74 of Cancer, Starred in various movies, Easy Rider and a lot of others. Great lady and actress. R.I.P.

"Burnt Offerings" from 1976 scared the hell out of me when I was a kid (don't worry, it grew back), and who could forget he multi-role performance in "Trilogy of Terror" including the lady being terrorized by a Zuni Fetish doll that has come to life?

Rest in peace, Karen Black.

Funny you picked the two horror movies that I remember her best for, but I read that she thought her career got shortchanged after the 70's films and considered the horror stuff just 'B' work.

Sometimes actors don't know what things really impact viewers. I liked her a lot and it had nothing to do with Easy Rider, which looks like a pretty dumb movie when seen in the present time. RIP Ms. Black.

Those cult films were great for her at the horror conventions. I think she was a pretty regular attendee for a time anyway.

I've never seen "Easy Rider", (sacrilege to some, I know), but I did see "Rubin and Ed", easily as weird as anything else she was ever in. It starred Crispin Glover and Howard Hesseman. See it now if you have not.

"Five Easy Pieces" was a good one for her, for sure. I saw that one a LONG time ago, but still remember it pretty well. "Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean", "Capricorn One", and of course, the classic "Nashville", all favorites of mine. She was even in "Dark Blood", the long delayed final film of River Phoenix who died when it was nearly complete. It had a limited run last year, but I don't know if it's available on DVD.

She had a great career, for sure, and was comfortable in a lot of genres.

Just watched Burnt Offerings, she was quite good in it but unfortunately the film was not and way too long, sorry to hear she had passed away.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
Just watched Burnt Offerings, she was quite good in it but unfortunately the film was not and way too long, sorry to hear she had passed away.

I'm sure your right, if I saw it now I would probably feel the same way, but I remember it from watching on the TV when I was young and I thought it was very scary. Its funny how our taste changes with maturity and better special effects.

Way off topic, but the two best horror films I can remember seeing on TV as a kid was the original "The Thing" and "It, the Terror from Beyond Space". Now "It" is a low budget B movie that was pretty much the source idea for "Alien", its even referenced as such in some articles. Watch it now and its a man in a rubber suit smashing through a papermache spaceship.

On the other hand Howard Hawkes' The Thing holds up really well and its one of the few films that I watch every so often. I wish someone would do a remake of it.

There was a remake you say. No there wasn't. The new Thing was based on the original story and created a shape shifting alien that made it into a "who's the monster" story. The filmed Thing was a giant vegetable man, I kid you not, who was growing an army in the green house while killing off the scientists for blood. It was great and still is.

And don't forgett her great role in House of 1000 Corpses as Mother Firefly. RIP

Loved her in Trilogy of Terror.