Tales of vengeance and horrifying deaths, evil twins, and spooky dolls; this film has everything a horror fan could desire and more! “Trilogy of Terror” is a horror film that chronicles the story of Julie, a serial killer teacher who finds victims among her students, Millicent and Theresa, a disturbed woman seeking voodoo magic, and Amelie, a young lady who unleashes the spirit of a doll. This underappreciated anthology, directed by Dan Curtis, stars Karen Black, who gives a standout performance in each segment. If you like horror films with a hint of mystery, ‘Trilogy of Terror’ is a must-see!
It’s Time To Feed The Trilogy of Terror (1975)
The movie dives right into the first story ‘Julie’, as it opens with a shot of a college campus. Two students, Chad Rogers and his friend Eddie sit on the stairs while their English teacher, Julie, passes by. It appears that she has caught Chad’s eye as he passes lewd comments, and even fantasizes about her in class. He confesses his thoughts to Eddie, who warns him against getting involved with a professor.
Chad does not pay heed and even spies on her through her bedroom window. As things progress, he decides to ask Julie out. She initially rejects the offer but ends up giving in. They meet at a drive-in theater and watch a horror movie. Interestingly, the movie screened was the 1972 cult classic ‘The Night Stalker’, which was also directed by Dan Curtis.
While Julie isn’t paying attention, Chad sneakily spikes her drink and knocks her out. He drives her off to a motel and gets a room under a fake name. While Julie remains unconscious, Chad takes Julie’s pictures in suggestive poses on the motel bed. Later, he drives her to her house while she comes back to her senses. A bewildered Julie asks Chad about the evening, and he just brushes it off by saying that she dozed off in the car. While registering at the motel, Chad used the fake name ‘Jonathan Harker’. This references the main protagonist of the famous literary novel ‘Dracula’ by Bram Stoker.
Chad processes the photographs later in his lab and even shows them to an enraged Julie, who threatens to report him. However, Chad blackmails Julie with the pictures and forces her to maintain their relationship. Julie humors him for a while and then decides to end it after a few weeks. She visits his home and reveals that she had overheard him talk to Eddie, and was biding her time before getting revenge.
As an arrogant Chad sips on his drink, he feels strange and realizes that Julie had poisoned him. He begins to collapse, and Julie drags him to the darkroom where she burns the pictures along with his body.
While the authorities conclude that Chad died due to the fire, Julie cuts a clipping of a newspaper article regarding his death. She adds it to a scrapbook full of news of students’ accidental deaths and it appears that she has been killing her students for a long time.
In the finale of this sequence, another student approaches Julie and asks her to tutor him. It is clear that he is destined to be her next victim and will meet a terrible fate.
Moving onto the second segment, ‘Millicent and Therese,’ we’ll follow the story of ‘twin sisters’. The scene is set inside a mansion, where Millicent Larimore listens to an old recording of the sisters playing with their father. She takes down notes and accuses Therese of seducing their father. Therese appears to be a foil to Millicent, as the two have entirely different personalities. While Millicent is reserved and timid, her sister is outspoken and daring.
As she continues writing, Millicent gets interrupted by a visit from Dr. Anmar, a family friend. She confides in him and even shares her suspicions regarding Therese’s involvement in their mother’s death. When the doctor refuses to believe her and tries to leave, she claims that she is protecting him, and will save him from Therese.
Millicent hysterically calls her therapist, Dr. Ramsey, who calms her down, and promises to visit soon. Dr. Ramsey soon pulls up in the driveway and is greeted by Therese, who brags about destroying Millicent’s room. The doctor tries to talk some sense into her, and an annoyed Therese asks him to leave and never return.
As the scene changes, Millicent writes the day’s events in her diary and vows to kill Therese. Her decision gets even stronger when she comes across a young girl crying over Therese breaking her doll. Millicent plans to use Therese’s books on satanism to create a voodoo doll and then stabs the doll with a needle. Upon closer look, we can notice that the props used for the bookcase were not very advanced. In fact, the book that Millicent picks up not only has a handwritten cover, but also a misspelled title ‘Vodoo and Satanism’’
A worried Dr. Ramsey calls Millicent and then rushes to the house to only find Therese’s dead body next to the voodoo doll. He calls for help, and as they take the body away, he reveals that it was ‘Therese Millicent Larimore’ who had died. We discover that Millicent suffered from a dual personality disorder and had no twin. Therese was just her alter-ego, and her illness caused her to kill herself.
Finally, the star of the show is ‘Amelia’, a story of a young lady who lives by herself. In the opening shot, Amelia makes her way to her apartment with a grocery bag containing a box. She settles down and checks the box’s contents, revealing a ‘Zuni Fetish Doll’ that resembles a warrior.
She also finds a scroll that says ‘He Who Kills’ and it appears that the doll contains the spirit of a Zuni hunter that is confined using a golden chain around the doll’s waist. Amelia appears to be projecting her issues on the doll, as she exclaims the doll is ugly and that its own mother would not love it. She even telephones her mother and tries to cancel her evening plans. Her mother tries to control her, and Amelia tries to establish some boundaries.
As she converses with her mother, we learn that the doll is a gift for her boyfriend, Arthur. While Amelia walks away, the camera pans to the doll as the gold chain across its waist slips off and falls onto the floor. This story was shot like a one-woman play, as we can see the camera follow Amelia throughout the sequence.
Amelia calls a displeased Arthur and cancels their evening plans. As she completes her chores and finishes cooking, she notices the doll is missing. Amelia looks around, and finds the doll’s spear, ending up hurting herself with it.
Returning to the kitchen, she finds her knife missing when the doll sneaks up on her and bites her ankles. She tries to run, but the doll follows her around, pursuing her. Amelia manages to wrap the doll in a towel and desperately tries to drown it in the water from the bathtub.
At last, she locks the doll in a suitcase but to her dismay, the doll manages to break free using the missing kitchen knife. Acting on impulse, Amelia punctures a hole in the suitcase and hopes that she has killed the doll. However, the doll springs up on her and bites Amelia’s arm. Upon its original release, this segment was so disturbing that some censorship demanded it is cut out. For its Brazilian release, ‘Amelia’ was edited out and the movie was then retitled “Duas Histórias de Terror” (Two Horror Stories).
She struggles with the doll and somehow manages to push it into the heated oven when the doll finally catches fire. Amelia hears it scream, and watches smoke come out of the oven as the doll stops screaming. Convinced that she managed to kill it, Amelia makes her way to the oven only to get attacked yet again as we hear her spine-chilling screams. Shortly afterward, Amelia calls her mother yet again. She seems to be feeling guilty for her behavior in the last conversation and invites her mother over to dinner.
In the finale, Amelia crouches on the floor with a knife in her hand. She appears to be smiling ferociously, and we notice that her teeth have transformed into fangs. The Zuni fetish doll has found a new host in Amelia, as it takes over her body and waits for her mother. Based on a short story titled ‘The Prey’ by Richard Matheson, this is the only segment in the anthology that had an original screenplay by the author himself.
Who Is Zuni Fetish Doll?
The Zuni Fetish Doll is a wooden doll that carries the spirit of the Native Zuni warriors. Carved like an ancient warrior, it carries a spear in its hand and also has demonic eyes and monster-like fangs. The spirit within the doll is referred to as ‘He who Kills’ and is confined within the doll using a golden chain around its waist. However, once unleashed, the spirit seeks out its victims, attacks, and even possesses them. Though the doll is small and seems harmless, it gains tremendous strength once the spirit is unleashed. It viciously attacks its victims and does not back down until it can control them or possess their bodies.
Why should you watch Trilogy of Terror?
Brilliant acting performances and short yet intriguing stories with plenty of twists altogether make ‘Trilogy of Terror’ a thoroughly enjoyable watch. The storylines are innovative and unsettling at the same time, and the special effects, as well as the background score only, add to the charm of the movie.
With a runtime of 72 minutes, it is packed with creepy tales that leave behind an eerie sense of dread and keeps the audience hooked until the end. It was also followed by a sequel that did not quite match the high standards set by the original. If you enjoy anthology horror, then ‘Trilogy of Terror’ is the perfect watch for your next movie night!