Trilogy of Terror
Directed by	Dan Curtis
Produced by	Robert Singer
Written by	Richard Matheson , William F. Nolan
Starring	Karen Black, Robert Burton, John Karlen, George Gaynes
Music by	Robert Cobert
Distributed by	ABC MPI Home Video (DVD)
Release date(s)	March 4, 1975 (USA)
Running time	72 mins
Language	English
IMDb profile

Trilogy of Terror (also known in the United States as Tales of Terror and Terror of the Doll ) is a three part television horror thriller film, first aired on ABC on March 4, 1975. The film, directed by Dan Curtis and starring Karen Black in the four lead roles of each chapter, including roles as twin sisters, was originally a failed pilot for a horror anthology television series ^[1]. Image File history File links TrilogyofTerror_dvdcover. ... Dan Curtis (born August 12, 1928) is a director and producer of television and film, probably best known for the afternoon TV series Dark Shadows, which originally aired from 1966 to 1971 and has aired in syndication for the last thirty years. ... Richard Matheson Richard Burton Matheson (born February 20, 1926) is an American author and screenwriter, typically of fantasy, horror or science fiction. ... William F. Nolan is one of The Group of United States science fiction authors responsible for most of the scripts for the television show The Twilight Zone. ... Black in Five Easy Pieces, 1970 Karen Black (born July 1, 1939) is an Oscar-nominated American actress, screenwriter, singer and songwriter. ... John Karlen was born on May 28, 1933 in New York City. ... George Gaynes (George Jongejans) (born May 16, 1917) is a Finnish-born American actor. ... Robert Cobert (October 26, 1924-) is a composer who has written extensively for television and movies. ... 2002 identity of the ABC Circle logo, designed by Paul Rand in 1962. ... MPI Home Video is a company that produces videos of historial movies, rock movies since 1976, and rights to the cult TV serial Dark Shadows on Video since 1989 and on DVD since 2002. ... DVD (sometimes called Digital Versatile Disc, or Digital Video Disc) is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound quality. ... March 4 is the 63rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (64th in leap years). ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) operates television and radio networks in the United States and is also shown on basic cable in Canada. ... March 4 is the 63rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (64th in leap years). ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Dan Curtis (born August 12, 1928) is a director and producer of television and film, probably best known for the afternoon TV series Dark Shadows, which originally aired from 1966 to 1971 and has aired in syndication for the last thirty years. ... Black in Five Easy Pieces, 1970 Karen Black (born July 1, 1939) is an Oscar-nominated American actress, screenwriter, singer and songwriter. ... This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ...

All three segments are based on unrelated short stories written by Richard Matheson, with film titles being the names for the film's protagonists, played by Black. Black initially refused the role however accepted once her then husband, Robert Burton, was chosen for the role of Chad ^[1]. Richard Matheson Richard Burton Matheson (born February 20, 1926) is an American author and screenwriter, typically of fantasy, horror or science fiction. ... The protagonist or main character is the central figure of a story. ...

A television film sequel, Trilogy of Terror II, written and also directed by Dan Curtis was released in 1996. Trilogy of Terror II is a 1996 film sequal to the 1975 film,Trilogy of Terror. ...

Julie

Plot

The first story, "Julie", revolves around a quiet, reserved college English professor, played by Karen Black, who holds a seductive, yet deadly charm underneath her shy exterior. Robert Burton plays the blackmailing student, Chad, who becomes a little too curious of Julie's mysterious ways. For other uses, see Blackmail (disambiguation). ...

Synopsis

Opening credits, showing Chad and Ed discussing Julie.

Julie is drugged by Chad, who photographs her in a series of sexually provocative positions.

Chad (Robert Burton) and Eddie (James Storm) are university students who admire their English teacher, Julie Eldrich (Karen Black). During one class, Chad is distracted by Julie's low cut skirt and begins to daydream about her. After revealing his fantasies to his friend Eddie, Eddie responds by describing Julie as "ugly" and discourages Chad against becoming romantically involved with teachers. Image File history File links Trilogyofterror1. ... Image File history File links Trilogyofterror1. ... Image File history File links Juliedrugged. ... Image File history File links Juliedrugged. ...

At home, Julie and her housemate are discussing Julie's single status, and is encouraged to get out and meet more people. Later that evening, when undressing alone in her room, Chad is seen watching through a window. The next day at university, Chad asks Julie out on a date, and after initially refusing, accepts Chad's offer.

During the date at the drive-in, Chad spikes Julie's drink, rendering her unconscious. Chad drives to a motel where he checks in with Julie as husband and wife, where he photographs Julie in a variety of sexually provocative positions. Noticing Julie beginning to regain consciousness, he then takes her home, explaining that she fell asleep. Unconsciousness is the absence of consciousness. ...

After delevoping the photographs in his darkoom, Chad shows the pictures to Julie, who is furious and threatens to call the police. Chad blackmails Julie and she agrees to see Chad whenever he demands. After several weeks of Chad and Julie becoming romantically involved due to Chad's threats of revealing the photographs, Julie announces "The game is over".

Julie asks Chad, "Did you really think that dull, little mind of yours could possibly have conceived any of the rather dramatic experiences we've shared? Why do you think you suddenly had the overwhelming desire to see what I looked like under 'all those clothes?' Don't feel bad...I always get bored after awhile." ^[2] Chad realises his own drink has been poisoned. Chad dies, and Julie drags his body into the darkroom where she sets fire to the offending photographs. A darkroom is a given space, usually a separate area in a building or a vehicle, that is made dark so as to allow photographers to use light-sensitive materials to develop photographs and film. ...

Julie adds news about Chad's death from the morning paper to her scrapbook.

Chad's death is later reported in local media as a house fire. Julie adds the newspaper story to a scrapbook containing students of similar fate. Suddenly, there is a knock at the door, and another student in need of a tutor enters. Image File history File links ChaddeathTOT.jpg‎ http://www. ... Image File history File links ChaddeathTOT.jpg‎ http://www. ... Making scrapbooks is a hobby relating to pasting newspaper clippings, magazine articles, photos, usually personal, or other memorabilia into custom-decorated albums, or scrapbooks. ...

Millicent and Therese

Plot

Black, as the prudent Millicent

Black, as the seductive Therese.

"Millicent and Therese" features sisters with very different personalities. The icy blonde seductress Therese slips further and further to the edge of destruction, while her grandmotherly-type sister Millicent tries to figure out the perfect way to deal with her. George Gaynes plays the family doctor who knows more than we think. Image File history File links MillicentTOT.jpg‎ This image is a screenshot from a copyrighted film, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by the studio which produced the film, and possibly also by any actors appearing in the screenshot. ... Image File history File links MillicentTOT.jpg‎ This image is a screenshot from a copyrighted film, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by the studio which produced the film, and possibly also by any actors appearing in the screenshot. ... Image File history File links ThereseTOT.jpg‎ This image is a screenshot from a copyrighted film, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by the studio which produced the film, and possibly also by any actors appearing in the screenshot. ... Image File history File links ThereseTOT.jpg‎ This image is a screenshot from a copyrighted film, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by the studio which produced the film, and possibly also by any actors appearing in the screenshot. ... George Gaynes (George Jongejans) (born May 16, 1917) is a Finnish-born American actor. ...

Synopsis

Featuring sisters, the prudish Millicent, and easy going Therese. Millicent decides the only escape from her sister is murder. However, it turns out that she and her sister are in fact one in the same person.

Amelia

Called the most famous and remembered of the three films ^{[1] [3]}, Amelia was filmed using a human cast of one, Karen Black. It was also the only film of three to be adapted from the short story to the screen by its author Richard Matheson, who based Amelia on his short story, Prey ^[4].

Plot

The Zuni doll.

Amelia, waiting for her mother.

A young woman purchases the perfect birthday gift for her boyfriend, an anthropology student. She ends up being the one to make a wish. Image File history File links ZuniDollamelia4. ... Image File history File links ZuniDollamelia4. ... The Zuni (also spelled Zuñi) or Ashiwi are a Native American tribe, one of the Pueblo peoples, most of whom live in the Pueblo of Zuñi on the Zuni River, a tributary of the Little Colorado River, in western New Mexico. ... Image File history File links Blacks_face_Ameliaend. ... Image File history File links Blacks_face_Ameliaend. ... Initiation rite of the Yao people of Malawi Anthropology (from the Greek word , man or person) consists of the study of humanity (see genus Homo). ...

Synopsis

Amelia is living on her own in a high-rise apartment building. She arrives home after a shopping trip and unwraps her prize: a Zuni hunting fetish, equipped with razor sharp teeth and a spear. She's purchased the doll as a gift for her boyfriend, Arthur, an anthropologist. As Amelia makes a phone call to her mother, we learn that she is slightly neurotic, suffering from her mother's overbearing behavior. We only hear Amelia's side of the conversation, but it is clear that her mother does not approve of Amelia living in the apartment, which she reveals is only a temporary sublease. Amelia argues with her about the fact that she wants to be independent and, specifically, how she wants to cancel their plans for the evening because she has a date with Arthur. The argument begins to die down, but Amelia is clearly upset as she describes the doll she has purchased for Arthur, revealing that a scroll accompanies the fetish. The scroll claims that the doll contains the actual spirit of a Zuni hunter known as "He Who Kills", and that if the gold chain that adorns the doll should ever be removed, the spirit would bring the doll to life.

Amelia's mother hangs up on her in mid conversation, and Amelia is despondent. She resolves to herself to not let her mother upset her, but slams the doll down on the coffee table in frustration. As she walks away, the gold chain around the doll clatters to the table.

Shortly later, in the now-dark apartment, Amelia is preparing to take a bath and is now dressed only in a large white robe. She calls Arthur and awkwardly cancels their date, feeling guilty about putting off her mother. She then prepares dinner for herself, using a carving knife to prepare a piece of meat for the broiler. As Amelia enters the darkened living room, she realizes the doll is not on the coffee table. Searching for it, she hears a clattering in the kitchen and investigates. The steak knife she was using is now missing. Lured back into the living room, she is suddenly rushed by the doll, which stabs at her ankles, now brandishing the knife instead of the small wooden spear it came with.

Bloodied and terrified, Amelia is hounded in her apartment by the doll, which proves to be very difficult to outwit. It pursues her relentlessly, even slipping the knife under doors to stab at her heels when she barricades herself inside a bathroom and a closet. Amelia attempts to trap the doll inside a suitcase, which fails as the Zuni doll carves it way out using the knife. Eventually the fight is carried into the kitchen, where the doll, stripped of its knife, latches onto Amelia's throat in an attempt to inflict a fatal injury. Amelia hurls it into the oven and listens as it catches fire, howling and screaming. As she listens, the screams die down and eventually stop. Wondering if her ordeal is over, she opens the oven and is suddenly overcome by a rushing wind and screams.

She then goes into her bedroom and places another phone call to her mother, mysteriously apologizing for "the way she acted" and inviting her over as planned. She then rips the bolt from her front door and crouches down low in an animalistic manner, hiding in the corner with a much larger butcher knife. She stabs in feral anticipation at the floor with the weapon, grinning to herself to reveal the bizarre, jagged teeth of the doll.

Cast

• Karen Black plays the protagonist in all three short films. Black stars as Julie, sisters Millicent and Therese Larimore and Amelia.
• Robert Burton, real life husband of Karen Black, stars as Chad Foster in Julie.
• John Karlen as Thomas Amman
• George Gaynes, later known for his role as Cmdt. Eric Lassard from the Police Academy series, stars as Dr. Chester Ramsey in Julie.
• Jim Storm as Eddie Nells in Julie.
• Gregory Harrison as Arthur Moore in Amelia.
• Kathryn Reynolds as Anne Richards
• Tracy Curtis as Tracy
• Orin Cannon as the Motel Clerk in Julie.
• Walker Edmiston as the voice of the Zuni doll (uncredited)

Black as Julie Black in Five Easy Pieces, 1970 Karen Black (born July 1, 1939) is an Oscar-nominated American actress, screenwriter, singer and songwriter. ... John Karlen was born on May 28, 1933 in New York City. ... George Gaynes (George Jongejans) (born May 16, 1917) is a Finnish-born American actor. ... Commandant Eric Lassard is a character in the cult classic movie Police Academy, as well as its six sequels. ... Police Academy is a long-running series of comedy films, the first six of which were made in the 1980s. ... As John Phillips in For Ladies Only Gregory Harrison Television actor, Gregory Harrison was born on May 31, 1950 in Avalon, Catalina Island, California. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Image File history File links KarenBlackTOT1. ...

Black as Therese Image File history File links KarenBlackTOT2. ...

Black as Millicent Image File history File links KarenBlackTOT3. ...

Black as Amelia Image File history File links KarenBlackTOT4. ...

Reception

Zuni Fetish Doll by Majestic Studios

Trilogy of Terror first aired on ABC on March 4, 1975 to positive reviews and has since reached cult status ^[1]. Jon Niccum, Lawrence Journal-World wrote, "The third segment in this trilogy is arguably the scariest piece ever crafted under the made-for-TV label". Rotten Tomatoes readers give the film a 100% fresh rating. Image File history File linksMetadata ZuniDoll. ... Image File history File linksMetadata ZuniDoll. ... The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) operates television and radio networks in the United States and is also shown on basic cable in Canada. ... March 4 is the 63rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (64th in leap years). ... Cult film is a colloquial term for a film that has accrued a devoted group of fans. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Black felt the film typecast her into accepting many roles in B grade horror films following the films release, saying "I think this little movie took my life and put it on a path that it didn't even belong in". ^[2]. Typecasting is the process by which an actor is strongly identified with a role or genre. ...

• The star of the third film, the Zuni Doll, became so popular that reproductions and kit models were offered for sale by toy manufacturers. The doll was named the 4th in a poll of the Top 10 Deadly Dolls at About.com ^[5]. The film is listed 49th in a list of the 100 Scariest Movie Moments by RetroCRUSH ^[6].

• The Simpsons episode 64, Treehouse of Horror III is, in part, a parody of Trilogy of Terror and the Zuni doll. Homer purchases a talking Krusty the Klown doll which attempts to kill him. It was revealed that the reason it attempted to kill Homer was because a switch in the toy's back was set to "evil."

• The film is said to be an inspiration for the 1984 Blaxploitation film, Black Devil Doll from Hell ^[1] and later the Child's Play series of films starring the evil doll, Chucky (Charles Lee Ray).

About. ... Simpsons redirects here. ... Treehouse of Horror III is the fifth episode of The Simpsons fourth season, and the third Simpsons Halloween episode. ... Krusty the Clown, or Herschel Schmoikel Krustofski (full name: Herschel Pinkes Remochel Krustofski), is a fictional character in the cartoon The Simpsons, voiced by Dan Castellaneta. ... Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (Melvin Van Peebles 1971) Blaxploitation is a film genre that emerged in the United States in the early 1970s when many exploitation films were made that targeted the urban African American audience; the word itself is a combination of the words black and exploitation. Blaxploitation... Childs Play is a 1988 horror film, written by Don Mancini and directed by Tom Holland. ... See Childs Play for the charity organization that organizes toy donations to childrens hospitals Chucky The Childs Play series is a series of five horror movies featuring a doll named Chucky. ...

DVD release

Special Edition DVD release of Trilogy of Terror, released on August 29, 2006 by MPI Home Video.

A Special Edition DVD was released on August 29, 2006 by MPI Home Video and distributed by Dark Sky Films, containing the original film plus additional material. Image File history File links Trilogy_terrorSEDVD.jpg‎ This image is of a DVD cover, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the DVD or the studio which produced the DVD in question. ... Image File history File links Trilogy_terrorSEDVD.jpg‎ This image is of a DVD cover, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the DVD or the studio which produced the DVD in question. ... August 29 is the 241st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (242nd in leap years), with 124 days remaining. ... MPI Home Video is a company that produces videos of historial movies, rock movies since 1976, and rights to the cult TV serial Dark Shadows on Video since 1989 and on DVD since 2002. ... August 29 is the 241st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (242nd in leap years), with 124 days remaining. ... MPI Home Video is a company that produces videos of historial movies, rock movies since 1976, and rights to the cult TV serial Dark Shadows on Video since 1989 and on DVD since 2002. ... Dark Sky Films is a DVD distribution company, specializing in classic horror films, grindhouse titles, lost films, and general cinematic oddities. ...

• Audio Commentary: Karen Black, William F. Nolan (Writer)
• Featurette:

1. "Richard Matheson: Terror Scribe"
2. "Three Colors Black"

Production credits

• Dan Curtis - Producer, Director
• William F. Nolan - Screenwriter
• Paul Lohmann - Cinematographer
• Barbara Siebert-Boticoff - Costume Designer
• Richard Matheson - Book Author, Screenwriter
• Robert Singer - Associate Producer
• Michael Westmore - Makeup
• Les Green - Editor
• Kathryn Blondell - Hair Styles
• Robert J. Koster - Production Manager
• Jan Scott - Production Designer, Art Director
• James Pilcher - Production Sound Mixer
• Richard Albain - Special Effects
• Leonard A. Mazzola - Set Decorator
• John S. Perry - Costumes Supervisor
• Gail Melnick - Casting
• Robert Cobert - Composer (Music Score)
• Art Levinson - First Assistant Director

Sen. ... Michael George Westmore (born March 22, 1938 in Los Angeles, California, USA) is a renowned American makeup artist. ... Robert Cobert (October 26, 1924-) is a composer who has written extensively for television and movies. ...

See also

• List of television films produced for American Broadcasting Company

Here is a list of television movies that aired on ABC from 1958 to the present (2005). ...

References