Burnt Offerings (1976)

I guess the grandma preferred something else for lunch!

Pre-dating both "The Amityville Horror" and "The Shining", "Burnt Offerings" is an incredibly well-written haunted-house horror story, starring the talents of Oliver Reed, who would get fame from his star role in David Cronenberg's "The Brood" three years after this movie. The other star is Karen Black, in ironically one of the few horror roles I think she's done.
Now, while "Burnt Offerings" lasts over a good hour and forty minutes, it's a gripping, brilliant and entertaining movie for several reasons. First off, it draws you in with its settings. The bright-green, comfortable forests of the summer home in California really lures you in and hypnotizes you. Then, we have the characters. Remember what they taught you in horror movie lover's school? If the villain isn't the 300-pound giant with a six-foot chainsaw (think Texas Chainsaw Pt. 2), then the horror is probably internal.
OK, so I'm showing my semi-sarcastic side, but in all honesty, the second part of "Burnt Offerings"'s combo-punch is the characters. The mother, father and son all change and develop over and over, making for some interesting high/low points in the story, and a few really creepy scenes, too!
Finally, characters and setting aside, this movie was really well written. I felt like the climax and escalade to it were really long, but kept me in edge-of-my-bed suspense. All the twists and turns in the plot surprised, and sometimes spooked, me.
And how about the grand finale? Well, the ending makes a lot of sense and resolves the whole storyline, but honestly, left me feeling empty inside.
So while I could drop a star for the gloomy ending, instead, I'll let all five stars stay, as "Burnt Offerings" was a gripping, exciting, atmospheric and visually-hypnotic horror movie. It was, as I repeat, really well-written with some really chilling scenes. If you want a haunted-house story done right, or a thrilling movie that's sure to hold your attention, "Burnt Offerings" will make you its sacrifice! Thanks for the time, and peace. October 31, 2008

A masterpiece

I had read the book BURNT OFFERINGS by Robert Marasco and loved it. I was thrilled to see it made into a movie. This film is very underrated. It is expertly crafted classic horror. These days most horror films are filled with violence and gore galore. Not this film. The evil in this film is the house and is a character of the movie in itself.

We have a very happy family - mother, father, son with grandmother in tow - who rent a summer house. It's a run down huge mansion style house and amazingly cheap. They are asked to do upkeep and merely feed the owners mother who lives in the attic. The creepiness starts at the very beginning when the parents are being interviewed and the son is playing in the yard. The owner sees him fall and hurt himself through the window and smiles gleefully, saying nothing.

This film plays upon all your innermost fears. The creepy atmosphere never lets up - it ebbs and flows but is always there. The acting is impeccable. Karen Black is superb as the mother who becomes more a mother to the house than her own family. The house seems to change her and possess her. Oliver Reed is excellent as the husband who is trying to figure out what is happening. This film is rare for it is not a mere suspense film. It is a definite horror film but without the blood and gore. The mood that keeps butterflies in your stomach never lets up. The dreams that the father has about the funeral are absolutely terrifying here. Bottom line, we have a house that is not happy and discovering how it gets what it needs is chilling.

We also have the benefit of Bette Davis here who is always great. It is one of her later roles and she is fine with playing second fiddle to Karen Black. Karen rules her. As she become one with the house she becomes a mysterious presence to be reckoned with.

I highly recommend this film. Excellent acting and horror that will stay with you long after viewing it. Remember there is not blood and gore here but something that is actually worse. The is an undertone of creepiness and a growing terror that will stay under your skin. This shows what a great movie it is. October 18, 2008

What a Way to Renovate a House!

[This review is part of my 30 Days of Halloween series. cultural past.]

BURNT OFFERINGS unites three icons of 1960's to 1980's thriller gendre: Karen Black, Bette Davis & Burgess Meredith. Karen Black & Burgess Merdith formed a bizzare daughter-father team in THE DAY OF THE LOCUST(that I previously reviewed.) The film also features veteran actors Oliver Reed & Eileen Heckart.)

It has been suggested by other reviewers that the plot is a rip-off of THE SHINING, but I don't accept that. The only similarity is that the male lead (Oliver Reed in OFFERINGS)has gone through some sort of break down. And that's it.

The plot revolves around the small extended family of Black, Reed, Davis as the aging aunt & the family's teenage son. Brother & sister Meredith & Heckhart are off for a vacation & offer the family a much need temporary accomodation in an old mansion (that familiar staple in horror movies.) They ask only a pittance in return--provided Black agrees to provide care for their mysterious mother who never leaves her converted attic boudoir. The rest of the familiar never see the woman, but Black becomes obsessed with her. The husband, son & aunt think this is pretty weired, but they are experiencing big time problems of their own.

Thus the story unfolds with good thrills & some chills.

My favorites scene is when the house begins to regenerate--but you have to see it.

BURNT OFFERINGS is Kid Friendly.

Trilogy of Terror
Bette Davis Centenary Celebration Collection (All About Eve / Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte / The Virgin Queen / Phone Call from a Stranger / The Nanny)
The Devils (Special Uncut Restored Edition 1971)
Important Documentary Films: The Forgotten Village DVD (1941) Written By John Steinbeck. Narrated By Burgess Meredith. Music By German Composer Hans Eisler.
The Bad Seed




October 9, 2008

Eternally Evil, This House Demands A Blood Sacrifice

"Burnt Offerings" is one of the greatest haunted house horror movies ever made. It rivals that of "The Amityville Horror." Wonderful direction is given by Dan Curtis who is a master of modern gothic horror. He directed numerous television horror hits such as "Trilogy of Terror" and "The Night Stalker." The later spawned a television series of the same title and greatly influenced "The X-Files." He is most famous for his gothic daytime soap opera, "Dark Shadows," of which I was a devoted fan.

This masterpiece of modern gothic horror has a great all star cast that includes Karen Black ("Trilogy of Terror"), Oliver Reed (Hammer Film Production's "Curse of the Werewolf"), Lee Montgomery ("Ben"), Bette Davis ("What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?"), and Burgess Meredith (Amicus Production's "Torture Garden"). Ben and Marian Rolf (Reed and Black), their son Davey (Montgomery), and Aunt Elizabeth (Davis) move into a sprawling, dilapidated mansion for the summer. Mysterious accidents plague the family. Each time blood is shed, the house is rejuvenated, becoming stronger, more malevolent. Soon it becomes apparent that the house has a life of its own and has no intention of letting any of them leave alive.

A creepy atmosphere pervades this chiller. Especially notable are the terrifying visions that Ben has of the chauffeur that was at his mother's funeral. The man was positively frightening with his gaunt, cadaver-like facial features and malevolent smile. I found this film much more terrifying and disturbing than "The Amityville Horror." The ending was quite shocking and downbeat. It reminded me much of Dan Curtis' "Night of Dark Shadows" when Tracy Collins screams hysterically upon realizing the hopelessness of her situation.

"Burnt Offerings" is highly recommended for those who love good old-fashioned stories of ghosts and haunted houses. It is for those who love their horror subtle and suspenseful. You will be required to use your imagination because not everything is explained. That is the nature of the occult world.
October 7, 2008

"Hello, Benji...!"

"Burnt Offerings" follows on the tail of some vastly superior "evil" films of the 1970's: "The Omen", "The Exorcist", and "Rosemary's Baby", but it should be kept in mind that 1976 was the Satanic renaissance in film. Holding this to the standard of the aforementioned films is both unfair and sets you up for a disappointment.

If you take it out of context and give it a chance, though, Curtis' loose adaptation of Marasco's chilling (and neglected) horror novel is bound to give you a good scare. The premise is not all that complex: Marian Rolf (Karen Black in one of her better roles) and Ben Rolf (Oliver Reed in a great performance) move into a house that has an odd past behind it--people always dying after moving in, that sorta thing--but it's spacious and great for Ben's research. The house is Moloch: it needs the blood of others to regenerate. Hence the title.

Things go from bad to worse the moment they move into the house: Marian continually retreats to the attic to serve the owner of the house, a Baronness who we never really see until all is lost, Ben tries to drown his son in the swimmming pool and becomes increasingly violent. The legendary Bette Davis has a nice macabre farewell to cinema as Ben's Aunt Elizabeth, who slowly rots away as the will of the house becomes stronger and stronger: she is the first to recognize what's going on, so she dies first. Karen Black becomes more psychotic and frightening as the movie continues, visiting the unseen Baronness more and more frequently.

The ending of this movie is one of the scariest that I have ever seen. It is, beyond a doubt, the highlight of the entire movie. A must see for any horror fan.

August 25, 2008

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