the extras is a brief
but interesting interview with Adrienne Barbeau filmed during
production by Roy Fumkes for his documentary feature Document
of the Dead. He ended up never used the footage, and was kind
enough to allow Blue Underground to include it here. There's also
a hidden Easter egg containing a short interview bit with Cristina
Romero talking about her small role in the film.
This is a great DVD of a pretty good film. Blue Underground is
to be commended for their outstanding work bringing this movie
to us in such an amazing package. If this much care was lavished
on all horror DVD releases I don't think we'd ever have reason
to complain. Bravo BU — and bring on more! 5/13/03 |
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