Triaphilia – the fear that death comes in three’s, is a micro-budgeted triptych of horror stories, concerning a Needful Things style shop that sells deadly artifacts to unsuspecting customers. Despite some fun character spots, there is very little to recommend here, rarely elevating above film school status.
We start with some random shots of ‘horror’, including cult members, dark hallways, and a laughable faded image of a demon over a cityscape. Finally, we find ourselves in our evil shop, which, unlike Stephen King’s atmospheric domain, is a brightly lit space that could be found on any block in the United States. Our evil shopkeeper (Kenny Ledee) is one of the better actors of the ensemble piece and sells three objects to three unrelated characters. These include a mirror that brings out your inner demon, the ashes of a serial killer, and a chest containing a murderous doll. Due to budgetary restrictions, each story is just set in an apartment, making everything feel ordinary. By far the best character is story two’s ditzy slut Bonnie (Ashley Laessig), who tells us she is seeing four men at once and used to date the entire football team. She is completely over the top but grows on you and delivers the film’s best line, when best friend Ronnie exclaims she won’t be missed as she only works in Shake Shack, she replies – ‘But they love me there!’ We just needed more of her.
STARBURST is a big supporter of independent film and writer/director Joshua Nelson clearly has a love of the classic portmanteau horror films, unfortunately, he has failed to add anything new to the genre, proving that death can’t be limited by a number.
