Chad

PCBreakdown

The YouTube account that posted the movie has been suspended. But - I did find another on YouTube that still works. Listed under "Trilogy of Terror 1975 TV 14"

Undeadcow

Thanks!

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZQ85EKe1uQ

Also here's the sequel, Trilogy of Terror II: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=32nuCB9nPdA

clckworang

The movie looked surprisingly good for being on YouTube!

cproaps

A watered down TV forerunner of Creepshow, the last segment of which would have made an excellent episode of The Night Stalker, and may or may not have influenced bits Child's Play, Puppetmaster, Gremlins, and/or Critters. Karen Black playing four different characters throughout makes it worthwhile. The closing shot is great.

ntnon

You can't drown a wooden fetish. Everyone knows that...

Dick Laurent

Rest in peace, Karen Black. She was something special.

Spiderbite

A ho-hum collection of stories. I know everyone seems to remember the doll story but I found the first story to be the most interesting of the three. I can see the last story terrifying a kid but not anyone else. I love Richard Matheson but all three stories are pretty weak.

Interesting tidbit I heard watching the extras on the dvd I got from Netflix: The dillhole Chad in the first story was actually married to Karen Black at the time.

There is a short interview with her on the dvd and she states these stories are science fiction and does not appreciate them being considered horror. She also states that women are afraid of mice, rats and other small creatures due to them being afraid of "vaginal entry." And yes, that is an exact quote.

The transfer on the DVD is extremely good. There is also a commentary with Karen Black and the teleplay adapter William Nolan but I did not listen to it. From the interview, KB seems a little nutty so the commentary might be interesting.

My rating: **1/2 out of *****

malazar

I found the first story to be the best of the three too. It had the best payoff for me in seeing that creep get his comeuppance when his sleaziness backfired on him. The second story was definitely the weakest insofar as it was completely predictable what was going on. It was also somewhat on the dull side. The third story with the killer doll was definitely pretty amusing too with lots of ridiculous scenes. Karen Black's reactions were the highlight of that segment as they were pretty priceless at times.

Overall, I'd go around 6.75/10 for this.

Trevor

Amen. I like her in all of the too few things I've seen her in.

A childhood favorite. The doll story still freaks me out.

rbrown498

I do love made-for-TV horror movies from the '70s. This is one of my favorites, but I've got LOTS of favorites:

The Night Stalker
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
Satan's School for Girls
Crawlspace
Reflections of Murder
Paper Man
Gargoyles
Duel

...and at least a dozen more.

Undeadcow

Trilogy of Terror probably has more challenge checklist items than any other film I've seen so far this month: Dan Curtis, Karen Black, Richard Matheson, Based on a Novel, Made for TV, Killer Doll, Psychological, Witchcraft, 1970s.

The second story seemed way too abrupt.That first story is my favorite as well, I love the menacing twist. It really drives home to me how much potential there is with witchcraft as a subject for horror movies despite "magical" horror being so neglected.

I also liked the empowered female, if I understood correctly the male was not sleazy and would have not resorted to any exploitation but the woman made him do it... feminist academics could have a field day with this one. I love the cracked psychology of the female character.I agree, that closing shot is downright haunting. The story structure of the third scene is interesting taking place entirely in a small apartment with the only words being narration by one sided telephone conversation.

I found this animated image below, because I thought it'd look really intense... but damned if it doesn't now seem cheesy.

DaveyJoe

This was like watching a one-woman play. Karen Black was pretty impressive playing four different roles that all felt distinct. I agree that the twist in the second story was almost immediately predictable, but I did enjoy her performance as the two polar opposite personalities. She was pretty sexy as Therese!

In the first segment, I kept expecting some supernatural twist, like she was a vampire or witch or something. They never reveal anything like that, did I miss something? How was she able to manipulate Chad?

The Zuni fetish doll was classic. I'll never forget the Simpsons treehouse of horror episode that spoofs this with the Krusty doll trying to kill Homer, hilarious. It was interesting watching the original, the fetish doll was still creepy and I loved the little noises it made as it attacked Karen Black. I think it's one of the most memorable monsters I've seen in a movie. Very entertaining little monster and I was left wanting more!

Dick Laurent

My wife watched this with me for her first time last night. She didn't seem very impressed with the fetish doll. I think it more-so affects those of us that grew up as young'uns getting up in the middle of the night and sneaking a peek into the living room only to see that evil, evil monstrosity on the TV screen (in our own homes!). Seeing that little bugger and the horrid actions and sounds it makes, that's sticking with me to my grave...

I find it amusing that Karen Black mentioned in an interview with Fangoria (issue #320), "I've only done about four horror movies. Trilogy of Terror is not a horror movie in any way."

Don't worry, IMDb still lists it as horror.

This can count for many checklist items:

Select 10 actors:
--- Karen Black (R.I.P.) -

Select 5 directors:
--- Dan Curtis -

Select 1 writer:
--- Richard Matheson (R.I.P.) -

Select 30 of the following sub-genres / types:
--- Anthology Film -
--- Killer / Evil Doll -
--- Made-for-TV Movie -

Select 8 decades of film history:
--- 1970 -

Select 4 ratings:
--- Unrated -

And of course Watch films in at least three formats: & Watch films in at least three languages: if you need them.

ntnon

I agree. In fact, aside from the handful of background characters - the class, the paramedics - there are really only seven characters in the whole thing: and four of them are her!

PhantomStranger

This DVD is showing up at Walmarts for $5 in their Halloween display.