After enjoying Sally the Zombie Cheerleader's School of Horror double whammy of Dan Curtis/Richard Matheson's The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler (see July posts), I decided to seek out her presentation of the duo's frightening, 1975 anthology, Trilogy of Terror.
Most will recall the rampaging, Zuni, hunting fetish doll from the Matheson-scripted, third installment, "Amelia," but all three twist-bound tales (the first two, Matheson yarns adapted by William F. Nolan, co-creator of Logan's Run) are memorable. (I know that they've certainly stayed with me over the years.)
The phenomenal Karen Black flaunts her acting range through each fable, covering several nuanced characters: a bedeviling professor in "Julia," clashing sisters in "Millicent and Therese," and of course, "Amelia," a mother-harassed woman who realizes all too late that the strange novelty she purchased holds a terrifying (and possessing) life of its own. (The frantic, marionette sequences are still unmatched in their raw ferocity, and "Millicent and Therese" is graced by none of than Dark Shadows' John "Willie Loomis" Karlen, who's also the leading man in Harry Kumel's erotic classic, Daughters of Darkness.)
On another worthy note, Bob Cobert's Trilogy score amps up the suspense, just as his compositions do for such Curtis creations as Dark Shadows, The Night Stalker, The Night Strangler and his Jack Palance-led adaptations of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Dracula.
Sally (joined by her ever reliable, wiseacre Skelekat) achieves another thorough job layering on the scholarly trivia through her on-screen segments and captioned inserts. That this episode occurs around Halloween makes it all the more spirited, especially after Mr. Lobo sends Sally her very own fetish doll. (Look out!)
Summon some good ol' autumn cheer for summer's sweltering hours by viewing Sally the Zombie Cheerleader's School of Horror: Trilogy of Terror:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a7XzvT_5y4
