Karen Black's Unhappy Halloween

Want to see something scary? Call Karen Black a scream queen; then run like hell. "I consider myself a tremendous talent," the snippish star of It's Alive! III, Children of the Corn IV and House of 1,000 Corpses tells TV Guide Online. "I do have quite the gift. I don't really like horror movies, nor do I want to do them. I just got on a path many years ago, and it got hard to avoid, because people kept offering me scary movies.

"I'd really be upset if you put in the [article] that that was the path I was on," she adds. "I've made 130 movies, and 14 of them were scary movies, so it's not that big of a deal."

Far be it from us to argue with a tremendous talent. However, we can't help but suspect that Black would have a tougher time making her case to anybody who's ever lost sleep after seeing her wear wooden teeth in Trilogy of Terror. Undaunted, she argues, "I'm interested in doing a very high aesthetic, and it's very hard for me, because I don't necessarily find myself in movies that are a high enough aesthetic."

So, if Black isn't happy with the shock-o-rama cult classics that for so long have been her blood and guts... er, bread and butter, what sorts of flicks would she prefer to be making? "I was gifted," she reiterates, as if we could have forgotten. "As a person like that, I'm interested in behavior, I'm interested in life... early America. I love character, especially all the incredibly different kinds of characters you find in our land." You can say that again, sister. Happy Halloween!