Dec 13, 2014

P.O.E. Project Of Evil (2014 U.S.) Review

Reviews

1/5

Skulls

Directed by Giuliano Giacomelli, Edo Tagliavini, Domiziano Cristopharo, Donatello Della Pepa
Written by Andrea Cavaletto, Giuliano Giacomelli, Edo Tagliavini
Starring Dario Biancone, Angelo Campus, David D'Ingeo, Francesco Malcom, Manlio Maresca

90 mins - Horror - Release date: 21 November 2012 (Italia)

Shawn Loefflerby

As we all know, Edgar Allan Poe is a master of horror and the macabre. Considering his stories are over 100 years old, it makes sense to update them for an audience today. It’s not necessary, but it makes sense. With such rich storytelling it should be fairly difficult to screw things up, but I guess that’s like saying a car company, after 100 years of manufacturing experience, should never produce a lemon. It happens.

It might be lost on me due to its Italian origins, but P.O.E. Project of Evil — the anthology horror from directors Giuliano Giacomelli, Edo Tagliavini, Domiziano Cristopharo, and Donatello Della Pepa — is a lemon. The selected stories were so far removed from the Poe source material that they are rendered nearly unrecognizable. Not just that, but the macabre element seems to have been replaced with weird sexual perversions — not very innovative and wholly unsatisfactory.

The Poe selections covered here include: “The Pit and the Pendulum,” “Solo,” “Loss of Breath,” “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The System of Dr. Tar and Prof. Feather,” and “The Premature Burial.”

Months ago, when this film first came to my attention, I was very excited for it. It seemed so full of potential, but it ultimately fell short.

The Verdict:

Unless you’re desperate for entertainment, have a macabre interest in bad movies, or you’re studying “how not to make a movie,” you won’t be missing anything by skipping this one. That being said, it is a good title from Brain Damage Films (but only if you disassociate Poe from the title). But “Poe” is in the title, and because of the crappy retelling of his classic stories, I have to give P.O.E. Project of Evil just one skull.

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Have Your Say Leave A Comment

  • Prc

    You are one hell of a generous person giving it one skull. I would not give it one severed penis

    • I think penises are the rating system used by Hustler! But I agree, this is a horrible anthology film undeserving of the Poe name.

  • mad in italy

    if u guys just readed that “the project is part of a trilogy that is based on take just CELLS of poe’s story for re-tell them in a totally new way” would not say those bullshit. Awarded in many fest the movie is pretty original and well done. The name is in fact P.O.E. (acronymus of Project Of Evil) and doesnt wanna represent a POE world but the DIRECTORS world. If you wanna have a real poe story just read the books. Plus also the Corman’s movies keep just the titles… and the plot have nothing to do With POE. Some people open mouth (and write reviews) just for feel better than others.

    • I’m sorry our review didn’t go the way you would have liked. It is just an opinion and we’re all entitled to that. You might be surprised, but I write reviews for the benefit of our readers, not for some self-esteem issues that you presume. If the film didn’t want to present a “Poe world,” then perhaps a title and box art that leads people to think that it is a “Poe world” shouldn’t have been chosen. In addition, maybe not using Poe’s story titles should have been avoided as well. I don’t care how many awards this has won or what Corman did in the past, I’m concerned with the material. Out of respect for the work that went into making this anthology, because it does show, I avoided resorting to blatant honesty in the review, and I’ll maintain that respect here. Also, I assure you, I’ve already read Poe’s stories, multiple times.