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. | Trilogy
of Terror 2 (1996)
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If
ever there was a film deserving a sequel it was the cheesy but
brilliant almost classic Trilogy of Terror – a made for
TV trilogy of horror stories linked by the common thread that
Karen Black appeared in all three stories. Though it has taken
an age for producer director Dan Curtis to have the brainwave
to make a follow up at least he has managed to rope in some
of those ingredients that rendered the first film so memorable,
notably the writing skills of Richard Matheson who is there
to lend a hand this time around as well. Perhaps the driving
force behind this follow up was the simple “Public Demand”
factor for the infamous Zuni Fetish Doll from the first film
that made such a huge and lasting impression on all who have
come across the film. Horror fans for years have demanded the
return of the Zuni Doll and finally their wishes have been answered
by this 1996 follow up…a mere 21 years after the original
anthology.
First up there is a tale called The Graveyard Rats in which the fearsome furry beasts with enormous blood stained teeth make their gruesome appearance in order to teach some devious murdering people a lesson. It’s not a particularly fascinating segment until the Rats make their presence felt and though they are incredibly fake and Womble-like, they appear very mean indeed with their ruby red eyes and their ferocious growling sounds (Do rats growl?), which certainly helps. It’s not a vintage story but it keeps the viewer marginally interested. The second segment is one where a very wealthy housewife resorts to black magic in order to resurrect her drowned son. Moments later there is a knock on the door and it seems as though the child had been saved after all having washed up ashore. Her joy soon turns to stunned disbelief and horror when he starts to berate her for being a dreadful, nasty mother and informs her that it’s now her turn to suffer and be punished for her sins. A grim game of hide and seek follows with son murderously stalking his mother for vengeance. Again, while not being a classically chilling tale, its still enjoyable enough even if the game of hide and seek goes on a tad too long, the payoff makes up for it. An acceptable if hardly brilliant segment which leaves us with what we were waiting for: The Zuni Fetish Doll in the third and final segment. This time around the police are called in to investigate a particularly gruesome crime where a couple have been hacked and cut to ribbons by an unseen assailant especially around the ankle and leg region. A stumped team of investigators finally stumble across something that they feel might be a clue. In the oven, they find the remains of a badly charred doll which they send off to the museum for further analysis and information. The pretty American scientist putting on a funny British accent finds that if she scrapes the burnt surface that the doll is in perfect order, almost undamaged. She goes down to join her friends at security for a break only to return to find the Zuni Doll no longer there. All sorts of mayhem follows and whomever watched the original knows exactly what horrors to expect. The Zuni’s mad charge for blood is at least as good as it was in the original film and this segment alone is worth watching the film for and waiting each one of those 21 years. The savage beast scampers around with that horrid frozen cackle on its face and its eyes popping out of their sockets in some sort of demented rage, carrying its razor sharp spear in order to kill its way to glory and beyond. The Zuni Doll alone
deserves an entire movie franchise to itself and makes Chucky
of Child’s Play seem like a dawdling gentle giant! The
acting is competent with Lysette Anthony doing the Karen Black
by appearing in all three episodes. She does well even if the
British accent needs a little work. The direction is as it was
the first time around, not particularly flashy or stylish, just
getting a job done. The star of the show is the Zuni Fetish
Doll –and they shouldn’t be disappointed in that
respect as the Zuni really does turn it on in devastating style.
Not a great film by a long shot, but fans of the first film
should be well satisfied.
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