The Strange Possession of Mrs Oliver (1977)

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Prime Karen Black has a part here a bit similar to the "Millicent and Therese" (Trilogy of Terror (1975)) where she battles "duel identities". If you are a fan of hers, this vintage '77 television movie might just be up your alley. Looking for another 70s chiller,  I scoured YouTube and found this Black vehicle, starring her as the sullen, unsatisfied wife of a rising attorney (George Harrison, a bit stuffy and bossy, at first, but warms as the film continues), wanting to usurp her dull domesticity as this side of her starts yearning for a change. Harrison wants a family, seems, curiously enough, to be quite fond of her plain and colorless spinster style (complete with hair pinned up in the back), and would prefer her to be housewife and complacent with being "stay at home".

A dream about her own death, a burning house, with a strange draw towards blond wig, earrings, and lipstick, and the name of Stacy, a particular beach, a peculiar visit to a bar where the bartender recognizes her, a dog that follows her, and a painting in the house of a woman that favors her, as the word "gasoline" on vehicles has importance to her; details all add like pieces to a puzzle. Matheson's script and Hessler's direction works at a deliberate pace, favoring gradually taking their star through a transformation, as fuzzy memories and the deteriorating of one elaborately made persona unravel back story eventually revealed.  Robert F Lyons (Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)) has a supporting part which factors greatly into everything that triggered Mrs. Oliver's plight. A trauma that encouraged taking on a persona and how losing someone dear unsettles you into a different identity, Black is once again compelling. She has a lot of silence and 70s TV chiller musical accompaniment where you see a lot going on behind her eyes. She was spellbinding to me. She is the kind of cult actress I can't take my eyes off. Trilogy of Terror might be her crowning achievement of horror in the 70s, but there are little films like this one that might be of interest to those, like me, that love her.