Trilogy of Terror II (1996)

Three short tales of terror including: woman's encounter when attempting to rob a grave; the story of a woman who summons her son back from the dead; and tale of an African doll who comes to life.

Director:

Dan Curtis

Writers:

William F. Nolan ("He Who Kills" written by), Dan Curtis ("He Who Kills" written by)

Stars:

Lysette Anthony, Geraint Wyn Davies, Matt Clark

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lysette Anthony	...	Laura, Bobby's Mom / Dr. Simpson
Geraint Wyn Davies	...	Ben
Matt Clark	...	Roger Ansford
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Stubbs
Blake Heron	...	Bobby
Richard Fitzpatrick	...	Jerry O'Farrell
Thomas Mitchell	...	Lew
Gerry Quigley	...	Akers
Dennis O'Connor	...	Brig
John McMahon	...	Taylor
Alan Bridle	...	The Minister
Brittaney Bennett	...	The Waitress
Norm Spencer	...	Officer #1
Bruce McFee	...	Officer #2
Joe Gieb	...	The Dwarf Bobby

Storyline

Three tales of terror: in "The Graveyard Rats" lovers murder the woman's older husband and encounter horror when they attempt to rob his grave; "Bobby" is the story of a woman who summons her son back from the dead; and in "He Who Kills" an African doll goes on a murderous rampage.

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Plot Keywords:

back from the dead | doll | murder | killer doll | dead telephone | 

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and terror

Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 October 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dan Curtis' Trilogy of Terror II

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Power Pictures, Dan Curtis Productions, Wilshire Court Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The "Bobby" segment is recycled from Dan Curtis's previous anthology, Dead of Night (1977).

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Goofs

The apartment at the beginning of the third story is obviously not the same one from the first film. It is much larger and more modern with a second floor.

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Connections

References Rocky (1976)

User Reviews

So-So Sequel

Made-for-TV sequel to 1975's Trilogy of Terror, which was also made-for-TV. In the original movie, Karen Black starred in three separate stories. Here it's Lysette Anthony. The first story is "The Graveyard Rats." It's about a millionaire's young wife and her lover/cousin (Geraint Wyn Davies), who murder the old guy but find out all the money he had left was in Swiss bank accounts. The passcode for these accounts is on microfilm the old man had buried with him. So they have to go dig him up. But, oh no, what's this? There are giant fake rubber rats that are stealing corpses out of coffins. Good for some laughs, I guess. Anthony isn't a particularly strong actress and Davies is TERRIBLE. But it's got Geoffrey Lewis using an Irish accent so it's not all bad.

The second story is "Bobby," about a mother who uses witchcraft to bring her son (Blake Heron) back from the dead. But he comes back not quite right and soon is trying to murder his mom. This is a forgettable story that starts out one way but quickly devolves into a repetitive slasher story with the kid terrorizing the mom. A very annoying musical score accompanies the kid on his rampage. I screamed for those stupid horns to stop. Weakest story in the movie.

The final story is "He Who Kills." This is a sequel to the most popular segment from the original film, the Zuni fetish doll story. The police drop the doll from the first film off at a museum. It was badly burned so they want Dr. Simpson (Anthony) to examine it right away and tell them what it is. From here, in typical sequel fashion, we get a retread of the first film where the doll comes alive and tries to kill Anthony. Nowhere near as exciting or scary as the original but still the best of this movie. More annoying music.

Made-for-TV movies had decreased in quality quite a bit by the 1990s. This is in large part because in the '70s and '80s, the weekly TV movie was a staple of network television. By the '90s the TV movie became something reduced to crappy cable channels and the occasional network effort like the Amy Fisher crap. They were a higher quality in the old days, for the most part. I'm not saying they were equal to theatrical films but they were a lot better than most of the stuff that's been produced for cable the last 25 years or so. Anyway, this is watchable enough. It helps that Dan Curtis, the director of the original, returned to direct this. It's nothing that will leave an impression but you won't hate yourself for having watched it either.