Trilogia do Terror II

Trilogy of Terror II is the obvious sequel to the 70's made for TV film which featured three scary stories. This one has the same number of stories, and each have a satisfying ending to them like the original film. The first story is "The Graveyard Rats" which tells the tale of a woman and her lover who plan to murder her old rich husband for his money. They do the deed, making it look like an accident, but realize that they must dig up his grave in order to any money. Problem is the graveyard is filled with huge rats determined to devour anything in sight. The second tale is called "Bobby". A mother uses voodoo to bring her dead son back, only to discover that by doing so she has unleashed an evil force upon herself. And the final tale (the best one) continues the killer Zulu fetish doll story from the original, this time it attacks a woman alone in a museum who was brought in by police to look at it.

I really enjoyed 'Trilogy of Terror II', I thought it was a very good sequel to a strong film made years prior. The first two stories are scary and creepy, and are actually more creative ideas than the first two tales told in the original 'Trilogy of Terror'. Continuing the Zuni fetish doll story from where we left off with Karen Black in the first film was a brilliant idea! It's basically the day after Karen Black's character killed her mother while possessed by the doll. Good stuff.

Acting all around was brilliant, starting with Lysette Anthony who was the lead in all three tales. There were also some really good stand out performances by the supporting cast particularly in the first story 'The Graveyard Rats' from Matt Clark and Geraint Wyn Davies. Sad to say this has not been released on DVD yet, but it certainly deserves a release! Check this out if you come across it.

8/10

Also made for TV, Trilogy of Terror II tries to capture some of the same creep factor of the original, but its big showstopping sequel to the infamous doll sequence is more or less a lazy remake of the original segment with much less engaging characters.

This isn't actress Lysette Anthony's fault. She plays each role she's given realistically and compellingly from cold trophy wife to grieving mother, but the stories are an uneven bunch and the best one, Bobby, is also a nearly shot for shot remake of Dan Curtis' work in another anthology called Dead of Night, but less effective this time around. The child actor playing the title character is much more hammy than the more realistic performance in the 70's version.

Production values are nice and Anthony is pleasant to watch even if she's not the powerhouse that Karen Black was. It's just unfortunate that the two best segments in the film are basically remakes of other segments from other movies.

When you compare this movie to its predecessor, which got released 11 years before this one, you'll have to conclude that this movie is not a better than its predecessor because of the reason that it's stories all are slightly weaker ones.

Again, just like its predecessor, this movie tells 3 different, unrelated stories that somehow all involve the supernatural. What they have in common is that in all 3 stories the main characters is being played by the same actress. In "Trilogy of Terror" this was Karen Black, in "Trilogy of Terror II" its Lysette Anthony. She of course is not as great as Karen Black, though its fun to see her playing 3 totally different characters in each story.

This is more an horror movie than its predecessor was. All of the stories this time feature horror elements. Again, the last story of the movie features the Zuni doll, which also was the highlight of the first movie. Perhaps this is also the reason why it's named "Trilogy of Terror II"? Fore otherwise this movie of course has little to nothing to do with the first movie that got made 11 years(!) before this one.

None of the stories are extremely well written or anything and they all got based on different short stories. The movie is longer than "Trilogy of Terror" and every story this time is about 30 minutes long instead of 20-something minutes. That doesn't really mean though that the stories are well layered or anything like that. At times they are even a bit dragging, which causes them to be a bit uneven in parts. The build up to the eventual horror often takes too long, which makes the movie itself needlessly long as well.

Of course these type of movies are never dull for the lovers of the genre. Dan Curtis is obviously a director with a love for the genre and that passion really shows on the screen at certain points.

6/10

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After twenty years, made-for-TV horror maestro, Dan Curtis finally made his sequel, TRILOGY OF TERROR 2.

STORY 1- THE GRAVEYARD RATS: Laura (Lysette Anthony), afraid of being cut out of her zillionaire husband's (Matt Clark) will for infidelity, decides to kill the old boy. With help from her soulless lover, Ben (Geraint Wyn Davies), it's not long before hubby's in the ground. The murdering pair discover that something important was buried with the departed. Something without which, Laura and her piggish paramour are doomed to a middle class lifestyle. Of course, the remedy involves some serious digging! At night! Enter the titular, rubbery rodents of recompense. Co-stars Geoffrey Lewis as the gravedigger.

STORY 2: BOBBY- A distraught mother (Anthony) resorts to occult means in order to resurrect her dead son, Bobby (Blake Heron). Mom's efforts pay off, and her son returns. Sort of. At first, all seems well with this joyous reunion. However, as the evening progresses, Bobby begins acting strange. Ultimately, mom learns that she probably should have left things as they were (Think: THE MONKEY'S PAW with a wicked twist). This segment is a remake of the original BOBBY from Curtis' horror anthology, DEAD OF NIGHT. Personally, while both versions are good, I prefer the original.

STORY 3: HE WHO KILLS- Set immediately after the events of PART 3 of TRILOGY OF TERROR (1975), police are stumped by the bloody murders in the apartment. They find the Zuni Fetish doll, and take it to Dr. Simpson (Anthony) for her insights. She restores the doll as best as she can, and runs her tests. When Simpson returns to the lab after dinner, the doll is missing, resulting in a deadly game of "hunt the humans"! A decent follow-up to the first Zuni story, its one weakness is in showing too much of the crazed doll. Less is truly more, which is what made the first one so effective. In spite of this, as well as the direct recycling of the "suitcase scene" from the original, it's not bad.

CONCLUSION: Not a masterpiece, but worth watching, especially for horror anthology fanatics...

Anyone born before 1980 can't help but remember that video cover that stared up at them from the spooky horror section shelf at the "Video Library." It was the one all the little kids loved to rent...it was also the one all the little kids loved to fast-forward through 80% of to get to the Zuni-doll story.

And about 20 years later, the Trilogy of Terror is back, and the Zuni-Doll once again steals the show....but not entirely. The first story, about giant rats in a graveyeard, is well-written and memorable. The second story, while a bit creepy at the beginning, is for the most part....stupid. But not terrible. The third story (saving the best for last) marks the return of the infamous Zuni-Warrior doll. The sad thing about it is, is that it is really a cheap rehash of the classic original. Entertaining yes, but original? Hardly.

But at least the first two stories were a little more memorable. The first two in the original TRILOGY were very well-written, but easily forgettable.

The beautiful Lysette Anthony does her best in this made-for-TV horror flick. Actually, I was impressed with her acting, considering this film was, in a way, standard USA network fare. She seemed at least somewhat enthusiastic about this gig, and filled Karen Black's shoes nicely.

All in All, TRILOGY OF TERROR 2 is good, clean fun for the whole family. That is of course, sarcasm...but, it IS good clean fun for that son of yours who makes a B-line for the Horror section whenever you visit Blockbuster Video....

6.5 out of 10.