TRILOGY OF TERROR (1975) Turns 50: The Legacy of a TV Horror Classic!!

TRILOGY OF TERROR (1975) d. Dan Curtis (USA)

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Trilogy of Terror, the beloved horror anthology movie from producer/director Dan Curtis starring Karen Black, premiered on ABC television March 4, 1975. Curtis was already a household name, having created the legendary vampire soap opera Dark Shadows, as well as The Night Stalker, the highest-rated made-for-television movie released at the time, alongside well-received adaptations of Dracula and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (both starring Jack Palance). So when he hired the legendary Richard Matheson to adapt three of his short stories, it seemed like a can’t-miss proposition.

SCALPEL (1977) Blu-ray review

Scalpel (1977) d. John Grissmer (USA) (95 min)

Dr. Phillip Reynolds (Robert Lansing), a renowned plastic surgeon, has a bit of a conundrum. His wealthy and recently deceased father-in-law has cut him completely out of a vast inheritance, leaving the entirety of the estate to Reynolds’ daughter, Heather (Judith Chapman). Problem is his estranged offspring is unlikely to share, having run away from home after her overprotective daddy drowned her beau in the pond out back last year. One night, the disinherited doc crosses paths with a young exotic dancer, Jane, her face beaten beyond recognition, and hatches a scheme to reconstruct her features in the form of the missing Heather and split the $5 million pot between them. As her scars heal, the two grow closer, both to sealing the deal and to each other, but first they’ll have to convince suspicious Uncle Bradley (Arlen Dean Snyder) and the rest of the family that Jane is Heather... and make sure Heather doesn’t show up to ruin the party.

BURNT OFFERINGS (1976) movie review

Burnt Offerings (1976) d. Dan Curtis (USA)

With their young son (Ben's Lee Harcourt Montgomery) in tow, Karen Black and Oliver Reed (irretrievably miscast as a “normal” couple) rent a country mansion for the summer and soon become entangled in mysterious goings-on. Predictably directed by TV vet Curtis (Trilogy of Terror) with every surprise telegraphed by Bob Cobert's agonizingly familiar woodwind score, this criminally inert entry in the haunted house pantheon is boring to the point of catatonia.