moviefreak

This 1991 movie is based on Edgar Allan Poe’s stories, so you can expect the usual Poe’s elements in them. There are two stories in this movie that’s directed by Dario Argento and George Romero. I personally think the second story is better than the first one he he…I’ll give the first story a 6 stars out of 10, whereas the second story deserves a 7 stars out of 10.

The Stories:

1. The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar - directed by George A. Romero

Jessica Valdemar (Adrienne Barbeau) is a much younger wife of a very rich man, Ernest Valdemar (Bingo O’Malley). She wants to get his money, so she cooperates with a doctor named Robert Hoffman (Ramy Zada). Robert hypnotized Ernest to sign a letter that states that he would give Jessica a large sum of money. He also hypnotized Ernest to tell the banker that he is the one who signs the letter as the banker doesn’t believe Jessica. Since it takes a few weeks to get the larger sum of money, the banker warns Jessica that she has to keep Ernest alive is she wants to get it.

However, things go wrong as when Ernest is still under hypnosis, he dies. Since they’re supposed to keep Ernest alive, at least long enough until the larger amount of money is transferred to Jessica’s account, they decide to put Ernest’s body in a big freezer in the basement. Then after they get the money, the doctor will sign a death certificate.

Jessica is scared since the dead Ernest is still making noises from inside the freezer. Yep, turns out that Ernest’s spirit is still trapped inside the body and he wants them to release him since there are others out there that want to use his body to come to this world.

Will Jessica and the doctor manage to get the rest of the money? Or will “the others” take possession of Ernest’s body?

2. The Black Cat - directed by Dario Argento

Roderick Usher (Harvey Keitel) is a photographer who wants to be known. He photographs dead bodies in crime scenes and stuff like that. However, that doesn’t make him a popular photographer. He lives with his girlfriend Annabel (Madeleine Porter), but they aren’t really happy. Annabel is a musician who is rather odd. One day while Usher is processing his photos, there’s a black cat inside the room. Turns out that it’s Annabel’s cat. However, the cat keeps on staring at Usher and it bothers him.

The cat drives Usher crazy. One day, in order to make good photographs that will make him famous, he decides to use the black cat in it. He forces the cat to pose and while doing so, he manages to kill the cat. The distraught Annabel finds out what has happened. She accuses Usher of having killed the cat, but Usher denies it and hits her. Then Usher has a weird dream about being hanged since he’s found out as the cat killer. In the dream, Annabel says that the cat is a special cat which has a mark on its neck.

Usher becomes more and more erratic now. Annabel grows afraid of him, so she decides to move somewhere far away. However, before she can do so, the black cat returns to the house and Usher tries to kill it again.

What will happen now? Will they have a fight? What happens to the cat?