A sequel made to a horror classic 21 years after the original aired on television. Again it was a made for TV movie that aired on USA but one difference, Karen Black was missing this time. Karen who starred in the original Trilogy of Terror was not going to appear in the sequel even though that was the movie that put her on the map to horror fan around the world. While I do have a soft spot for this anthology horror film nothing can top the performance of Karen Black back in 1975.
As the title infers there are 3 tales of terror and one that will seem familiar to the hardcore fans.
Graveyard Rats - Ansford (Matt Clark) is a wealthy, ruthless business man who is bound to a wheelchair. His much younger and beautiful wife Laura (Lysette Anthony) waits on him hand and foot. Ansford reveals the video he has of her and her "cousin" (really boyfriend) making love and threatens to leak it to the press. He will not leak it if she stays with him and does whatever he wants and she will still get everything in his will. Laura and her lover Ben (Geraint Wyn Davies) have other plans on getting the fortune NOW!
Bobby - A Mother (Lysette Anthony) who is seen grieving the loss of her son Bobby (Blake Heron), who has been missing for the past year, is preparing a ritual to bring her son back to her. Later that evening Bobby is at the door shivering from the rain. Bobby's Mother is beyond happy and gets him dried off and comfortable. While trying to find something to fix him to eat she gets the impression that something is off about Bobby. Bobby becomes more and more disagreeable as the night goes on. Eventually Bobby becomes very sinister and wants to play a game of hide and seek that is more like hide and kill.
He Who Kills - After finding the double homicide of Amelia and her mother (depicted in the original Trilogy of Terror) Dr Simpson (Lysette Anthony) is examining the charred remains of a Zuni Fetish Doll that the police have dropped off from the crime scene. She soon finds out that after the gold chain is removed the doll then comes to life. That's when all hell breaks loose!
I had never seen Trilogy of Terror before seeing this one advertised on the USA Network. The previews for this sequel intrigued me so I gave it a gander. I absolutely loved it. After seeing it I had to see the original and I realized even though I loved this sequel it did not hold a candle to the original. All the same Lysette Anthony was brilliant. I thought she did a tremendous job acting in all 3 of these tales. She is not really known in the world of horror except for an episode of Tales from the Crypt.
As a final thought I have to say to this day I really enjoy watching this film. The only problem is that a DVD version of this has never seen the light of day. As of right now the only release is VHS. Fortunately at the time it was airing on Cinemax in the early 2000's I had a DVD recorder and was able to capture it on DVD for my viewing pleasure. Maybe Scream Factory can come to the rescue and give it the DVD release that it deserves. It gets watched at least once a year if not more. I am a total sucker for anthology horror whether it was made for TV or not it is definitely worth a viewing if not 2. Stay twisted everyone!
When you speak of the original Trilogy of Terror, you basically are describing a classic of TV "Movie of the week" fanfare. For many of us who grew up in the 70's "X-Generation and Baby Boomers alike" it holds a special place in our hearts and has become almost folklore when we tell the tale to new generations of horror movie lovers.
ReplyDeleteSo to ever compare Trilogy of Terror II to the original is somewhat unfair. You have to base Trilogy II on its own merits of which it has some. Lysette Anthony did an admirable job in the three character roles she had to portray.
The movie goes pretty steady and delivers intensity throughout, and even though lacking any CGI, the special effects are not that bad, (okay, I'll admit the Graveyard Rats do like a bit cheesy). The episode with the Zuni Fetish doll is pretty entertaining and Dan Curtis even gives a few props to the original. (Ex. When Lysette Anthony utters "This can't be happening", the exact words used by Karen Black in the 1st Trilogy).
I believe Dan Curtis wanted to give fans of the original Trilogy of Terror a small treat. I doubt he felt it would surpass the original. So based on that and after which all is said and done, though Trilogy of Terror II might not hold a special memory for us like its predecessor , it still was worth the watch.