I first discovered After Midnight (1989) during my freshman year of college. There at I Luv Video was this VHS tape that gave me nostalgia for a movie I actually hadn’t seen yet. The woman on the cover, a character played by Jillian McWhirter, was quite literally trapped in time, and the tagline beneath her fiery fate read: “Anything Can Happen in the Dark.” As it turned out, my little case of memory distortion was rather fitting; this movie starts off with someone having a vague recollection, albeit of a terrible event.

Growing up I had passed by After Midnight many times at my local video shop, but it wasn’t until some years later that I gave it a watch. And after witnessing the nightmarish fate of those college students enrolled in The Psychology of Fear, I was hooked. Jim and Ken Wheat’s movie — their horror debut as...

A new episode of the Best Horror Movie You Never Saw video series was released over the weekend, and with this one we took a look back at a film that came from two masters of the genre: George A. Romero and Dario Argento. The film is the 1990 anthology Two Evil Eyes (watch or buy it Here), and you can find out all about it by watching the video embedded above!

Scripted by Romero, Argento, and Franco Ferrini, Two Evil Eyes consists of adaptations of two separate Edgar Allan Poe stories, The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar and The Black Cat. The film has the following synopsis: George A. Romero provides unabated horror in “The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar”. As he lays dying, Ernest Valdemar’s scheming young wife and her lover anxiously await his demise – and his vast fortune. But when Ernest dies unexpectedly while under hypnosis,...

20th Century Studios’ and New Regency’s Barbarian Arrives on Digital October 25: "20th Century Studios and New Regency present Barbarian, the scariest movie of the year. From writer/director Zach Cregger, and noted horror producer Roy Lee comes a film both critics and audiences are raving about. The “exquisitely crafted scary story” is Certified-Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes™ and fans can enjoy exclusive behind-the-scenes bonus features when the film arrives on all major digital platforms October 25."

Film Synopsis

Arriving in Detroit for a job interview, a young woman books a rental home. But when she arrives late at night, she discovers that the house is double booked and a strange man is already staying there. Against her better judgement, she decides to spend the evening, but soon discovers that there’s a lot more to fear than just an unexpected house guest. From 20th Century Studios and New Regency, Barbarian stars Georgina Campbell,...

The “omnibus” horror film – a feature length collection of cinematic horror stories – is one of the most beloved and respected horror movie genres for many reasons; but most importantly, horror is often very effective in concentrated doses (just check out our excellent short film collection for some great examples), especially with a storyline that's designed to set up one good shock or twist, saving the writer the effort of milking more scares out of a single tale. The field is overflowing with some landmark films, including the timeless 1945 classic Dead of Night (still creepy and funny after all these years); Roger Corman's Poe collection Tales of Terror; a ton of cool flicks like From Beyond the Grave from UK studio Amicus; EC Comics-inspired films like the original Tales from the Crypt (actually another Amicus film) and George Romero's Creepshow; made-for-tv faves like Trilogy of Terror; and stylish international...

Onetime head of CBN network and former jazz drummer James Barden has filmed the story of Jesus Christ in a modern context with all the heart and good intentions one would expect from an earnestly religious person who devoted 14 years of his life to the project.

After playing various regions of the country in the past 1 1/2 years, "The Judas Project" arrives for a sizable run (more than 70 theaters) in Southern California. It's uneven technically but boasts strong performances and Boss Film special effects for those who wander into the theater expecting the usual secular entertainment.

In addition to the low budget that limits the size of crowd scenes and sets most of the story on barren beaches and around campfires, there are some curious interpretations of the story that point to the film's Moral Majority agenda. Most conspicuously absent is the Last Supper, but the central dilemma facing Jude (Ramy Zada) and Jesse (John O'Banion) -- the former wants the latter to be the King The world needs -- comes through loud and clear.

O'Banion brings great passion and beauteous gazes to the role of Jesse, while Zada is similarly intense. What works less well, despite an effective performance by Richard Herd as a global leader, are the circumstances of Jesse's refusing to be manipulated and then subsequently being crucified as a danger to the world. Without any real sense that the multitude is responding to his message of love and faith, the film's simplistic picture of today's world undercuts the story's relevance.

Furthermore, the special effects are unnecessary and unconvincing evidence of the power of God. Barden, who wrote the film's derivative score and thematically on-the-nose songs, apes the finale of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" when the film might have tried for something more challenging.

THE JUDAS PROJECT

RS Entertainment

The Judas Project Limited Partnership

Writer-director James H. Barden

Producers James Nelson, Ervin Melton

Executive producers James H. Barden, Edward A. Teraskiewicz

Director of photography Bryan England

Production designer Philip Dean Foreman

Editor Noreen Zepp-Linden

Music James H. Barden

Visual effects Richard Edlund

Color/stereo

Cast:

Jesse John O'Banion

Jude Ramy Zada

Cunningham Richard Herd

Ponerous Jeff Corey

Jackson Gerald Gordon

Running time -- 96 minutes

MPAA rating: PG-13

(c) The Hollywood Reporter...

The talented horror veterans George Romero and Dario Argento each contribute an adaptation of an Edgar Alan Poe story to the feature-length ''Two Evil Eyes.'' Although the results are not the best of either filmmaker's work, each manages to bend his material to his own ghoulish taste, and the outcome makes for an entertaining outing. Boxoffice prospects, if not overwhelming, should be similarly -- and seasonally -- satisfactory.

Romero has updated ''The Curious Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar, '' Poe's tale of a man who remains under hypnosis after he is dead. Valdemar (Bingo O'Malley) is a rich recluse whose estate is looted by his wife, Jessica (Adrienne Barbeau), as he lies on his deathbed.

Jessica and her lover, Dr. Robert Hoffman (Ramy Zada), have hypnotized The Old Man into signing away his millions. But after he dies and is stored away in a basement freezer, Valdemar begins moaning about beings on the other side who wish to use him to cross over.

Like his ''Creepshow'' screen anecdotes, Romero's 55-minute tale leans mightily on a twist ending, but the filmmaker also manages, in his portrayal of the hateful bickering between Jessica and the doctor, to interject his familiar musings on the relative merits of the living and the dead.

Poe's ''The Black Cat'' is about a man who walls up a hated feline with the remains of his murdered wife, but the subject seems to be insufficiently gory for Italian horror maestro Argento. He turns his protagonist, Rod Usher (Harvey Keitel), into a crime photographer specializing in gruesome killings. This permits him to begin his 65-minute sequence with a shot of the bisected corpse of a naked woman, thus keeping his bloodthirst in check for most of the action.

Argento marshals his usual collection of Steadicam and oddball point-of-view shots, so we get to view the action not just from a cat's perspective, but also from that of a corpse about to be plunged into a bath. The camera thus adorns the story of a man driven wild by a malevolent cat and the fearful fantasies it inspires about his violin-teaching, live-in girlfriend Annabelle (Madeleine Potter).

The latter provides the opportunity for the resourceful Argento to stage a dream sequence about a medieval auto-da-fe, and it is this sense of elegant excess that, as with any Argento exercise, gives the film its vitality.

Both features contain some character work from familiar names and faces, including E.G. Marshall and Tom Atkins in Romero's segment, and John Amos, Martin Balsam and Kim Hunter in Argento's.

The print screened at a local theater for purposes of this review was in bad enough shape to make a judgment on cinematography impossible, and the sound mix in general was a little ragged. However, this Pittsburgh-lensed production did not lack for atmospheric sets, and the makeup effects by Tom Savini Ltd., though closely rationed, were up to, if you'll pardon the expression, snuff.

TWO EVIL EYES

Taurus Entertainment

A Heron Communications Presentation of a ADC/Gruppo Bema Production

Producers Achille Manzotti, Dario Argento

Music Pino Donaggio

THE CURIOUS FACTS IN THE CASE OF MR. VALDEMAR

Writer-director George Romero

Director of photography Peter Reniers

Starring: Bingo O'Malley, Adrienne Barbeau, Ramy Zada

THE BLACK CAT

Director Dario Argento

Writers Dario Argento, Franco Ferrini

Director of photography Beppe Maccari

Starring: Harvey Keitel, Madeleine Potter

Color/Dolby

Running time -- 120 minutes

MPAA Rating: R

(c) The Hollywood Reporter...