I can remember when it was announced that this film was
being made back in 1990. To think that directors Dario Argento and George
Romero would be tackling Edgar Allan Poe was an idea to be cheered. At first
conceived as having more directors with shorter stories the end result found
just these two. Fortunately both turn in solid stories that entertain and offer
just a touch of fright.
Rather than tackle a single story each director chose one to
do on their own. Those two stories were brought together to form this single
film. Leading off was Romero with his version of “The Facts in the Case of M.
Valdemar”. Rather than a literal translation of the story, Romero chose to
update it and twist it a bit.
We find 40 something Jessica Valdemar (Adrienne Barbeau)
arriving at the downtown Pittsburgh office of her husband Ernest’s (Bingo
O’Malley) attorney Mr. Pike (E.G. Marshall). She’s brought her husband’s
updated will leaving her his considerable estate. Pike, who has great disdain
for Jessica and feels she’s a bad influence on his friend, questions the
changes and calls their home to confer with him. Her husband tells him these
are the changes he wants and authorizes it though it will take three weeks to
go through. Until then he authorizes a smaller sum for her to use.
Returning home Jessica meets with Dr. Robert Hoffman (Ramy
Zada), her husband’s physician. But he’s more than that, he’s Jessica’s lover
as well. Hoffman has used hypnotism to place Ernest in a trance and had him
sign the legal documents Jessica took to the attorney. He also had him speak on
the phone while under.
Things take a turn for the worse when Ernest goes into
cardiac arrest while under hypnosis. Still weeks from having the money, the
couple place his body in the freezer and continue to act as if he’s still
alive. It isn’t long before things get stranger. Jessica begins hearing
Ernest’s voice coming from the freezer. It seems that while his body died his
mind is trapped, caught in the hypnotic world he was placed in. Suddenly a
chance for revenge presents itself.
Romero plays all of this in a subtle manner rather than the
blatant horror fans came to expect with his zombie films. It runs closer to
what he presented with THE DARK HALF and MONKEYSHINES instead. His
craftsmanship is apparent and his working with actors in a way that makes them
comfortable is apparent. The end result finds his half of the production a
creepy success.
On to Argento. Like Romero he tosses aside a literal
translation of Poe and updates his tale, “The Black Cat”. Enter Rod Usher
(Harvey Keitel), a crime scene photographer on the latest murder. A woman has
been sliced in half by a pendulum blade. Usher is a brutish sort, unaffected by
the scenes he shoots and the horror they contain. For him it is a job.
Usher returns home to his girlfriend Annabelle (Madeline
Potter). Annabelle is the opposite of Usher, a more emotional person in touch
with the world that surrounds her, more sensitive and mystical. A professional
violinist she talks of witches and spells, a far cry from Usher’s gritty life
on the streets attitude. Annabelle has brought home a cat that she adores but
that Usher hates and despises. As the days pass his hatred for the animal
grows. Eventually he strangles the cat while photographing himself in the act,
later telling Annabelle that she must have run off.
Fighting with Annabelle and drinking heavily, Usher is
unnerved when the barmaid at his local watering hole presents him with a cat to
take home, one with the exact same markings as the cat he killed. While this is
taking place Annabelle has found a new book of photos released by Usher that
contains the phots of the first cat being killed. When they meet at home, a
drunken Usher argue with Annabelle and threatens to kill the new cat. When she
steps in to intervene, he kills Annabelle by accident.
To avoid being sent to prison, Usher hides Annabelle’s body
in the wall of their apartment. But suspicious neighbors and co-workers lead
detectives to investigate Annabelle’s disappearance. And if you know Poe you
know what to expect next.
This portion of the film is once again well done on both
creative and technical levels. More than that the story presentation seems more
straight forward than most films made by Argento. While combining various Poe
stories and characters he captures the essence of Poe here and does it well.
The end result of this collaboration is a solid horror film
from both masters but two films that don’t terrify as much as one would expect.
Instead their horror is more along the lines of a slow burn, a tale told that
will bring images to mind but not cause you to jump from your chair. Those kind
of films, as presented here, offer solid horror.
When the film was released it surprisingly didn’t fare well at
the box office. It did do solid business on VHS and later disc. Now Blue
Underground is releasing it again with a new 4K Restoration from the uncensored
original camera negative as well as a slew of extras. Those include a new audio
commentary track by Troy Howarth, the theatrical trailer, poster and still
galleries, TWO MASTER’ EYES with interviews with Argento, Romero, special
make-up effects supervisor Tom Savini, executive producer Claudio Argento and
Asia Argento, SAVINI’S EFX a behind the scenes look at the movies effects, AT
HOME WITH SAVINI a personal tour of Savini’s home, Adrienne Barbeau on George
Romero, BEFORE I WAKE an interview with Ramy Zada, BEHIND THE WALL an interview
with Madeline Potter, ONE MAESTRO AND TWO MASTERS an interview with composer
Pino Donaggio, REWRITING POE an interview with co-writer Franco Ferrini, THE
CAT WHO WOULDN’T DIE an interview with assistant director Luigi Cozzi, TWO EVIL
BROTHERS an interview with special make-up assistant Everett Burrell, WORKING
WITH GEORGE an interview with costume designer Barbara Anderson, a collectable
booklet with a new essay by Michael Gingold and with this release the original
motion picture soundtrack by Pino Donnagio on CD.
While this movie might be in your collection already it
won’t be the same as is offered here. With the best presentation possible as
well as that vast collection of extras this is the one to have. And kudos to
Blue Underground for bringing it all together for fans of both directors.
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