TWO EVIL EYES

released 24 sepTeMBer 1990 | 18 | Blu-ray & dVd (dual format) Directors George romero, dario argento Cast adrienne Barbeau, Harvey Keitel, ramy Zada, Madeleine potter

blu-ray debut Nearly 170 years after his death, Edgar Allan Poe’s work continues to provoke shudders. This collaboration by two 20th century masters of horror adapts two of his best-known stories.

George Romero uses the kernel of “The Facts In The Case Of M Valdemar” – the hypnotising of a dying man – for a very ’80s tale of a scheming gold-digger (Adrienne Barbeau). Then Dario Argento tackles “The Black Cat”: Harvey Keitel plays the murderer undone after he accidentally walls up a moggy with his wife’s corpse; by making him a crime-scene photographer, Argento also adds a tableau from “The Pit And The Pendulum”.

Argento’s half is more successful, thanks to inventive camerawork, but both rather outstay their welcome; you may find yourself wishing this was a three-part anthology instead. The score is disappointingly forgettable, given the pedigree of composer Pino Donaggio (Don’t Look Now, Carrie). And while both directors find reasons to shoehorn in gore effects, neither can top the original tales’ peaks of unpleasantness: a body rotting into putrescence in seconds; an alcoholic putting out a cat’s eye with a penknife.

Extras Interviews with assistant director Luigi Cozzi and critic Kim Newman; Italian open/closing credits; trailer; booklet; poster.