#32 - Trilogy of Terror (1975)

Trilogy of Terror (1975)

(dir. Dan Curtis)

Karen Black stars in all three segments of this made-for-TV horror anthology written by Richard Matheson. It doesn't have a framing story, probably to keep it short enough to air on TV (it's only 72 minutes). The first story, called "Julie", is about a teacher who is date raped by a student and then blackmailed into essentially being his slave. I'll spoil the ending because it's really dumb - she eventually reveals that she was actually controlling him the whole time, and kills him after getting bored of it. It's not clear WHY she would want all this to happen - I guess it's supposed to be a sex thing but since it was a TV movie they couldn't say that explicitly, so it just comes across like she enjoys being abused. Yikes.

Segment two is called "Millicent and Therese", and is about two sisters (both played by Black), one uptight and reserved and the other just plain evil. You can see the twist coming a mile away, but what happens is still a neat idea.

The third segment is the most famous one, featuring a killer Zuni fetish doll. The Simpsons spoofed it in one of the early "Treehouse of Horror" episodes, where Homer is attacked by a killer Krusty doll. I was bracing myself for this to be really racist, as the doll looks like a caricature of an African tribesman, but it wasn't actually especially bad. Mostly it's just a creepy doll, although the idea that it is violent and savage just because it's a native warrior is pretty bad I suppose. At least it's not overly racist I guess.

Karen Black is a good actress and she gives good performances in all three segments, but the material isn't great. I love Richard Matheson but it's clear he doesn't know how to write female characters. This wasn't unusual back in the '70s, but that doesn't change the fact that it has aged poorly. I can't really recommend this - the third segment is probably worth a watch, but the first two are dull and forgettable.