DVD REVIEW . Trilogy of Terror

by Chris   ⋅   October 14, 2006   ⋅   Comment now   ⋅    RSS

First and foremost, I must say that I never saw Trilogy of Terror when I was a kid. I have no nostalgic leanings toward the stories of the zuni fetish doll, the twisted sisters, or the terrified teacher. Furthermore, I’ve never been a real fan of Karen Black (I’m more of a Mary Woronov kinda guy). Black’s quirky enough, but somehow I’ve never caught the bug. Therefore, due to the lack of any rose tinted or fanboy glasses my reaction to Trilogy of Terror might be quite a bit different than some of you out there. So what did I think? Read on.

Trilogy of Terror was a made for television horror anthology that originally aired back in 1975. As the title would suggest, the film contains three stories (Black would like to remind us these are Science Fiction tales), related only in their employment of Karen Black as the lead. These stories center around four women, “Julie”, a frumpy teacher who finds herself subject to date rape and blackmail at the hands of a student (keep in mind this was made for television), “Millicent and Therese”, two twin sisters whose unresolvable differences threaten the destruction of both their lives, and “Amelia”,a woman terrorized by a murderous African doll. Considering the film’s made for TV roots, these stories are all well shot, feature some respectable dialog, and are superbly acted by Black, but in the cases of “Julie” and “Millicent and Therese”, when compared to today’s twist narratives, leave much to be desired. While they certainly must have been innovative when the show first aired, having seen so many similar twists employed these past few decades, they seem sort of thrown together. These two were handled by William F. Nolan (Richard Matheson handled the Zuni Doll) but his resume contains some respectable Sci-Fi entries, so this is really a case of my having seen too many ripoffs.

While the Zuni fetish doll is clearly one of the iconic images to come out of the Trilogy of Terror (and featured in my favorite of the three stories), the real star is Karen Black. She plays the full gambit of female characters rapid fire, one after the other. From the prudish bookworm to the strong female, confident in her sexuality, the hysterical victim to the murderous devil, she handles all parts with gusto and never hits a false note. Suffice it to say that today’s young starlets could learn a lot from black.

Trilogy of Terror is definitely an interesting Sci-Fi film, in a classic Twilight Zone sort of way. Had I seen it when I was younger, I know I would have absolutely loved it. But, given my years and the wide range of films I have seen, I can’t quite say I’ll be joining its legion of fans. That said, the Zuni Fetish doll segment will be receiving some replay in my colecction.

The DVD

Dark Sky has presented an exceptional transfer for Trilogy of Terror. I don’t think it’s possible the picture looked this great when it first aired. Being a television production the film is presented in a full frame 1.33:1 aspet ratio, and it’s completely clean, free of artifacts and noticable dither. Very very nice.

The sound mix for Trilogy is the origial 2.0 mono, perfect for viewing the film. Personally I like the fact that Dark Sky makes no effort to 5.1-itize the original film sound mixes. Instead you get to hear the films exactly as they were presented in the first place.

The Trilogy of Terror DVD contains two documentaries, both about 17 minutes each. The first one, “Three Colors Black” is a piece on actress Karen Black, and the process of playing all the main characters in the film. The doc is primarily a straightforward interview with Black, who comes across as quite the delightful kook. Some of the interesting bits divulged by Black include the facts that she demanded her husband play the student predator in “Julie” (which explains why the student is older than the teacher in that segment), and the fact she came up with the closing visual for “Amelia”. The second doc, “Richard Matheson: Terror Scribe” focuses on writer Richard Matheson’s Zuni doll entry, and his career writing science fiction tales. It’s a nice piece, and has inspired me to go check out some of Matheson’s Twilight Zone entries.

Lastly, the DVD includes a commentary track featuring Black and writer William F. Nolan. The two have one of the lowest key conversations I’ve ever listened to. They present a good deal of quality info, but if you choose to listen, make sure you don’t do it too late at night. You might just fall asleep.

Dark Sky’s Trilogy of Terror DVD is a quality disc, and quite possibly the highest quality Trilogy of Terror home version yet. While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the film to the everyday consumer, I would say it’s a wise purchase for Trilogy of Terror and Karen Black fans looking for a pristine version of the film.

About the Author

Chris Nelson has been a film fanatic since age six. A former film and English major, he is now a Java Developer and contract Technical Writer living in the Silicon Valley.

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