Editing Karen Black (section)

===1986–2002: Independent films and horror roles===
[[File:Stephen Eckelberry Karen Black wedding.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|Black and Eckelberry on their wedding day]]

In 1986, Black co-starred with her son, Hunter, in [[Tobe Hooper]]'s science fiction horror film ''[[Invaders from Mars (1986 film)|Invaders from Mars]]''. She had a supporting role as a mutant's mother in [[Larry Cohen]]'s horror sequel ''[[It's Alive III: Island of the Alive]]'' (1987),{{sfn|Weldon|1996|p=297}} and in the youth-themed comedy ''[[The Invisible Kid]]'' (1988).{{sfn|Weldon|1996|p=294}} She co-starred with [[Jim Belushi]] and [[Whoopi Goldberg]] in ''[[Homer and Eddie]]'' (1989), a comedy about a woman (Goldberg) with a psychologically-impairing brain tumor, and a mentally-challenged man (Belushi).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/homerandeddierhinson_a0a911.htm|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|title='Homer and Eddie'|last=Hinson|first=Hal|date=February 26, 1990|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130209013050/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/homerandeddierhinson_a0a911.htm|archive-date=February 9, 2013|access-date=August 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1990, Black had a supporting role in ''[[The Children (1990 film)|The Children]]'' (1990), a British adaptation of a novel by [[Edith Wharton]], opposite [[Ben Kingsley]],{{sfn|Weldon|1996|p=103}} and in the science fiction comedy ''[[Zapped Again!]]''.{{sfn|Weldon|1996|p=294}}

Beginning in the 1990s, Black was more frequently cast in horror films. Among them were ''[[Mirror, Mirror (1990 film)|Mirror, Mirror]]'' (1990), in which she played a troubled mother;{{sfn|Stanley|2000|p=344}} [[Gary Graver]]'s low-budget supernatural film ''[[Evil Spirits (1990 film)|Evil Spirits]]'' (1990);{{sfn|Stanley|2000|p=173}} and ''[[Children of the Night (1991 film)|Children of the Night]]'' (1991), in which she played an ancient vampire.{{sfn|Weldon|1996|p=103}} She also had roles in the British comedy  ''[[Rubin and Ed]]'' (1991),  the martial arts film ''[[The Roller Blade Seven]]'' (also 1991), and a cameo in Robert Altman's ''[[The Player (1992 film)|The Player]]'' (1992). Black reprised her role from ''The Roller Blade Seven'' in its [[The Legend of the Roller Blade Seven|1992]] and [[Return of the Roller Blade Seven|1993]] sequels, and appeared in the direct-to-video comedy ''[[The Double 0 Kid]]'' (1993), with [[Corey Haim]] and [[Nicole Eggert]]. Also in 1993, Black had a supporting role in [[George Sluizer]]'s drama ''[[Dark Blood]]'' opposite [[River Phoenix]] and [[Judy Davis]], a film that remained incomplete and unreleased for two decades after Phoenix died during the production.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2012/film/reviews/dark-blood-1117948612/|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|title=Review: 'Dark Blood'|date=October 22, 2012|last=Van Hoeij|first=Boyd|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140905082107/https://variety.com/2012/film/reviews/dark-blood-1117948612/|archive-date=September 5, 2014}}</ref> In 1995, she starred in ''[[Plan 10 from Outer Space]]'', a science fiction satire of [[Mormons|Mormon]] theology, directed by [[Trent Harris]].

[[File:Karen Black and Hunter Carson.jpg|thumb|upright=.9|left|With son Hunter Carson, 1999]]

In 1996, Black appeared as a paranoid mother in small-town Nebraska in ''[[Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering]]'', opposite [[Naomi Watts]].<ref name=hr/> She had supporting roles in a number of other independent films that year, including as a public defender in [[Ulli Lommel]]'s drama ''Every Minute is Goodbye'',<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Video Watchdog]]|issue=43–48|page=47|last1=Lucas|first1=Tim|last2=Lucas|first2=Donna|publisher=Tim and Donna Lucas|title=Reviews: ''Every Minute Is Goodbye''|location=Cincinnati, Ohio|issn=1070-9991}}</ref> and the exploitation comedy ''Dinosaur Valley Girls''.{{sfn|Klossner|2006|p=49}} The following year, she co-starred with [[Tilda Swinton]] as Lady Byron in the feminist science fiction feature ''[[Conceiving Ada]]'' (1997), about a contemporary scientist who uses software to make contact with the Victorian pioneer of computer programming [[Ada Lovelace]], daughter of the poet [[Lord Byron]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/022699ada-film-review.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20190821215625/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/022699ada-film-review.html|archive-date=August 21, 2019|last=Holden|first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen Holden|title='Conceiving Ada': Calling Byron's Daughter, Inventor of a Computer|date=February 26, 1999|access-date=August 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> She also had supporting roles in the independent drama ''[[Men (1997 film)|Men]]'', and as a singer in rural Missouri in [[George Hickenlooper]]'s ''[[Dogtown (film)|Dogtown]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/1997/film/reviews/dogtown-1117341418/|title=Review: 'Dogtown'|last=McCarthy|first=Todd|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=April 20, 1997|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222154429/https://variety.com/1997/film/reviews/dogtown-1117341418/|archive-date=February 22, 2014}}</ref>

She continued to star in independent films in 1998, including the [[camp (style)|camp]] comedy ''[[I Woke Up Early the Day I Died]]'',<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|url=https://ew.com/article/1999/09/17/i-woke-early-day-i-died/|last=Gleiberman|first=Owen|date=September 17, 1999|title=I Woke Up Early the Day I Died|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131174718/https://ew.com/article/1999/09/17/i-woke-early-day-i-died/|archive-date=January 31, 2016}}</ref> the drama ''[[Charades (film)|Charades]]'', as well as the short film ''Waiting for Dr. MacGuffin''.<ref>{{cite web|work=[[British Film Institute]]|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b81ab54b6|title=Waiting for Dr. MacGuffin|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181203202156/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b81ab54b6|archive-date=December 3, 2018}}</ref> In 2000, Black began filming [[Rob Zombie]]'s directorial debut ''[[House of 1000 Corpses]]'', in which she portrayed [[Mother Firefly]], the matron of a family of psychotic murderers. Upon its release in 2003, the film received largely unfavorable reviews,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/house_of_1000_corpses|work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|title=House of 1000 Corpses|access-date=August 22, 2019}}</ref> though it helped cement Black's status as a [[cult film|cult]] icon in the horror genre.<ref name="marty">{{cite web|url=http://www.scpr.org/blogs/news/2013/08/08/14468/karen-black-oscar-nominated-actress-and-cult-horro|publisher=[[KPCC (radio station)|KPCC]]| title=Karen Black, Oscar-nominated actress and cult horror film icon, dies at 74|date=August 8, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831021219/http://www.scpr.org/blogs/news/2013/08/08/14468/karen-black-oscar-nominated-actress-and-cult-horro/|archive-date=August 31, 2013|url-status=dead|last=Lederhandler|first=Marty|agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>