R.I.P. Karen Black

Karen Black (July 1, 1939 – August 8, 2013) was an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She is noted for appearing in such films as Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, The Great Gatsby, Rhinoceros, The Day of the Locust, Nashville, Airport 1975, and Alfred Hitchcock's final film, Family Plot. Over the course of her career, she won two Golden Globe Awards (out of three nominations), and an Academy Award nomination in 1970 for Best Supporting Actress, among numerous other honors. But, I never will forget the first time I saw her in a little something called "Trilogy of Terror".

I was 16 years old on March 4, 1975 when this three-part made-for-TV horror movie first aired on ABC Movie of the Week. The film, which was directed by Dan Curtis (of Dark Shadows fame) and starred up-and-coming actress Karen Black, was originally a failed pilot for a horror anthology television series. All three segments are based on unrelated short stories written by Richard Matheson. Each segment title is the name of each story's protagonist, all played by Black. Black initially turned down the project, but reconsidered when her then-husband, Robert Burton, was cast. The first segment called "Julie" and the second segment called "Millicent & Therese" are good stories, but the most memorable one is the third and last segment called "Amelia".

The character Amelia lived alone in a high-rise apartment building. She returns home after shopping with a package. Inside is a Zuni fetish doll, crafted in the form of a misshapen aboriginal warrior equipped with razor sharp teeth and a spear. A scroll comes with the doll, claiming that the doll contains the actual spirit of a Zuni hunter named "He Who Kills", and the gold chain adorning the doll keeps the spirit trapped within. As Amelia makes a call to her mother we learn that she suffers from her mother's overbearing behavior. Amelia struggles to justify her independence and attempts to cancel their plans for the evening because she has a date. The moment Amelia leaves the room, the Zuni doll's golden chain falls off without her knowing. Later, Amelia is preparing dinner, using a carving knife. She enters the darkened living room, and realizes the doll is not on the coffee table. A noise is heard in the kitchen and when investigated, the knife is missing. Returning to the living room, she is suddenly attacked by the doll, which stabs at her ankles viciously. She attempts to flee, but the doll chases her around the house. In the bathroom, Amelia envelopes the doll in a towel and attempts to futilely drown it in the bathtub. She later traps it in a suitcase, but accidentally releases it when she opens the case to make sure the doll is dead and still inside. After several more vicious attacks, Amelia manages to hurl it into the oven and listens to it howling and screaming as it catches fire. Soon the screams die down and eventually stop. She opens the oven to ensure that the doll is "dead', and is suddenly overcome by smoke coming from the oven. We hear her (but do not see her face) as she places another call to her mother. She apologizes for her behavior during the previous call, and invites her mother to dinner. She then rips the bolt from her front door and crouches down low in an animalistic manner, hiding in the corner with a carving knife. She stabs at the floor with the weapon, grinning hideously and revealing the horrific teeth of the Zuni doll. It was a lasting, memorable performance that few who saw it ever forgot and it has become a cult classic.