Trilogy of Terror (Directed by Dan Curtis) 1975

Dan Curtis really was the king of the terrifying made-for-TV movie. 'Trilogy of Terror' though, would've been quite unremarkable if it wasn't for the terrifying tale known as 'Amelia.' Basically, 'Trilogy....' as its name suggests, was three short movies, the other two being 'Julie' and 'Millicent & Therese' which were rather dull affairs - but as a child I distinctly recall watching 'Amelia' and watching the terror on the face of my mum as actress Karen Black (R.I.P.) who stars in all three tales, is terrorised in her apartment by a hideous Zuni fetish doll. This nasty little short film is typical of its time, being like so many made-for-TV dramas that sadly have never been replicated such was their atmosphere and horror.

'Amelia' is named after Karen Black's character who, whilst living in a high-rise apartment block, returns home from shopping one day to find a fetish doll perched on the table. The 'toy' intrigues Amelia due to its ghastly appearance, and comes with a small scroll which states that the aboriginal figure actually contains the spirit of a warrior. Amelia also notices that wrapped around the waist of the figure is a gold bracelet, but thinks nothing more of it as she has more pressing matters, that being her overbearing mother who she speaks to on the phone. Sadly for Amelia, the chain on the doll slips off releasing the hidden power and the figurine takes on a life of its own and armed with kitchen knife stalks the women through her apartment.

The plot may sound rather daft but for its time this episode affected a lot of people, especially as they would've watched this on late night TV. Worst of all I recall the chilling climax as Amelia, gored, cut and mutilated by the monster, eventually hurls the doll into the oven, and to this day I can still hear the screams of my mother as she yelled at the television, "Don't open the oven you silly cow..." but of course, Amelia does, and, cut to the final scene we are greeted by Amelia - possessed by the Zuni warrior. Great stuff.

So many of these type of horror anthology's made their way to us kids back in the '80s and they really do not make them like this anymore. Dan Curtis was a master of his craft, and Karen Black the perfect actress with her unusual looks at portraying weirdness and terror. I also recommend the episode 'Bobby' which featured as part of the 'Dead of Night' trilogy around the same time.