Karloff's intros to each of the segments are very engaging. The look and feel of these 3 tales tell us that the great "Thriller" horror style has now been firmly established, including the fact that Morton Stevens is now beginning to create truly atmospheric stuff, light years beyond his "Dr. Cordell" score.
1.) The director's brother Richard turns in a nicely controlled performance in the first show, and our friend Terrence de Marney's rag-doll physique and generally cadaverous appearance provide a truly creepy moment, as he is discovered sitting silently in the train compartment. Shades of the great climatic scenes from "Curse/Night of the Demon", with the darkened train and those ghostly, high-pitched whistle blasts.
2.) Robin Hughes was an OK actor, but his rare screen roles are always interesting. Check him out in the 1958 Rosalind Russell feature "Auntie Mame", his career highpoint, where he totally commands the screen with his Mephistophelean presence (in full tails), or his signature role as TZ's "Howling Man". Old Reginald Owen (Scrooge in the 1938 "Christmas Carol" with Gene Lockhart) was a great choice for his role, and the "happy ending" of this episode is amusing, especially with Stevens' jaunty little closing tune. The descending bed is a neat idea, but overall this episode is pretty weak stuff.
3.) I wish that the Thriller effects guys would have come up with a more convincing solution for the big climax in the final episode. Otherwise, it's a remarkably effective chamber play, beautifully staged and filled with truly frightening imagery. I had to replay the shot after the commercial break, where director Lupino starts with the image of the rope, then follows it down to the woman's figure/corpse in the noose; now THAT'S hideous! It looks like they used an actual live model made up to look stone-y for the shot. I can't understand why I didn't freak at this image when I first saw this episode as a rerun in summer of '61.
Wonderfully cramped, claustrophobic feel to this 2-man show (oh...wait a minute...yep, it's actor Richard Peel (as the cop) AGAIN in a Brit-themed Thriller; I think they used him in every one). John Abbott is brilliantly eccentric and almost mesmerizing to watch; one of the series' standout performances;
Michael Pate is also very convincing--the mark of an expert director.
Multi-part anthology shows like this one are always risky, since the individual stories are rarely consistent in quality, nor do they add up to a satisfying whole. "Trio" is definitely second-tier Thriller, but still a good example of the series' unique creepiness. LR