Two Evil Eyes (1990/Blue Underground Blu-ray)
Picture: B-
Sound: B- Extras: C Film: C
After his two Creepshow
projects, George Romero decided to try an anthology feature based on the work
of the great Edgar Allen Poe, so he got his friend Dario Argento on board and
they made the two-story feature Two Evil
Eyes in 1990. Argento would do the
latest version of The Black Cat with Harvey Keitel, John Amos, Sally Kirkland,
Kim Hunter, Martin Balsam, Julie Benz and an uncredited Tom Savini reset in
modern-day Pittsburgh, while Romero would take on The Facts Of The Case Of Mr.
Valdemar with Adrienne Barbeau, Tom Atkins, Ramy Zada, Bingo O’Malley,
Jeff Howell and E.G. Marshall, who had hosted the CBS Radio Mystery Theater for
many years before this and was a nice touch to add to that segment.
Though both segments have their moments and giving each
director more time to do their segments than the usual anthology is a good
idea, the results are mixed and one reason is simple: most film and TV adaptations of Poe’s work
never quite work to begin with. Even
when you get the material in the hands of master filmmakers like these, Poe is
just something that rarely translates well to film, like Hans Christian
Anderson. Why that is would be something
for a separate essay, but Poe’s writing is so distinctive and imaginative that
the live action versions fail. Still,
each adaptation here offers some good moments and I like that Romero took on a
rarely adapted Poe tale, which actually was attempted in no less than three
feature film anthologies in the 1960s.
That makes Two Evil Eyes a
curio with some rewards, but also one with limits, though everyone should see
it once for what does work.
The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image is a
little soft despite being a newer film and being nicely shot in 35mm film by
Director of Photography Peter Reniers, so either the source is a little off or
(more likely) the transfer is a tad off, but color is good and the picture is
pretty solid otherwise. The DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) 7.1 mix, Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mix and Dolby Digital 5.1 EX all try
their best to upgrade the theatrical analog Dolby A-type stereo but even if
elements are introduced from better sources (the score by the great Pino
Donaggio seems to be from a better master source) can only do so much for a
film mixed in Dolby’s oldest stereo noise reduction format. Still, this is a very ambitious upgrade and I
like the DTS just that much more than the other options.
Extras include a Theatrical Trailer, At Home With Tom Savini short in his Western
Pennsylvania hometown, Savini’s
EFX featurette, Adrienne Barbeau on George Romero interview and Two
Masters’ Eyes interview featurette with Romero, Argento, Savini, Executive
Producer Claudia Argento and Asia Argento.
- Nicholas Sheffo
