Cinematical

You know those movies that really stake a claim in your memory banks -- even if you can't always remember the title? As one of the planet's biggest and most verbose horror geeks, I can't tell you how many emails I've received with this question: "What's that movie where the girl gets chased around her apartment by a freaky voodoo doll??" (OK, I can tell you: Maybe four emails in seven years.)

Anyway, the movie in question is an anthology called Trilogy of Terror, and it's a Zuni Fetish Doll that pursues the shrieking young woman (actually Karen Black) around her apartment in the film's final segement. And to say that this movie has made an impact on folks would be a massive understatement -- even my mother knows this movie! (There was even a sequel, but it's not all that good.)

Back in 1999, the genre-lovin' folks at Anchor Bay released the flick (actually a TV-movie) onto DVD, but this item has long since gone out of print, and it always stinks when that happens. ("D'oh! I knew I shoulda bought it!") The very good news is that an outfit called Dark Sky is re-releasing the movie on DVD, complete with all-new commentary by director Dan "Dark Shadows" Curtis! Sweet.

Unrelated (except for within my own brain) is the news that 1972's Asylum is ALSO being re-released on DVD soon, and this is one of the very coolest horror anthologies that you ever will see. (I'm really starting to love these Dark Sky fellas; so far they've released new editions of Magic, The Manson Family, and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer -- and on the horizon they're promising Trilogy of Terror, Asylum, and And Now the Screaming Starts!) Written by Robert "Psycho" Bloch and starring the likes of Peter Cushing, Herbert Lom, Britt Ekland, Patrick Magee, and a youthful Charlotte Rampling, Asylum is a delightfully dark and cleverly twisted collection of mini horror movies. And, since it's been about 15 years, I absolutely cannot wait to see it again.