The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver (1977)

Karen Black shines (once again) in The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver, a 1977 television thriller penned by the amazing Richard Matheson. Without giving away too much, Mrs. Oliver (Black) finds herself donning the look (and soul?) of a woman five years dead. The story is involving, the ending unexpected and it even has a small yet pivotal role played (as always) nicely by Gloria LeRoy (who acted with Karen in The Day Of The Locust) so check it out on YouTube.

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Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982)

When I saw Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (a play by Ed Graczyk about the reunion of a James Dean fan club) on Broadway, Cher, Karen Black and Sandy Dennis stopped the performance midway through and herded the audience out to the New York street because of a bomb threat. Despite this eventful scare (and my Hello, Karen shout out during the quiet and orderly exit to which she responded Hello there - now keep moving) the performance finished with no loss of artistry or poignancy. This thought-provoking production (with a bullying theme that was ahead of its time) has pretty much been transferred from stage to screen intact by director Robert Altman and loses nothing - except the bomb scare in the middle.

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Trilogy of Terror (1975)

The 70's brought us many scary 72 minute (sans commercials) ABC Movie Of The Week films but none have maintained such a high profile as Trilogy of Terror starring Karen Black and a horrifying African doll. The first two stories (Julie and Millicent and Therese) are involving with good acting by Ms. Black but Amelia, the third in the trilogy, is truly terrifying. I can still here the sound that little freakin' doll makes as I write this review.

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Curse of the Forty-Niner (2002)

Karen Black can do no wrong when it comes to acting but when it comes to choosing the films in which she acts, well that's another story and Miner's Massacre (aka Curse of the Forty-Niner) tells it. How the producer managed to get her, John Phillip Law, Richard Lynch and Jeff Conaway for this laughable story of a dead miner protecting his gold claim is beyond comprehension. I guess times are hard everywhere.

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Children of the Night (1991)

Had I ever seen Buffy, The Vampire Slayer I might think Children of the Night is quite like it: a different take on the vampire legend, well made, decent acting and interesting enough to keep you watching. It's also got Karen Black which is a plus. Although it teeters on camp I was surprised at how much I actually enjoyed it - even the poster has camp...I mean, class.

...Airport 1975 (1974)

A classic in the disaster film genre, Airport '75 is unwittingly funny and wickedly campy. The actors are trying so hard to make the script work but it is really Karen Black, Gloria Swanson and Myrna Loy who come out smelling like a bouqet of roses. Helen Reddy sings a ridiculous song she wrote to Linda Blair, Charlton Heston does his hero shtick, and George Kennedy returns for the second of four Airport films but no one (and nothing) makes this turkey unwatchable.