Burnt Offerings (1976)

Burnt Offerings is like a lesser version of the Amityville story. It has its creepy moments, but, for the most part, it slowly plods along in a predictable manner, with the audience staying two steps ahead of the characters. However, Oliver Reed and Bette Davis give excellent performances and I feel this fits right in with other classic haunted house movies.

I was 4 years old when this came out... I think I first saw this one 3 to 5 years after it was released, something like that. I remember this one chilled me to the bone at that time and when I was a teen I saw it a handful of times when they decided to show it on TV (which wasn't very often). I finally obtained this classic - added it to my collection - and I've got to say it is still one of the great haunted house movies on the market. I watched it again and it still gave me the chills.Some viewers say they didn't like David (Lee Montgomery's character) and I have to say at times they had him acting bratty BUT one has to remember David is being effected just like the others - all of their personalities started changing (David included).I won't say much anything about the plot, you can read that for yourself, but I'll say the what you read does not do this film justice. It's more than a haunted house film - this one goes deep into the psyche of the characters and for the viewers.It is slow subtle horror, one of those that keeps building up to a smashing ending... all is concluded tidy.9/10

This is one creepy movie from the beginning to the very end. The start of Burnt Offerings might be a little slow to some; but the suspense builds 15 minutes into the film. The film stars Classic actors, Karen Black, Oliver Reed, Bettie Davis, and Burgess Meredith(Rocky).The story begins when a family, The Rolf's, checkout a vacation home which includes care taking for the home; and the owners mother. The Rolf's, Ben( Oliver Reed), Marian( Karen Black), and there son David( Lee Montgomery) ride up to check out the position. They travel to the California countryside to talk to the owners of the estate, The Alderice's. The Alderice's are brother and sister. Roz( Eilen Heckart) and Arnold( Burgess Meredith) are awaiting their arrival. Once The Rolf's arrive they are met by Roz. She explains details about the home and introduces her brother to them. When Arnold arrives he and Roz take a nonchalant attitude towards the Rolf's. This is especially apparent when they ask if anyone else will be coming with them? Ben explains that they will be his Aunt Elizabeth( Bettie Davis ) also along when they come. Roz continues to tell them about the home and the need for someone to check in on their mother Mrs. Alderice. An 85 yr.old who stays mostly in her room; and never gets out. All Marian will have to do is check in on her and prepare her food. If the Rolf's take the job they would arrive July 1st and stay until Labor Day. The price for the summer rent 900 dollars total, it's a deal of a lifetime. The Rolf's decide to sleep on it, but eventually call Roz the next day taking the job.As soon as they arrive, The Alderices are gone just leaving a key to the house. At first, the estate looks drab, unkempt, and loaded with dead plants. Marian gets to work right away preparing meals for Mrs. Alderice and cleaning the house. Ben is outside taking care of the grounds; while Aunt Elizabeth is painting surrounding scenes from the estate. From the time they get to the house things start to get weird. The family seems distant and Marian is the first to become possessed by the home. Each day she prepares a tray for Mrs. Alderice and brings it upstairs. She notices at first she hasn't touched her food. Marian is worried something could be wrong with her; but each day she continues the same routine. Marian gets so obsessed she won't let anyone else in the family met Mrs. Alderice. Little does Marian know the house is draining her life force and she is transforming into Mrs. Alderice. The house is evil and this isn't the only incident. When Ben and David are playing in the pool, the fun starts to turn violent. Ben tries to drown David, Ben is unable to stop his violent behavior until the end. His son decks him and is able to escape his wrath. The house is possessed and it feeds off the negative energy/accidents that occur. Each time negative energy is released, the house is able to rejuvenate it's self . The house starts looking more alive, an example, the incident at the pool. The next day Marion comes out and notices that the entire pool area looks brand new. When Ben comes back he notices it, and she tells him she did it. Another example, is after Aunt Elizabeth dies, the flowers in the sun room are alive, bountiful. The house changes so much it is able to rejuvenate new foundation. One night Ben sees the house shed it's old paneling and replacing it with new. When he sees this he wakes David and they try to leave. They just leave Marian; but the house won't let them leave. In fact, it takes another incident in the pool with David to get Marion's attention. Then the whole family tries to leave before it gets worse. In the end, when the three of them are packed and ready to go Marian tells Ben to wait. She must tell Mrs. Alderice they are leaving and give her a number in case she needs to reach The Rolf's. Well 10 minutes goes by and Ben decides to go and check on Marian. When he enters the room he believes he has found Mrs. Alderice; it's not, it's his wife Marian. She is in an old fashioned dress, sitting in a wheelchair. She is completely gray and her words are "I've been waiting for you Ben". Next you see Ben fly out the window and crash into the cars windshield. David sees this and runs for his life, but the house sheds again. This time the whole outside changes into a brand new home.In the end, The Alderice's return and gloat over the beauty over their home. What they both call " MOTHER ". In conclusion, on the chest in Mrs. Alderice's room is all the previous care takes that had come before The Rolf's. This is a great horror film with just the right amount of suspense, highly recommended.THX, Kris L. CocKayne

I don't believe I've ever reviewed this movie on IMDb. It is certainly better than it often gets credit for. One of my all time horror favorites. Definite spoilers in here if you haven't seen it. A bit of trivia: Lee Montgomery, who plays the son in this movie later starred in "Dead of Night" with Joan Hackett wherein he plays her deceased son returned to life. A good scary TV movie available on DVD. Also, the main title theme in Burnt Offerings is "Memories of a Lifetime" which is also the line that Karen Black utters as she pores over the photos upstairs in the mansion. Another bit of trivia, Dan Curtis, the director can be seen in one of the photos in the collection. He's wearing a top hat I believe and has a rather scary/scared expression on his face. Yes it is dated. I saw this in its original theatrical release in 1976. A good movie that is better on the big screen because of its camera-work. Almost anything from the 70's is going to look dated now, particularly how many station wagons there are! (see the original Stepford Wives) The "fuzziness" is deliberate--Dan Curtis used "gauze" type filters over the cameras to give it a dreamlike effect. This was also done by Alfred Hitchcock in "Vertigo". I still like this movie. A lot of critics are not kind to it. But when I had it out on rental, I loaned it to a number of people and all of them liked it. I remember seeing this on network TV before the days of tape and DVD's and it really suffers on the small screen. But the widescreen DVD looks excellent, really good. The color and print have been restored for the DVD and it looks flawless in widescreen. Great music too by Bob Cobert, who did the music for the original Dark Shadows TV series. Anthony James was perfectly cast as the chauffeur, a character that can give me the absolute creeps watching this movie in broad daylight. I still to this day have a hard time watching the dream sequence where the chauffeur first appears. The music and photography are very eerie and unsettling. When he comes driving up the entrance to the mansion, oooh! His pale face, the sunglasses, not being able to see what's in those eyes. He represents death but he's scarier than a hooded grim reaper would be. You feel sympathy for the family, including the young boy as they are completely helpless tragic characters who will never "get out". The "chauffeur" has a special significance for me because of my grandfather working in the funeral business. He also represents an omen as he's a bad memory from a nightmare Ben has about the death of his mother and he comes back from the past, in an old car, in broad daylight where he shouldn't be. I believe he is foreshadowing the doom to come. The effects in this movie are good. The house "regenerating" itself looks very convincing and with no CGI. When Karen Black died, there was a film tribute to her in San Francisco, which I went to see. They showed this movie in actual 35 mm but the print was not a restored one I'm sorry to say. Color went in and out, some other minor glitches etc. but at least I got to see it on the big screen for the first time in a long time. It was nice to see Bette Davis getting a serviceable role in her later years--some complain she doesn't get to do enough in this film but I think she was good as always and got enough screen time. I don't think it could be made today with the subtlety that makes it so great. Oliver Reed gives a wonderful and sensitive performance and you feel for him as his wife can't see how the house is taking over her. It's a bit like The Shining, though this story and movie were made before Stephen King published his novel. I listened to the commentary on the DVD and was dismayed at how they badmouthed Reed, who isn't here to defend himself and who is great in this movie. One (two?) of the best lines in the movie: "Marion?" "I've been waiting for you Ben" which then lead to the GREAT ending which still shocks me. If you like horror with a more mysterious and subtle edge, this is the one.