Want to know the best Karen Black movies? How about the worst Karen Black movies? Curious about Karen Black box office grosses or which Karen Black movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Karen Black movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well, you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Karen Black (1939-2013) was an Oscar®-nominated American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. Black to in the 1970s, frequently portraying eccentric and offbeat characters, and established herself as a figure of New Hollywood. Her career spanned over 50 years and includes nearly 200 credits in both independent and mainstream films. Her IMDb page shows 203 acting credits from 1960 to 2015. This page will rank Karen Black movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. To do well in our overall rankings a movie has to do well at the box office, get good reviews by critics, be liked by audiences, and get some award recognition.
Karen Black Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Year | Movie (Year) | Rating | S |
---|---|---|---|
Year | Movie (Year) | Rating | S |
1970 | Five Easy Pieces (1970) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Supp Actress Nom |
||
1975 | Nashville (1975) AA Best Picture Nom |
||
1974 | The Great Gatsby (1974) | ||
1977 | Capricorn One (1977) | ||
1976 | Family Plot (1976) | ||
1992 | The Player (1992) | ||
1974 | Airport 1975 (1974) | ||
1975 | The Day of the Locust (1975) | ||
1982 | Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982) | ||
1973 | The Outfit (1973) | ||
1991 | Rubin & Ed (1991) | ||
1972 | Portnoy's Complaint (1972) | ||
1966 | You're a Big Boy Now (1966) | ||
2012 | Dark Blood (2012) | ||
1971 | Drive He Said (1971) | ||
2008 | Watercolors (2008) | ||
2011 | Some Guy Who Kills People (2011) | ||
2001 | Gypsy 83 (2001) | ||
1971 | Cisco Pike (1971) | ||
1993 | The Trust (1993) | ||
1981 | Chanel Solitaire (1981) | ||
1996 | Sister Island (1996) | ||
2011 | Letters from the Big Man (2011) | ||
2000 | Fallen Arches (2000) | ||
1974 | Rhinoceros (1974) | ||
1995 | Plan 10 from Outer Space (1995) | ||
1969 | Hard Contract (1969) | ||
1999 | Paradise Cove (1999) | ||
2005 | Carma (2005) | ||
1976 | Crime and Passion/Ace Up My Sleeve (1976) | ||
1985 | Cut And Run (1985) | ||
1974 | Law And Disorder (1974) | ||
1998 | I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998) | ||
1986 | Flight of the Spruce Goose (1986) | ||
2011 | Maria My Love (2011) Film Festival Circuit Only |
||
1978 | In Praise Of Older Women (1978) | ||
2008 | A Single Woman (2008) | ||
2000 | Red Dirt (2000) | ||
1971 | A Gunfight (1971) | ||
2002 | A Light In The Darkness (2002) | ||
2005 | Firecracker (2005) | ||
1985 | Martin's Day (1985) | ||
1976 | Burnt Offerings (1976) | ||
2005 | Crazy For Love (2005) | ||
1988 | Out Of The Dark (1988) | ||
2003 | Buttleman (2003) | ||
1984 | Bad Manners (1984) | ||
1998 | Bury The Evidence (1998) | ||
2003 | House of 1000 Corpses (2003) | ||
1990 | Overexposed (1990) | ||
2001 | Hard Luck (2001) | ||
1986 | Hostage (1986) | ||
1979 | The Last Word/The Numbers (1979) | ||
1997 | Conceiving Ada (1997) | ||
1990 | Mirror Mirror (1990) | ||
2006 | Read You Like A Book (2006) | ||
1983 | Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? (1983) | ||
1988 | The Invisible Kid (1988) | ||
2004 | America Brown (2004) | ||
1973 | The Pyx (1973) | ||
1989 | Homer and Eddie (1989) | ||
2009 | Irene In Time (2009) | ||
1978 | The Squeeze (1978) | ||
2006 | Hollywood Dreams (2006) | ||
2002 | Teknolust (2002) | ||
1997 | Dogtown (1997) | ||
1986 | Invaders From Mars (1986) | ||
1997 | Men (1997) | ||
1979 | The Last Word (1979) | ||
1987 | It's Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987) | ||
1995 | The Wacky Adventures of Dr. Boris and Nurse Shirley (1995) | ||
1971 | Born To Win (1971) | ||
2008 | The Blue Tooth Virgin (2008) | ||
2007 | Suffering Man's Charity (2007) | ||
1996 | Crimetime (1996) | ||
2013 | She Loves Me Not (2013) | ||
1981 | Killing Heat (1981) | ||
1997 | Modern Rhapsody (1997) | ||
2012 | Mommy's Little Monster (2012) | ||
2010 | Nothing Special (2010) | ||
1993 | Bound and Gagged: A Love Story (1993) | ||
1991 | Children Of The Night (1991) | ||
1990 | Night Angel (1990) | ||
1999 | Mascara (1999) | ||
1998 | Malaika (1998) | ||
1979 | Killer Fish (1979) | ||
2007 | One Long Night (2007) | ||
1981 | Separate Ways (1981) | ||
2003 | Paris (2003) | ||
1990 | Twisted Justice (1990) | ||
2002 | Curse of the Forty-Niner (2002) | ||
2009 | Stuck! (2009) | ||
1990 | Club Fed (1990) | ||
1973 | Little Laura and Big John (1973) | ||
1991 | The Roller Blade Seven (1991) | ||
1999 | The Underground Comedy Movie (1999) |
Karen Black Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies any way you want.
- Sort Karen Black movies by her co-stars
- Sort Karen Black movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Karen Black movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Karen Black movies by how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Karen Black movie received.
- Sort Karen Black movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
CreditRank | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Review % | Oscar Nom / Win | S | UMR Score | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CreditRank | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Actual B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | B.O. Rank by Year | Review % | Oscar Nom / Win | S | UMR Score |
1 | Five Easy Pieces (1970) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Supp Actress Nom |
Jack Nicholson | 27.00 | 187.6 | 187.6 | 13 | 80 | 04 / 00 | 98.3 | |
2 | Nashville (1975) AA Best Picture Nom |
Keith Carradine & Karen Black |
26.50 | 139.3 | 139.3 | 24 | 76 | 05 / 01 | 94.6 | |
3 | The Great Gatsby (1974) | Robert Redford & Mia Farrow |
43.00 | 248.1 | 248.1 | 11 | 49 | 02 / 02 | 90.2 | |
6 | Capricorn One (1977) | Elliott Gould & Telly Savalas |
32.40 | 156.8 | 156.8 | 27 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 89.2 | |
7 | Family Plot (1976) | Karen Black & Bruce Dern |
23.00 | 116.4 | 116.4 | 30 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 87.8 | |
7 | The Player (1992) | Tim Robbins & Directed by Robert Altman |
21.70 | 56.4 | 75.1 | 57 | 86 | 03 / 00 | 86.5 | |
5 | Airport 1975 (1974) | Charlton Heston & George Kennedy |
76.70 | 442.1 | 442.1 | 5 | 43 | 00 / 00 | 86.4 | |
8 | The Day of the Locust (1975) | Donald Sutherland & Karen Black |
12.10 | 63.7 | 63.7 | 47 | 72 | 02 / 00 | 80.1 | |
9 | Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982) | Cher & Karen Black |
0.80 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 135 | 76 | 00 / 00 | 63.4 | |
11 | The Outfit (1973) | Robert Duvall & Karen Black |
1.90 | 11.6 | 11.6 | 123 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 52.4 | |
12 | Rubin & Ed (1991) | Crispin Glover | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 238 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 50.3 | |
13 | Portnoy's Complaint (1972) | Richard Benjamin & Karen Black |
9.40 | 59.6 | 59.6 | 42 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 50.0 | |
13 | You're a Big Boy Now (1966) | Geraldine Page & Directed by Francis Ford Coppola |
1.10 | 10.4 | 10.4 | 121 | 65 | 01 / 00 | 49.5 | |
14 | Dark Blood (2012) | River Phoenix | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 375 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 44.3 | |
17 | Drive He Said (1971) | Bruce Dern & Jack Nicholson |
2.60 | 16.8 | 16.8 | 100 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 42.9 | |
15 | Watercolors (2008) | Tye Olson | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 364 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 42.1 | |
16 | Some Guy Who Kills People (2011) | Kevin Corrigan | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 327 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 42.1 | |
18 | Gypsy 83 (2001) | Sara Rue | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 363 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 40.1 | |
19 | Cisco Pike (1971) | Kris Kristofferson & Karen Black |
2.60 | 16.8 | 16.8 | 101 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 39.6 | |
21 | The Trust (1993) | Sam Bottoms | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 271 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 37.6 | |
20 | Chanel Solitaire (1981) | Rutger Hauer | 0.10 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 169 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 36.8 | |
22 | Sister Island (1996) | Kathleen York | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 318 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 36.4 | |
24 | Letters from the Big Man (2011) | Lily Rabe | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 331 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 35.7 | |
23 | Fallen Arches (2000) | Carmine Giovinazzo | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 348 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 35.4 | |
26 | Rhinoceros (1974) | Zero Mostel & Gene Wilder |
2.00 | 11.4 | 11.4 | 107 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 34.3 | |
26 | Plan 10 from Outer Space (1995) | Stefene Russell | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 287 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 34.0 | |
27 | Hard Contract (1969) | James Coburn & Lee Remick |
2.00 | 15.2 | 15.2 | 99 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 33.7 | |
27 | Paradise Cove (1999) | Ben Gazzara | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 340 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 33.1 | |
27 | Carma (2005) | Ray Arthur Wang | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 386 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 33.1 | |
28 | Crime and Passion/Ace Up My Sleeve (1976) | Omar Sharif | 0.50 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 152 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 32.4 | |
30 | Cut And Run (1985) | Lisa Blount | 0.40 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 173 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 31.6 | |
32 | Law And Disorder (1974) | Ernest Borgnine | 3.90 | 22.7 | 22.7 | 74 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 31.5 | |
35 | I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998) | Billy Zane | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 341 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 31.1 | |
34 | Flight of the Spruce Goose (1986) | Betsy Blair | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 256 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 31.1 | |
33 | Maria My Love (2011) Film Festival Circuit Only |
Directed by Damien Chazelle | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 266 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 30.8 | |
36 | In Praise Of Older Women (1978) | Tom Berenger | 2.60 | 11.8 | 11.8 | 101 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 30.2 | |
37 | A Single Woman (2008) | Patricia Arquette & Margot Kidder |
0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 358 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 29.8 | |
38 | Red Dirt (2000) | Dan Montgomery Jr. | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 349 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 28.9 | |
38 | A Gunfight (1971) | Kirk Douglas & Johnny Cash |
3.80 | 24.7 | 24.7 | 74 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 27.7 | |
39 | A Light In The Darkness (2002) | Geoffrey Lewis | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 359 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 25.5 | |
41 | Firecracker (2005) | Mike Patton | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 349 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 23.4 | |
42 | Martin's Day (1985) | Richard Harris | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 213 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 22.6 | |
42 | Burnt Offerings (1976) | Oliver Reed & Burgess Meredith |
4.70 | 23.9 | 23.9 | 85 | 49 | 00 / 00 | 22.3 | |
45 | Crazy For Love (2005) | David Paymer | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 365 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 21.5 | |
44 | Out Of The Dark (1988) | Karen Lorre | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 295 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 21.5 | |
44 | Buttleman (2003) | John Hawkes | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 327 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 21.5 | |
46 | Bad Manners (1984) | Martin Mull | 0.20 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 182 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 20.3 | |
48 | Bury The Evidence (1998) | Andrew Elvis Miller | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 339 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 19.9 | |
48 | House of 1000 Corpses (2003) | Sid Haig & Karen Black |
12.60 | 22.6 | 22.6 | 123 | 47 | 00 / 00 | 19.1 | |
49 | Overexposed (1990) | Catherine Oxenberg & David Naughton |
0.60 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 198 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 18.9 | |
51 | Hard Luck (2001) | Jack Rubio Jr. | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 366 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 18.8 | |
50 | Hostage (1986) | Wings Hauser | 0.20 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 209 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 18.5 | |
53 | The Last Word/The Numbers (1979) | Richard Harris | 0.30 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 161 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 17.3 | |
55 | Conceiving Ada (1997) | Tilda Swinton | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 324 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 16.7 | |
53 | Mirror Mirror (1990) | Yvonne De Carlo | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 237 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 16.6 | |
55 | Read You Like A Book (2006) | Tony Amendola | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 366 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 16.6 | |
57 | Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? (1983) | Frances Fisher | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 188 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 15.8 | |
58 | The Invisible Kid (1988) | Jay Underwood | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 302 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 15.7 | |
59 | America Brown (2004) | Michael Rapaport | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 360 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 15.3 | |
59 | The Pyx (1973) | Karen Black & Christopher Plummer |
2.50 | 15.2 | 15.2 | 109 | 47 | 00 / 00 | 14.6 | |
61 | Homer and Eddie (1989) | Whoopi Goldberg | 0.50 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 177 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 14.4 | |
60 | Irene In Time (2009) | Tanna Frederick | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 377 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 14.4 | |
63 | The Squeeze (1978) | Lee Van Cleef | 0.10 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 154 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 14.0 | |
62 | Hollywood Dreams (2006) | Tanna Frederick | 0.20 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 293 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 13.9 | |
64 | Teknolust (2002) | Tilda Swinton & Jeremy Davies |
0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 376 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 13.5 | |
64 | Dogtown (1997) | Jon Favreau & Harold Russell |
0.10 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 283 | 50 | 00 / 00 | 12.5 | |
67 | Invaders From Mars (1986) | Karen Black & Hunter Carson |
4.90 | 14.2 | 14.2 | 104 | 45 | 00 / 00 | 12.4 | |
66 | Men (1997) | John Heard | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 330 | 49 | 00 / 00 | 12.1 | |
68 | The Last Word (1979) | Richard Harris | 0.10 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 174 | 49 | 00 / 00 | 11.6 | |
69 | It's Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987) | Michael Moriarty | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 280 | 49 | 00 / 00 | 11.6 | |
70 | The Wacky Adventures of Dr. Boris and Nurse Shirley (1995) | Paul Bartel | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 288 | 49 | 00 / 00 | 11.3 | |
71 | Born To Win (1971) | George Segal & Paula Prentiss |
0.80 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 163 | 47 | 00 / 00 | 11.0 | |
73 | The Blue Tooth Virgin (2008) | Austin Peck & Bryce Johnson |
0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 396 | 48 | 00 / 00 | 10.9 | |
72 | Suffering Man's Charity (2007) | Alan Cumming | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 370 | 47 | 00 / 00 | 9.9 | |
74 | Crimetime (1996) | Geraldine Chaplin | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 317 | 47 | 00 / 00 | 9.3 | |
74 | She Loves Me Not (2013) | Cary Elwes | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 409 | 47 | 00 / 00 | 9.1 | |
76 | Killing Heat (1981) | John Thaw | 0.10 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 176 | 46 | 00 / 00 | 8.4 | |
77 | Modern Rhapsody (1997) | Edward Albert | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 329 | 46 | 00 / 00 | 8.4 | |
79 | Mommy's Little Monster (2012) | Antonia Aljuwani | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 368 | 45 | 00 / 00 | 7.5 | |
78 | Nothing Special (2010) | Julia Garcia Combs | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 346 | 45 | 00 / 00 | 7.4 | |
80 | Bound and Gagged: A Love Story (1993) | Ginger Lynn | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 272 | 43 | 00 / 00 | 6.2 | |
81 | Children Of The Night (1991) | Peter DeLuise | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 257 | 43 | 00 / 00 | 5.9 | |
82 | Night Angel (1990) | Linden Ashby | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 280 | 42 | 00 / 00 | 5.1 | |
83 | Mascara (1999) | Ione Skye | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 346 | 41 | 00 / 00 | 4.8 | |
84 | Malaika (1998) | John Laughlin | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 312 | 40 | 00 / 00 | 3.9 | |
85 | Killer Fish (1979) | Lee Majors | 0.40 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 154 | 39 | 00 / 00 | 3.7 | |
86 | One Long Night (2007) | Ed Begley, Jr. | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 371 | 39 | 00 / 00 | 3.5 | |
87 | Separate Ways (1981) | David Naughton | 0.40 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 159 | 38 | 00 / 00 | 3.2 | |
89 | Paris (2003) | Chad Allen | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 332 | 37 | 00 / 00 | 2.5 | |
88 | Twisted Justice (1990) | Jim Brown | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 279 | 37 | 00 / 00 | 2.4 | |
90 | Curse of the Forty-Niner (2002) | John Phillip Law | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 356 | 36 | 00 / 00 | 2.1 | |
91 | Stuck! (2009) | Jane Wiedlin | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 387 | 34 | 00 / 00 | 1.5 | |
91 | Club Fed (1990) | Burt Young | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 274 | 33 | 00 / 00 | 1.3 | |
93 | Little Laura and Big John (1973) | Fabian | 0.70 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 160 | 31 | 00 / 00 | 1.2 | |
94 | The Roller Blade Seven (1991) | Frank Stallone | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 258 | 27 | 00 / 00 | 0.4 | |
95 | The Underground Comedy Movie (1999) | Barbara Snellenburg & Rebekah Chaney |
0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 355 | 25 | 00 / 00 | 0.3 |
Check out Karen Black‘s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
What happened to “Trilogy of Terror”? She was great in the movie. I guess you
guys miss you missed one.
Karen Black is the # 100 most connectible actor of the 1970’s.
i saw 6, including top 5. she played herself in small cameo in the player a 10 and favorite. easy rider 8 was my first “R” rated movie. no 9s, no hidden gems. i did not like nashville a 7
I’ve seen 9 of the 94 films (whoa busy girl!) on the chart. Favorites are – Capricorn One, Invaders from Mars (guilty pleasure), Burnt Offerings (underrated), Family Plot and Airport 1975.
I haven’t seen The Player in years, I did enjoy Five Easy Pieces recently. Nashville has escaped me over the decades.
As a kid I used to think The Day of the Locust was a 1950s monster movie, was disappointed when I finally saw it wasn’t. 🙂
Nice work Bruce. Vote Up!
Unlike Joel I am NOT in two minds about whether or not Karen was a star: if one takes the true measure of a female star as being the likes of Davis or Crawford Karen was certainly far outside that league as Bruce’s stats above on a detailed analysis will clearly illustrate in my estimation. At the time of her death Karen’s net worth was reported as $11 million in today’s money.
Karen did have the distinction of appearing in Hitchcock’s final movie Family Plot – she was in fact his final leading lady with top billing to boot and therfore his very last top-billed thespian of either gender – and down the years the iconic poster for that movie showing a gun-toting female figure dressed in black has always greatly impressed me [see poster reproductions on IMDB and Wikipedia].
Family Plot and Hitchcock’s Marnie were OK but his last great film was in my opinion 1963’s The Birds. Bruce’s sources seem to at least lean in my direction because they review-rate Hitch’s final 6 movies as follows:
The Birds 88%
Frenzy 78%
Family Plot 73%
Marnie 72%
Torn Curtain 67%
Topaz 57%