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.

THE VAMPIRES OF 1970 (COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE LOVERS, DARK SHADOWS, DRACULA, NUDE VAMPIRE)

COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE (1970) d. Bob Kelljan (USA)
HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS (1970) d. Dan Curtis (USA)
THE VAMPIRE LOVERS (1970) d. Roy Ward Baker (UK)
COUNT DRACULA (1970) d. Jesus Franco (Spain)
THE NUDE VAMPIRE (1970) d. Jean Rollin (France)

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1970 was a landmark for vampire cinema. No longer confined to fog-shrouded castles or Victorian settings, vampires were reimagined through the lenses of filmmakers across the U.S. and Europe, allowing the vampire mythos to explore shifting cultural and political attitudes with more sex, skin, and blood on full display. Tonight we’ll be looking at five significant films released that year, each offering a unique and transgressive spin on the undead.

TRILOGY OF TERROR (1975) Blu-ray Review

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Trilogy of Terror (1975) d. Dan Curtis (USA) (72 min) (2nd viewing)

Producer/director Dan Curtis was already a legend in 1975, 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, and well-received adaptations of Dracula and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (both starring Jack Palance). So when he hired Richard Matheson, already a well-regarded entity in both television and film, with numerous Twilight Zone credits to his name, among others, to adapt three stories, it seemed like a can’t-miss proposition. (William F. Nolan was eventually recruited to adapt the first two tales, while Matheson handled the concluding chapter, “Amelia,” based on the short story “Prey.”)

MASTER OF DARK SHADOWS (2019) Blu-ray review

Master of Dark Shadows (2019) d. David Gregory (US) (87 min)

In 1966, a phenomenon was launched when Dark Shadows debuted on ABC-TV as a daily Gothic suspense series. Airing in the late afternoon, the show attracted a massive youth audience as it shifted to the supernatural with the introduction of vulnerable vampire Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid). Witches, ghosts, and scary storylines turned Dark Shadows into a TV classic that led to motion pictures, remakes, reunions, and legions of devoted fans who have kept the legend alive for five decades.

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.

TRILOGY OF TERROR II (1996) movie review

Trilogy of Terror II (1996) d. Dan Curtis (USA)

After terrorizing a generation in the 70s with his spooky television output, producer/director Curtis revisited his roots first via a reboot of his cult soap opera Dark Shadows in 1991, followed by this sequel to the celebrated 1975 anthology TV-movie starring Karen Black. In the original version, Black played the lead character in all three segments; here, Lysette Anthony (who had played Shadows’ Angelique for Curtis) takes up the mantle, switching up hairstyles and accents for a trio of enjoyable horror yarns that very nearly match the entertainment value of its predecessor.

DARK SHADOWS (2012) movie review

Dark Shadows (2012) d. Burton, Tim

Hands down the most mismarketed movie of 2012. I freely admit that, based on the “Man, weren’t the 70s kerrrr-aaaaazy?” trailer that Warner Bros. was using the push Burton’s latest Johnny Depp lovefest, I was already dialed in to hate this sucker right down to the ground, and I’m not even on intimate terms with the source material. (Even though Dan Curtis cult television incarnation had monsters in it, my six-year-old spidey senses still knew it was a soap opera.) The truth is that while there are a fair share of groaners (hidden passages revealing rooms filled with macramé, endless 70s musical references incorrectly assessed as inherently funny), the tale of Depp’s revived Barnabas Collins and his reintegration into society after 200 years of vampiric slumber is an energetic, elevated comedy that, for the most part, works. Sure, Burton allows his star to occasionally overindulge in supercilious line readings and it’s hard to believe the classy Collins clan would indulge in the decade’s tackier décor – in short, when Burton goes for the cheap laugh, the movie falls flat. But when he and his A-list ensemble (which includes Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Jonny Lee Miller and Chloe Marie Grace) stay within the exaggerated fantastic lines drawn, the results are surprisingly satisfying.