Trilogy of Terror

Trilogy of Terror is a 1975 Made for TV horror anthology film. Directed by Dan Curtis, it consists of three segments which are based on short stories by Richard Matheson.

1. Julie - A University English teacher is blackmailed into a relationship with her student.
2. Millicent and Therese - Two sisters hate each other with a passion. The older sister decides to deal with the younger one once and for all.
3. Amelia - A woman with an overbearing mother accidentally releases a murderous spirit within a Zuni Fetish doll free and must fight for her life. The film's most popular and best remembered segment.

Dan Curtis released a sequel in 1996, which also had three segments.

1. The Graveyard Rats - Two lovers decide to kill other's husband.
2. Bobby - A woman tries to bring back her dead son.
3. He Who Kills - The Zuni Fetish doll returns for more murder and mayhem.

Overall tropes:

• Abusive Parents: It's implied that Bobby's mother is/was one.
• Acting for Two: Karen Black plays the lead in all three segments.
  • Used again in the sequel, this time with Lysette Anthony.
• Agony of the Feet: The Zuni Fetish doll begins its attack on Amelie by stabbing her feet.
• Anthology Film
• Big No
• Blackmail: Chad uses pictures he took from the unconscious Julie to blackmail her.
• Came Back Wrong: Bobby. Averted, however, in that it's not really Bobby at all, but a demon that Bobby's soul sent to punish his mother.
• Character Title
• Comic Book Time: The first film was made in 1975 and the second in 1996; the sequel's third story is seemingly a direct continuation of the original's third story with the police discovering the bodies of Amelia and her mother, probably only hours after their deaths, despite there being a good bit of technology in the sequel not existing in the original's time.
• Creepy Child: The demon disguised as Bobby.
• Creepy Doll/Perverse Puppet
• Cutlass Between the Teeth
• Defictionalization: The Zuni Fetish doll became very popular and several toy companies started manufacturing it.
• Demonic Possession
• Drive-In Theater: Featured in the "Julie" segment.
• Driven to Suicide: It's suggested that Bobby didn't drown by accident, but that he killed himself to escape his mother's abuse.
• The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Between Millicent and Therese.
• Hollywood Voodoo: Millicent decides to get rid of of her sister via Voodoo.
• Hot for Teacher: Chad develops an unhealthy obsession with his teacher.
• Impending Doom POV
• Kill It with Fire: Amelie finally gets rid of the Zuni Fetish doll by locking it in an oven.
• Kill It with Water: Before that Amelie tries to unsuccessfully drown the doll.
• Knife Nut
• Manipulative Bastard
• My Beloved Smother: Amelie's mother.
• Name and Name
• No-Tell Motel: Chad drags the unconscious Julie into one.
• Numbered Sequels
• Out-Gambitted: Chad's fate. Julie reveals that she's been manipulating him from the beginning, playing along with his Blackmail scheme For the Evulz, then kills him and destroys his incriminating photos.
• Parental Incest: According to Millicent, Therese seduced their father when she was 16.
• Pilot Movie: The film was intended as the pilot for a new horror anthology tv-show, but it failed.
• Powerful Pick: Amelie uses one against the Zuni Fetish doll.
• Slasher Smile
• Slipping a Mickey: Chad drugs Julie during their date at the Drive-In Theater.
• Split Personality: Millicent and Therese
• To the Pain
• Twist Ending: Each segment ends with one.
• The Vamp: Therese.
• The X of Y