MATHESON'S TRILOGY OF TERROR - PREY
Posted: Fri, Aug 29 2008 - 23:01 PM
I've written at length about my admiration for author Richard Matheson and his immeasurable influence on so much of today's popular culture. I may have also mentioned that when I was 9-years-old he scared the crap out of me with a little movie called, Trilogy of Terror.
Produced in 1975 for ABC-TV, the film was a pilot for a horror anthology series that -- despite critical acclaim -- was never picked up. It has gone on to achieve cult status. Each of the three tales is based on Richard Matheson short stories, although only the third was actually adapted by the author for the small screen.
Directed by Dan Curtis and starring Karen Black, the final episode, entitled Amelia, based on Matheson's story, Prey, involved a woman who purchases a Zuni Fetish doll for her anthropologist boyfriend. The spear-wielding doll is said to be possessed by a hunter spirit, "He Who Kills." Only the gold necklace which the doll wears keeps the spirit trapped within.
You can guess what happens from there.
This segment -- which I am posting below -- is only about 25 minutes long. I just watched it again on You Tube for the first time since I was kid. Does it hold up? Well, it didn't have the same effect on me as when I was nine -- but it's still pretty darn creepy. Especially that final shot.
What is cool is seeing so obvious an influence for films like Child's Play and Stephen King's Battleground (where the Zuni Fetish doll makes a cameo) -- especially from 1975. It takes a few minutes to get going, but once it does it doesn't let up.
Have a look and let me know what you think. Corny? Or still scary?
Want more Matheson? Check out the movie he wrote that put Steven Spielberg on the map, Duel. Right here on this site.
Category: Pop Culture
Stephen Thorn said:
I was 12 when Trilogy hit the airwaves, and I'd been raised on spooky stuff -- scary movies, comic books, magazines, and TV were my fare of choice. But even I got rattled by that fetish doll. Trilogy was the first (and only one of two to date) movie that I couldn't watch the entire thing because I was so spooked. It was years later that I learned what happened between Karen Black's character and the doll. Since that time I've read Prey (along with numerous other Matheson stories) and learned the genius of the man's talent! Does the film still stand up? Hell yes! The savagery and single-minded killing fury of the doll is still as effective as a brass-knuckle-clad punch to the solar plexus! Bravo to Matheson for his story, and to Curtis for directing this segment of an otherwise-forgettable telefilm.