Who remembers the Trilogy of Terror and that killer Zuni doll? I have no recollection of the first 2 stories but that last one is burned into my brain for eternity













It's so funny because you can identify a gen-Xr just by flashing a picture of that doll or asking about this movie. Are movies of this week this entertaining anymore?

We in the office were talking about this movie last night and how scared we were of it when we were kids We pulled up the movie database we have access to and I was cracking up at the comments:

"EVERYONE I know that's ever seen it says the same thing. That doll freaked them out! The doll in the last story is worth it all! You watch this and you won't be able to go to sleep till you make sure any dolls in your house are locked away!"


I first saw this movie in '75 when I was 12 years old, along with my 9 year old sister. To this day, we both will never forget that last segment entitled "Amelia"!


The last story is the one that scared the pants off of me when I was a kid. Mind you, if you ever watch it, take a kid's point of view into account, but even as an adult, it has its moments! Very frightening for its time, and very original in plot. The ending scene is totally awesome. Take into account that this movie was 1975, so there are no computer graphics to assist in realism. I won't tell what happens in that last segment, but suffice it to say that it took my sister and I literally *months* before we'd get out of bed at night without running like mad across the floor!

I saw this movie as a kid and it is the one horror film that haunts my dreams to this day.


Why didn't my Mom send me to bed??,.....
Unbelievably,I saw this movie when I was 7 or 8 (depending on if I saw it in '75 or the repeat airing he following year). The first two stories went right over my head,the third (surprise!...not!) sent me into frightened hysterics & tears!


Traumatized forever!, .....
I saw this movie as a kid. By the year 1975, I'd say I was 8 and my sister was 6. We must've had a sitter that night! (or that's what Mom says!)

The third part of the Trilogy is what we saw, and we were terrified for weeks of the dark and the underneath of the bed! We would jump out of our bed clear out to the hall, to avoid all possibilities of something under the bed! And to get back in, the light had to be on, and we would vault into bed off of the footboard, with our toes clearing the floor as much as possible! We are thinking of actually buying it now, just for laughs!! We actually had a big talk about it just this past weekend at a girls' weekend... it's amazing how many people remember this movie!


Scary As Hell When Your 10yrs Old, .....
I first saw this movie when I was 10 and it scared the crap out of me. It came on Halloween night and even though I was told to go to bed by Mom, I thought I stay up and watch this scary movie with my sisters. HA!! Now I know why Mothers are always right. The first two stories weren't very exciting or scary. I was ready to go to bed, but decided to stick with it and watch the last story anyway. After seeing this African voodoo fetish doll come to life and start chasing Amelia around the house with a knife in hand. I was getting scared. I think the suspense of her searching aimlessly around the house, under the couch and inside the cabinets for this killer doll left me hiding under the sofa throw pillows. The dolls unique high pitched chatter (ie,yie,yie,yie,yie!!, iee,yie,yie,yie,yie!!) over and over again set the tone. The doll was creepier then Chucky and the twisted ending left me with nightmares for a few weeks. I literally was afraid of all dolls for a few years.


Terror Terror Terror.....
I saw this movie when i was 9 and after seeing it i would not sleep with the light off, i would not have my cupboard door open, and i would never look under the bed, this movie scared the living daylights out of me, for months i would leave the light on in my room. This movie was shear TERROR.


This film has probably traumatized more kids than any other in movie history!,
I saw this movie when I was 8 years old, and I was in my mid 20's before I would even try to watch it again. It scared the bejeebers out of me. For years, I would not have anything to do with dolls that had things hanging around their necks (necklaces, tags, etc.). I have yet to speak to a person who viewed this movie when they were between the ages of 4 and 15 who don't remember it with terror, and after reading the other viewer's comments, I still haven't.


Scary as HELL!!!!!
I saw this movie when I was just 4 years old. Why my mother let watch it, on television at such an early age I don't know. This film made me afraid of the dark until I was 13 yrs. old. I do believe in my heart that the director or producer or writer of "Child's Play" featuring Chucky was a huge "trilogy of Terror" fan. Theirs only one problem...the doll in t.o.t. makes Chucky look like a little bitch!


I mean don't all these comments sound exactly like your reaction to the movie!? This movie scared the hell out of me too. 1975 (original) airing or 1976 (repeat) means that I was either 5 or 6 when I saw this. My mother couldn't have known how scary that last part was gonna be I just remember watching this with my mom and babysitter and my little sister and I were literally clutching each other we were so scared. I did the whole jump onto the bed thing too Until I was 10, my younger sister, brother and I shared the same bed and we would argue over who would get to sleep against the wall. None of us wanted to be on the edge of the bed because of that damn doll

Remember how freaky it was when she would only see little movements from the corner of her eye? And how about when the doll was thrusting his spear under the bathroom door? How about when she was watching the bathroom doorknob twisting as the doll used his spear to pick the lock. Or how about the scene with the oven? Damn, this movie is a classic. We will remember it when we are 90!




dedicated to Dan Curtis, for whom without Generation X would not be mentally scarred



.
[Edited 3/31/06 11:46am]

"Is that you, little man?"

I so WANT one of those Zuni Warrior Fetish dolls, but they're soooo expensive!

I've never seen it. But it would have given me nightmares for YEARS!

CarrieMpls said:

You were too young for the original airing but trust me, I doubt there has been a scarier movie of the week on network television The premise of the story was that she was given this doll as a gift and there was some kind of warning about not removing the protective necklace. She reads it and thinks nothing more of it as she puts the doll back on the table.....and the neckalce falls off The rest is cinematic history

the freakin DVD is out of print and expensive

waiting for a reissue

Did this ever air overseas or is this strictly an American phenomenon?

I really appreciated this comment:

I long for the days when an odd, slightly exotic/slightly zonked actress like Karen Black can make it in Hollywood. There was a time in the mid-'70's when--every time you turned around--Karen Black was in a new movie.

Sometimes I get so sick of the same ole stars making all the movies. Sometimes I wish we could just start from scratch and make room for the many talented actors/actresses out in America

this flick scared me like you wouldn't believe when i was a kid. i always made sure that my dolls were in the closet before i went to bed.

LadyFunkSoldier said:

LFS! I was never really afraid of dolls after this but I definitely scanned the floor for small men at night before going to bed

origmnd said:

whaaaat? i see this in dvd stores all the time! i guess i'd better grab one up! i only have it on VHS.

Anx said:

I haven't seen this since I was a kid. Diminutiverocker, I really want to have a gettogether to watch this!

I guess I'll paste/edit my comments here from the other thread:


Trilogy Of Terror is a classic. When I was a wee lad of 5, the Zuni Fetish doll terrified me like nothing else in the world that night...and during the next day I wanted one of my own.

I distinctly remember getting into/out of bed being a real issue because of this movie. I seem to recall hiding deep, deep, deep under my covers that night (because, as you know, children's blankets are magical things that make kids invisible and keep killer monsters from touching you).

Me and my sister were just talking about this movie last night.

She said that Tyrese looks like "Trilogy of Terror" with a fade haircut.

after seeing this when i was little i thought that thing was gonna pop out somewhere and bite my ankles

brownsugar said:

The feet of millions of American children weren't safe for years after 1975....

Anx said:

Me too!

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

i was so sure he was under the couch or hiding behind a table waiting in the dark during bedtime

never seen it

It's worth noting that Dan Curtis is the creator of this great TV movie (and it's later sequel from the 90s) and, also, the guy behind the cult classic Dark Shadows. He just passed away on Monday, as it happens.


http://collinwood.net/curtis-obit.htm

jtfolden said:

I dedicate this thread to him then

cborgman said:

I think you are too young If you ever see it in the stores you have to rent it

i like the one about the twins, too...it's not as, um, DYNAMIC as the zuni doll, but i love karen black acting all slutty in her blonde wig. the part where she yells "GO ON...GET OUT!!!" makes me giggle every time i see it. sheer camp heaven.

Anx said:

see I have to see it again now because I don't remember the first 2 stories at all. But I do love her acting style. Especially when she's scared or upset. Karen Black is the bomb She kinda looks like what that wildensteen chick shoulda been aiming for
[Edited 3/31/06 11:50am]

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

He was a cool guy. He really knew how to do effective supernatural stories with a meagre budget. I wish more horror movie creators today would get a clue from this guy and realize that all the rubber masks and computer generated effects in the world can't replace knowing how to set an effective mood and capture an audience with a decent story.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

you should have a karen black film festival with this and airport '75. she wigs out in that one, too...it's the classic where she has to pilot the plane. i love how karen black's acting goes to a point where she's panicking, then she goes to a point where she's just FAR GONE.

jtfolden said:

Right That's why shit lik the remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a joke. You can't capture the original rawness with special effects. Sometimes simpler is better

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Hmm, I've seen this in the stores too... I better go hunting before it entirely vanishes.

I, also, have it on my computer. ahem

Anx said:

All of those 70s airport/ship/natural disaster tragedies were classic. I don't really remember much of her other stuff but a Karen Black party night sounds like fun

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

in that case, add "come back to the five and dime jimmy dean, jimmy dean" to the list, because karen plays a transsexual and it also involves cher, kathy bates and (for god's sake) sandy dennis!

Oh my God, Supa, I can't remeber the last time I thought of that movie!
I saw it when I was 10 in 1980, so it didn't scare me as bad as it would have when I was a kid. That doll is sooo funny! It would ahve em cracking up now.
Do you know if part of this series includes the college professor who poisons her students?