Burnt Offerings

Starring:Karen Black, Oliver Reed, Burgess Meredith, Eileen Heckart, Lee Montgomery, Dub Taylor, Bette Davis, Joseph Riley, Todd Turquand, Orin Cannon, Jim Myers, Anthony James
Director: Dan Curtis
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Based on the Robert Marasco novel of the same name, Dan Curtis's eerie movie puts a spin on celluloid haunted-house sagas. The well-adjusted Rolf family (father Oliver Reed, mother Karen Black, aunt Bette Davis, and young son Lee H. Montgomery) rent a huge old summer house only to find that its spirit is in control of the estate. The requisite sinister proceedings appear--including a possessed pool and the vision of a sinister hearse driver following Reed--that disrupt the family's unity. Black also falls under the spell of an elderly woman whom she is required to take care of, but no one ever sees. While it may not be as overtly shocking as other ghost tales, Burnt Offerings has a creepiness that gets under your skin thanks to good performances and the dreamy, soft-focus photography. --Bryan Reesman

Description

Step inside a vacation house of horror in this terrifying thriller that "does for summer homes whatJaws did for a dip in the surf" (The New York Times)! Starring Karen Black, Oliver Reed, Burgess Meredith and Bette Davis, this riveting haunted-house chiller delivers "hidden terrors [that] mount creepily as the film builds to a climax of pulverizing fright" (Rex Reed)! Marian (Black) and Ben (Reed) find it hard to believe that for only $900 they've rented a sprawling old country mansion for the entire summer. But as they settle into their isolated estate with their son and Ben's aunt (Davis), they find themselves surrounded by a living presencean evil, hypnotic, occult forcethat feeds on torture, fear and murder.

Customer Reviews:

Atmospheric tale of a house of evil.......2007-06-16

Burnt Offerings is a classic haunted house story, and though it was made in 1976 [from the creator of Dark Shadows, Dan Curtis], it still manages to deliver chills with the help of excellent casting and spooky atmosphere. The story begins with a couple, Marian [Karen Balck] and Ben [Oliver Reed] Rolf who lease an old gothic house for the summer from a pair of creepy siblings,the Allardyces, played by Burgess Meredith and Eileen Heckart. Marian [Black] is immediately taken in by the charm of the old house, and against his better judgement, Ben [Reed] agrees to lease it for the ridicuously low sum of 900 for the entire summer. There is only one condition - marian will also have to take care of the Allardyce's ailing mother who lives in seclusion in a room upstairs. The Rolf's move in together with their young son David and Ben's aunt Elizabeth [Bette Davis]. It doesn't take long before Ben realises there is something sinister going on, but his wife seems oblivious to it all, content in just taking care of the house and its 'treasures'. The acting is excellent all around - Oliver Reed does an excellent job portraying the puzzled and concerned husband who is also haunted by nightmarish visions from his past [ the hearse driver gives you chills just looking at that sinister smile]. Karen Black is most convincing as the deluded Marian whose obsession with the house grows into a full-scale possession. Bette Davis's Aunt Elizabeth is at first alive with vigor and enthusiasm, but gradually falls into a decline - the house, you see, is a sort of evil parasite that feeds off the life force of its' inhabitants, and the story moves along in a chlling manner towards the shocking climax. The atmosphere is menacing and foreboding at all times, and helps elevate the movie above the usual run-of-the mill haunted house stereotype. All in all - a very watchable horror movie, high on atmosphere, and well-cast.

The Chauffeur.......2007-05-03

the stuff of nightmares. I have seen him in other roles (like the pimp in "the Unforgiven") and I still have to close my eyes!

"Just take good care of the house and mother and you will enjoy the place".......2007-04-15

OK first off, this is one of the BEST HAUNTED HOUSE MOVIES EVER IN MY EYES!!! Only Robert Wise's superb version of "The Haunting" is a better movie of things that go bump in the night(and sometimes the day also)! Everything is right with this tale of a summer "rental" house that is to good to be true, and is too good to be true. Over looked during it's release, this is another of the movies that scared the daylights out of me as a child.
A family (Oliver Reed, Karen Black, Lee Montgomery, and Bette Davis) rent a house for the summer from a brother and sister(wonderfully creepy Eileen Heckart and Burgess Meredith) on the condition that their elderly mother who lives upstairs stays and the wife feed her three times a day. Sounds simple enough, but we know better. What follows is 2 hours of the creepiest goings on you have ever seen. To say much more would ruin your chance to see it yourself. But I must give special mention to Anthony James as the Hearse driver from Reeds past that haunts his present. You may not know the name but you will remember his face from many movies and T.V. shows. He never speaks but he owns this movie with his creepy smile and very slow Hearse.
This one hits all the marks and stays with you long after it goes off. A very good non gory horror movie that delivers the goods.

[3.5]--Fairly Creepy.......2007-03-23

I thought this movie was alright being that it was my first time watching it. It's not anything like the horror movies of today because it obviously relies on an interesting story and creepiness; something Hollywood often does with special effects. This is just a creepy film and runs a bit slow at the beginning but it builds up towards an alright ending. Burnt Offerings is your typical "family buys/rents dream house at bargain price only to regret it" film. Obvious examples being "The Shining" and the "Amityville Horror," both based on books as well. There is also a strange person hidden away upstairs (c.f. Jane Eyre, The Old Dark House, The Ghoul (1975) etc).

The film is a study of family dysfunction, which is exacerbated by the haunted house (see also the first two films mentioned above). Issues explored include child beating, marital stress and breakdown, the importance/impotence of the father figure, and estrangement between all family members.

The most visible manifestation of the "evil" is the ability of the house to clean and repair itself. Unfortunately this is more of a householders dream than nightmare. No more breakages, tidying, "cowboy" building firms, etc. When Ben Rolf appears in a wheelchair, thus emulating Arnold Allardyce at the start, I thought the house was trying to "keep" rather than kill its occupants. The house needed a specific family imprisoned from which to draw its power/feed off. Thus the Alladyces were victims of the house. Their behavior at the start and motivation was of fear and escape. There lays their need to find a replacement family and sudden departure. However, the ending shows the couple to be in league with the evil, my initial impression being wrong.

The conclusion was too open-ended, the origins and mysteries of the house were not fully explained. Perhaps the source novel is clearer. The title, Burnt Offerings, seems a misnomer, nothing is burnt per se. The house itself was the offering; the family had high expectations, only to be fatally disappointed.

Subtle and sinister thriller for cerebral audience........2007-02-27

This is that rarest of things, a cerebral, subtle, and thoroughly sinister horror film from the 1970's--that dreariest of decades, and a time period long after the heyday of the intelligent horror movie.

It shares honors from that decade with "The Changeling," and "Crowhaven Farm," and is vastly superior to those inflated, pop culture, exercises in dumbed down scares--"The Shining," and "The Amityville Horror."

Be forewarned, this is not a film made for, or popular with, those afflicted with MTV length attention spans, those unable to process extended dialogue, or those with an infantine taste for computer generated special effects.

For the few that have actually read Mr. Marasco's novel, you will find in it a faithful adaptation. And for those who are simply connoisseurs of the elegantly macabre,you will not be disappointed.

The cast is uniformly excellent, and Mr. Reed's performance is every bit as good as that which he delivered in "Paranoic."

Recommended.

Average customer rating:

Atmospheric tale of a house of evil
The Chauffeur
"Just take good care of the house and mother and you will enjoy the place"
[3.5]--Fairly Creepy
Subtle and sinister thriller for cerebral audience.

Burnt Offerings
Starring: Karen Black , Oliver Reed , Burgess Meredith , Eileen Heckart , and Lee Montgomery
Director: Dan Curtis
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD