SYNOPSICS
Burnt Offerings (1976) is a English movie. Dan Curtis has directed this movie. Karen Black,Oliver Reed,Burgess Meredith,Eileen Heckart are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1976. Burnt Offerings (1976) is considered one of the best Horror,Mystery,Thriller movie in India and around the world.
Ben and Marian Rolf rent a grand old country mansion as a summer getaway for themselves, their twelve year old son Davey, and Ben's Aunt Elizabeth. They feel they can't turn down the rent deal offered to them by the house's owners, siblings Roz and Arnold Allardyce, despite some reservations. First amongst those reservations, they are to take care of the house on their own, which Ben feels is too big a job, especially for Marian and the interior housekeeping. In Marian's words, the large size of the house is a "waste". And second and perhaps more important amongst those reservations, the Allardyces' aged mother will be staying in her room at the house, the Rolfs who are to provide a tray of food left outside her room three times a day, which Marian vows to take care of on her own, with no other members of the family to go into that isolated wing of the house so as not to disturb Mrs. Allardyce's peace. Upon their arrival at the house for the first day of their stay, they find a note ...
Same Actors
Same Director
Burnt Offerings (1976) Reviews
BIG FAN
I've been a big fan of this movie for years, ever since I was about 12. And I've watched as time and time again people have complained about this movie, and I just didn't get it. Now I'm grown up and I see the flaws, but I still don't care. I love Oliver Reed and Karen Black and don't think it could have been acted better. Watching her grow more an more attached to the house is very interesting. The best part I thought was when she surprises her son who drops a crystal bowl that smashes on the floor, and she kneels there, holding the fragments in her hands, sobbing hysterically, almost like a child had died. The boy, Lee Montgomery, I've never had a problem with. The kid from the Shining, now HE was annoying. hehe. And above all, I LOVE how the movie ends. Although it's predictable, it was VERY welcome. Movies with sad, creepy endings that leave you with a shiver always work for me.
Great 70's horror.
My 10 out of 10 vote for this movie really stems from the first time I'd seen it. I was an 8 year old at the drive-in with my parents. The assumption was I would watch the first movie of this double bill and fall asleep before the scary movie started. I cannot remember the first movie but I can tell you I will never forget this one. I played like I was sleeping in the back seat but watched the whole movie without my parents knowing. I had nightmares for months to come. Images of the creepy Chauffeur driver and the foggy lighting and lens effects really stuck with me. And the last scene was terrifying. I'm much older now but when revisiting this horror classic I'm reminded of that night in the backseat of my parents car...I still get chills. I also had the same experiences with "Seizure" "From Beyond the Grave" and "The Sentinel".
Creepy and mesmerizing!
This is one of the few horror films that I can still sit back and enjoy. It scared me pretty badly as a kid. I still feel all the haunting vibes and chills as an adult. It may not be action packed (although the scene with Reed trying to kill his soon in the pool was terrifying--and ultra-realistic), but it certainly gets under your skin. This film is about mood, and it is both beautifully entrancing and ominously mesmerizing. I actually found the acting quite good. Reed was wonderful. I loved the two weird siblings, Roz and Brother (Burgess Meredith, wonderful actor). Their adoration of the house sends chills up my spine. The true stars of the movie are the music (Bob Cobert's amazing Music Box Theme) and the house (Dunsmuir House & Gardens, in Oakland, California). For true horror buffs out there, this movie inspired the creators of PHANTASM to drive up to Oakland and use this same mansion as the infamous Morningside Mortuary. Which is probably, when the opening moments of PHANTASM rolled in 1979, I already had such fear upon seeing the mansion again on screen! I have to wonder if other elements of BURNT OFFERINGS inspired PHANTASM as well. Note the creepy old lady upstairs at the end. Reminds one of PHANTASM's eerie fortuneteller. How about B.O.'s terrifying hearse chauffeur? He's kind of like a forerunner of the Tall Man! BURNT OFFERINGS is well worth the viewing. Don't expect any real jolts or screams. But turn off the lights and let it really sink in. It's well worth a viewing. There are many moments (such as the house renewing itself during the rainstorm) that are bizarre and horribly fascinating. I haven't seen this good a haunted house movie in years. And definitely visit Dunsmuir in real life. This place is spectacular. You'll fall in love with it, just like Karen Black! I certainly did. I spent awhile helping out as tour guide and volunteer at the estate while attending college in the Bay Area.
"Burnt Offerings" -- is it about fertility rites/ renewal via death?
This comment may contain a spoiler or two -- it is for those who have seen the movie and are baffled. I have not read the novel, and have only seen the 'edited for T.V. version (about four times). But from reading other posters' comments and reviews, it seems that many people are baffled by what the title 'burnt offerings' means and what the heck is going on in the movie. From what little I have seen on television, the theme seems to be that the house injures and even kills its resident occupants in order to renew itself. Sort of a fertility rite, where death was enacted to bring about the Springtime, or renewal. Whenever someone gets hurt, or killed, the house renews a part of itself. Minor injuries may only repair a simple light bulb, or bring a few dead potted plants back to life or restore a cracked mirror. But look what happens at the end !! The old lady upstairs, Mrs. Allardyce (?sp) is supposedly an eighty-five year old woman'. Isn't that the approx. age of the house (in 1976? Wouldn't you say the Dunsmuir house looks about that old, built in 1891, perhaps?) When the professor / renter asks the owners of the house what 'the catch' is (why it's so inexpensive to rent), the response from one of the owners (who are insulted at the idea that it's a 'catch' -- their response is, 'it's our mother.' -- is that intended as the 'catch? that the house is their mother? (then the conversation shifts to that she is an eighty five year old woman, and that she stays in the upstairs room). I think there may be some symbolism here of the death-and-renewal, earth-goddess sort. And, by the way, this is NOT a 'haunted house' but what might be described as a slightly different genre' -- a 'living house.' Not haunted, as on the changeling or The Haunting, nor 'demon possessed' as on the Amityville Horror, but a 'living house' -- this one with an appetite and a penchant to renew itself. Lots of old houses, to me, seem to have a soul and thoughts and demeanor of their own. Enjoy the renewal rites.
The Best Dan Curtis Film, Period.
I can watch this film over and over again. The atmospheric styles of Dan Curtis are imaginable. His usage of lower camera angles, I could go on and on. With excellent performances from Oliver Reed (R.I.P.), and Bette Davis. I also love how Burgess Meredith is in the film, it gave the movie such a Rod Serling feel. The slow moving suspense is nerve racking but keeps you on your toes at the same time. Much better ending than from the original novel. (listen to the commentary with co-writer William F. Nolan)-Burnt Offerings is truly a HORROR CLASSIC. Brace yourself for a creepy ending. Karen Black is stranger than usually. If you like scary old victorian houses with mysterious goings on, Burnt Offerings is just the flick.