⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Karen Black was a powerhouse. A completely unique performer and a boon to anything she graced with her presence. There’s no but here, I just wanted that made abundantly clear… I am a huge fan of the woman. So, we get her throwing down on three performances (technically four) in this television anthology from Dan Curtis, so I’m just as happy as a clam. The first two tales are somewhat standard pablum anchored by Black but that final bit of macabre is a well-regarded bit of horror history. Julie finds the irreplaceable Karen Black as a “Plain Jane” English professor who gets caught in the crosshairs of a womanizing scuzzball student (aptly named Chad) looking to exploit her and use a combination of lies, drugs and manipulation to get her in a compromising position and bend her to his will. Chad believes there’s a vixen hiding under the frumpy shell of his professor… well, there is something hiding under her shell and it’s going to cost the douchebag his life… good. Millicent and Therese features the incomparable Karen Black as twin sisters. Spinster Millicent is convinced her twin Therese is evil as all hell. Claiming the sexually active Therese has partaken in murder and incest, Millicent attempts to convince her sister’s boyfriend and the family physician of Therese’s blasphemous ways. Making little headway, the repressed sister starts plotting to kill Therese before the evil grows out of hand. Although, it could be that insanity is rotting away Millie’s brain. Will Millicent be able to convince anyone else of the maliciousness taking root or is she running out of time? Perhaps the obviously blonde wig Therese sports is obvious for a reason? What the hell is going on here? Finally we reach Amelia where our humble-fabulous Karen Black goes up against one nasty and terrifying beast in the form of a Zuni warrior fetish doll (although her overbearing mother is also one hell of a threat) she’s picked up for her anthropologist boyfriend. The damn thing is possessed by the evil spirit of a Zuni warrior (obviously) and when a protective golden chain falls off of it (something she was warned against happening) it comes after her with violent determination. Solid casts make the first two predictable entries mildly enjoyable but even with Karen Black being her wonderful self, ya may find yourself dozing off from time to time. You’ve just seen it before, multiple times… even before ‘75. But that last entry is pure horror fun and features one hell of a gnarly villain. Helps that it’s adapted from Richard Matheson’s shorty story Prey so there’s a solid basis for the teleplay script. As I said, it’s Karen Black. She could read minutes of the GOP National Convention and I’d still rate it as above average. Her physical and dramatic abilities are given time to shine in the last outing as it’s a one-woman show (and a killer doll, of course) and Black shows just how talented she is. The worst of the three is at least watchable and it ends on an incredibly high note so this lands on the recommended list.
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