Blu-Ray Review: Two Evil Eyes

By Brad Henderson

People say the 1990s was the worst decade for horror films. I wouldn’t use the word “worst,” but I will say out of all the recent decades it wasn’t the strongest. Calling it the worst just makes it sound like all the films from that decade are terrible, but ‘90s horror is special to me. I love it and I always will.

Back then, when I was perusing the classic horror section at the video store, I would also scour the new release wall and grab whatever I could. My mother would drop me off at our local video store while she went grocery shopping and I would pick two to three titles for the weekend (yes, I took that long to pick out movies). So yes, films like Milo, Mikey, The Paperboy, The Dentist, Rumpelstiltskin, and many other small titles are very close to my heart. These films aren’t amazing by any means, or even that good, but I do enjoy them on a nostalgic level.

An overlooked film from that decade is Two Evil Eyes. It features two of the greatest horror directors, George A. Romero and Dario Argento. This combination of forces couldn’t save Two Evil Eyes from suffering a substantial loss at the box office and thus, it never really made an impact in the horror community. I mean, seriously, Argento and Romero get together and make a film and it bombs? What the fuck? These guys are gods in my eyes and it is still unbelievable to me that this film isn’t more well-known. It even has a killer cast and pretty decent acting.

At that time, Argento was kind of at the end of his rope and everyone wanted the next “dead” installment from Romero. That said, I love both directors and the majority of their work, but we all know that most of the big time horror directors from the ‘70s and ‘80s suffered because fans said they were washed up and had lost their touch. I disagree with that completely.

Argento and and Romero, not to mention John Carpenter and Wes Craven, are still making the same films that they did back then. We are submerged in so many new and inventive horror films that we kind of disregard the newer “old-school” films. Not only do I still love their old films, I also enjoy many of the newer films from these directors.

I do think Two Evil Eyes is underrated. It definitely didn’t deserve to be deserted like it was. Two Evil Eyes feels like lost installments from Romero’s Creepshow or perhaps the segments that were not good enough and ended up on the cutting room floor.

The first segment, The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar, is the better of the two, directed by Romero and based on a Poe story. It feels a little bit like Father’s Day from Creepshow although ultimately it stands as its own thing. Next is Argento’s segment, The Black Cat, also based on a Poe story. I enjoyed this one to an extent but the cat stuff got to me, so if you are an animal lover you might want to look away during certain scenes. Even though the cat is fine, it looks like it is being tortured so it’s hard for me to watch. A statement at the end assures the viewers that no cats were harmed but the scene is still something that will turn stomachs.

Two Evil Eyes is a fun flick and includes a killer performance from Harvey Keitel as well as an appearance by Tom Atkins. If you’re looking for some great ‘90s horror, this is one to pick up.

Two Evil Eyes was released from Blue Underground on April 29, 2009.