Trilogy of Terror (1975)

Cool little collection of short horror stories.

Trilogy of Terror, as the name suggests, is a collection of three short horror stories by Dan Curtis put to film. All three of the tales star the now more renowned horror veteran Karen Black who puts on an impressive show playing completely different characters in each story. Each tale is titled after the character that Black portrays.

Julie- For the thrill of it, a malicious coed pursues his introverted english professor. After she reluctantly accompanies him on a date, he slips her a rufie and takes demeaning photographs of her, which he then uses to blackmail her into doing whatever he wishes. This tale has a nice twist ending that I won't spoil, it makes for an interesting little story.

Millicent and Therese- The story of two sisters, the prudent Millicent who is determined to stop the evil ways of her tramp sister Therese. After refusing further assistance from Therese's psychiatrist, she decides to take matters into her own hands and use Therese's witchcraft and voodoo literature against her. This tale has another twist ending that's even more clever than the first and is a little more enjoyable.

Amelia- Easily the best and the most iconic chapter of the movie involving a woman named Amelia who buys her boyfriend a Zuni Fetish doll. When a chain that prevents Zuni warrior spirits from inhabiting the doll slips off, the trouble begins. The ravenous, vicious doll then wreaks havoc upon Amelia inside her apartment. Once again there's a little twist at the end putting this final chapter miles ahead of the previous two.

Overall, this is a very good horror anthology movie. My gripes? Well, the first two stories, albeit enjoyable, really don't incorporate much horror. They struck me as drama with some dark elements thrown in for a little spice, which is fine, but judging from the word 'TERROR' in the movie title, I kind of expected it to be a little more straight forward with the horror. But really, that's about it. At a mere 75 minutes, the movie ends on a good note long before its welcome is worn out. Karen Black really shows her versatility as an actress here, and it's clear as to why she went on to do more horror related movies. Not to mention the final tale about the Zuni Fetish doll is classic, and well worth looking into this movie even by itself. If you like horror anthologies like Tales from the Darkside and Tales from the Crypt, Trilogy of Terror is a must see. December 24, 2008

The Three Faces Of Karen Black

Dan Curtis, brain child behind such 70's telehorror hits as "Night Stalker," "The Norliss Tapes," and "Dark Shadows," scores another success with "Trilogy of Terror." This anthology showcased Karen Black's versatility as a superb actress. She portrays four different women in three tales of terror. These women range from plain and conservative to wild and sensuous. The three tales are all based on short stories written by Richard Matheson, the best-selling author of I Am Legend, which spawned three theatrical versions; the last one starred Will Smith.

Supernatural deception is the theme in "Julie." A handsome, young college student decides to blackmail his English professor, Julie, into dating him. Naturally, there are deadly consequences. This tale has a nice downbeat ending that is rather shocking.

Identical twins hate each other in "Millicent and Therese." Initially, it appears that one twin is good and the other is evil. However, when the good one begins plotting to kill her sister, it becomes obvious that both are evil. The ending was very predictable; I saw it a mile away. This is my least favorite tale.

"Amelia" is emotionally abused. She can't date a man on his birthday without feeling guilty about cancelling an evening with her overbearing mom even though they see each other three times a week. She buys a Zuni fetish doll as a gift for her boyfriend. When the chain around its body falls off, the spirit inhabiting the doll is freed. The doll comes to life and is relentless in attacking poor Amelia. This was the best of the three stories and clearly influenced future horror films such as "Stephen King's Cat`s Eye," "Chucky," and "Tales from the Hood."

Karen Black (Rob Zombie's "House of 1000 Corpses") gave excellent performances in all three stories; it isn't surprising why Dan Curtis requested her to be a part of his next theatrical film "Burnt Offerings" - a film centered around a secluded country manor that demands human sacrifices in order to be rejuvenated. It was nice to see former stars of "Dark Shadows" such as John Karlen and James Storm. Look for Gregory Harrison in a cameo appearance.

"Trilogy of Terror" is a must see for fans of Dan Curtis. Also, if you enjoy horror anthologies from the 70's such as "The House That Dripped Blood," "Torture Garden," and "Asylum," then you must see this one. The Zuni fetish doll returns in "Trilogy of Terror II," but this film has not been released yet on DVD.
November 16, 2008

CHEESY!

if you enjoy laughing at stuff that use to scare you as a kid. you need to watch this. Karen Black gives great performaces in a three story triglogy that did horrfy me when i was a kid now I could watch and enjoy at the sheer cheese of it all. October 25, 2008

zuni warrior goes sushi chef on an avocado samsonite

for fans, of the doll, search on amazon under mp3 downloads for "rick kaley and the menacing mutants" - there's a song about the zuni warrior called "fetish doll"- very cool! karen black is terrific! top drawer cheese! August 17, 2008

Still Fabulously Terrorizing! What A Great Blast from TV Past!

One late night in 1977 my sister and I were watching the late night horror movie on Detroit's local ABC station WXYZ. As suspense/horror/mystery fans, we had seen almost all the classic and features from the kitchy "Wood" movies and Hammer horrors to the slasher films that were reaching a fever pitch about then. But of all the movies we had seen up to that date, nothing scared us two teenage fans to the point that we stood on our respective sofas, afraid to put our feet down. Before Ms. Black got to the sofa, we had run into my mother's room screaming "Ma! You gotta see this!!" pulling her out of bed. All three of us were standing on one couch, laughing and screaming. It was the best scare of our lives to that point. The two preceeding features were so wonderfully and intererestingly written, but the screenwriter was a master of so many favorites of ours at that time. I won't give more away.. you'll have to buy it to enjoy it.(reviews are not book reports and I feel they should give the writers impression of the work, not an autopsy, and pique the curiosity of the reader)
I purchased this version a few weeks ago and it is very clean and clear and has great sound. I never thought I'd ever see it on DVD. When it arrived, I shared it with my metalbabies and we all had a horrifyingly great time.
Metaldiva Sez: This is so much scary fun to watch. Fans of this richly creative time in "made-for-tv" movie history will love it.
August 11, 2008

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