buckikris 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

TheRedDeath30 To judge this book by its' cover, one would assume that it is the stuff of a 70s horror fan's dreams. Here is a movie directed by Dan Curtis, known for such fare of DARK SHADOWS and TRILOGY OF TERROR, about a haunted house that feeds on the pain and emotions of its' inhabitants. The cast is extraordinary and reads like a wish list. A couple played by Oliver Reed (CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF) and Karen Black, who had starred in Curtis' TRILOGY OF TERROR, along with their aunt played by the legendary Bette Davis. We, also, get Burgess Meredith, who seems to pop up continually in horror films from this time era. It seems like it couldn't possibly miss, but miss it certainly does.I am not a giant fan of the "haunted house" film. Of all the little sub-genres of horror it tends to be one of my least favorite, but when done well, some of those are among my favorite horror films as well. The fans of this movie will want to use words like "understated", "brooding" and "atmospheric" to describe the sort of ominous tone that this movie wants so badly to achieve. The words they should really be looking for are "dreadfully boring" as it is hard to find anything worthwhile in this snoozer. The biggest issue I have with it would come from Curtis' background in television. That's exactly the way this movie feels is a waste of budget and cast, as Curtis really does nothing more than perfectly re-create the look and feel of 70s TV horror. Supposedly, this movie had a fairly large budget for its' time, but I couldn't tell you what they spent it on for the life of me (beyond the aforementioned acting talent). There are absolutely no effects. This is almost the anti- haunted house" movie as we start to wonder if our characters are going crazy out of sheer boredom more than being driven there by ghosts and spirits. The 70s were full of great, effective haunted house flicks like THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE, THE SENTINEL and THE AMITYVILLE HORROR. You could create a Top 25 list just from this decade of great horror films. The viewer cannot help but place this against the competition and it comes up sorely lacking. I would challenge any great fan of this movie to honestly come up with one element or characteristic that makes this movie worth the watch? Even the great cast are just not given anything to work with here. The dialog wants so much to be meaningful, but feels empty. The scenes where each character have their own brushes with madness could have been rife with tension and paranoia, but fail to elicit any real pathos from the viewer.It has been said that Stephen King was a big fan of this movie. If that is in fact true, then it's an interesting coincidence. This would have been released one year before King wrote THE SHINING. Those works have a lot in common, a family with skeletons in the closet moves into a house with its' own skeletons, a house that slowly feeds on their emotions until it has destroyed them. It's just that King took the kernel of story that is present here and actually made it worthwhile.

LeonLouisRicci It is No Surprise that this Film Looks Like a TV-Movie, it is Dan Curtis Directing and Writing and that's what He Does. The Man Behind the Afternoon Soap Vampire Cult Phenom Dark Shadows and a Slew of Other Made for TV Horrors, this Theatrical Release did not Resonate like Some of the Others on the Tube.Fans are Divided on this one. It is a Methodically Paced Picture that Takes its Time Unfolding the Rather Slim Story of a House that Draws Energy from its Inhabitants and Refurbishes Itself with the Lifeforce. There is Some Creepiness at Play here and there are Moments of Tension, but the Movie is Too Long and Deliberate.Nothing is that Surprising, Including the Twist Ending, but it has Enough Suspense and Terror to Propel Viewers through to the Downbeat Ending. Oliver Reed and Karen Black are Always Interesting to Watch and They do Add Some Gravitas, but Bette Davis is a Non-Descript Cliché.Overall, Worth a Watch for Horror Buffs and those Willing to Go Along with the Languishing Pace. There are Some Rewards for the Stick-To-It Types.

mark.waltz Does your house need a face-lift? Then, take a little tip from brother and sister Burgess Meredith and Eileen Heckart. Rent it out for the summer to a nice married couple with a small child and just let the house take over. That's exactly what happens here, and boy, no plastic surgeon has the ability to do what this house does. Karen Black and Oliver Reed, two cult favorites of the 1970's, have done some weird films in their time, but other than a T.V. movie where Black is chased by a little African doll with a knife, they don't rank anywhere near as frightening as this. Sure, Reed scared the bajeebers out of kids being mean to Oliver Twist and Black had us frantic when she announced that there was nobody flying the plane, but now, she's got something serious to want to desperately fly out of.Literally, the house comes alive, as do several ghosts, with one of the most frightening swimming pools ever in the movies. Bette Davis adds a touch of class, not camp here, as Black's kindly aunt who comes for a visit and finds more than she bargained for on a holiday. The spirit of a deadly chauffeur haunts both her and her great grand-nephew (Lee Montgomery) while Reed and Black slowly go batty on their own as the evil spirits surrounding the house literally take over. This is severe horror at its scariest, a "Poltergeist" way before that horror classic came out and one that will tingle your spine in ways its never been tingled before. Anthony James may not be a household name, but the chauffeur he plays is as spooky a character to ever appear in a horror film and may haunt your dreams if you watch this right before going to bed. This is a great horror follow-up to the original "Dark Shadows" and its movies for director Dan Curtis.