1996's "Trilogy of Terror II" arrived 21 years after the iconic Karen Black original, and as it plays out can't help but feel like warmed over leftovers, directed by Dan Curtis in Toronto for cable's USA Network, a special Halloween broadcast on Oct. 30 (Curtis works with the same writers as before, William F. Nolan and Richard Matheson). Starring in all three segments is British-born beauty Lysette Anthony, coming off her role as Lucy in Mel Brooks' final feature "Dracula: Dead and Loving It," going from scheming seductress to terrified victim much like Karen Black before her. "The Graveyard Rats" might refer to the huge rodents feeding on interred corpses, but also to those who seek to profit via grave robbing, Matt Clark the infirm husband determined to keep his wayward spouse under his thumb by videotaping her lovemaking with her own cousin Ben. This is actually a turn on for Ben, paying tribute to the wheelchair scene in Richard Widmark's "Kiss of Death" by repeating the same action to Clark, then learning that his riches have been funneled overseas, all the accounts buried with him on a tiny microfilm. Thieving attendant Harley Stubbs (Geoffrey Lewis) isn't the only one to be surprised by a midnight visit to the cemetery, while the red eyed rats await another meal in a grueling climax. After this predictable but original opening, we see "Bobby," a Richard Matheson story previously done by Curtis as the finale of 1977's "Dead of Night," Lysette replacing Joan Hackett as the grieving mother summoning her drowned son back from the grave, only to find him quite different from what she expected. This was the best of the trilogy back then, but here the highlight is the finale, "He Who Kills," a genuine sequel to Karen Black's "Amelia" from the 1975 original, picking up where that left off, the corpses of Amelia and her mother found by police, with the charred Zuni fetish doll still roasting in the oven. Fearing a series of ritual killings, they take the doll to Lysette's Dr. Simpson at the museum, who begins to wonder if the little bugger is renewing itself as she scrapes off the burnt pieces. After taking a break for delivered pizza, the doctor finds the doll missing and her office door left open, no one safe while the tiny terror runs loose. It's tempting to see more in the aftermath of the first film, but the slavish way that Curtis repeats each step previously taken drains all the enjoyment away, from rushing around in circles, objects dropped to the floor, the doll caught inside a small case, fingers cut on its sharp blade, yet another bite on the neck. Dan Curtis had a habit of reliving past glories in his old age and had already used Lysette Anthony in his 1991 revival of DARK SHADOWS; this belated and unnecessary follow up merely makes one yearn to relive the chills recalled from the past.
Review of Trilogy of Terror II
