BURNT OFFERINGS (1976)

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Directed by Dan Curtis
Written by Robert Marasco (novel), William F. Nolan and Dan Curtis (screenplay)
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

Much like THE AMITYVILLE HORROR and THE SHINING (though it predates both of them), BURNT OFFERINGS provides a look at the dissolution of the modern typical family, as a seemingly homey household compels the patriarch to turn against his own. It’s a theme that seems to accompany many a haunted house film, which in itself often symbolizes how dreams of a perfect family life can easily turn into nightmares.

Marian (Karen Black) and Ben (Oliver Reed) Rolf think they are in for a sweet deal when they are offered to live in a mansion in the country for only $900.00. All they have to do is watch the grounds and…oh, leave a food tray for the elderly old lady who never leaves her room in the attic. Not sensing anything weird there, Marian and Ben move their son David (Lee Montgomery) and elderly Aunt Elizabeth (Bette Davis) in and prepare for a luxurious family getaway for the summer. Strange things begin to occur, such as Ben having visions of a ghostly smiling chauffeur (Anthony James) and Marian becoming more and more obsessed with the woman in the attic who no one has ever seen. Soon both Marian and Ben begin to neglect and abuse their son, and it is apparent it all has something to do with the house, which seems to be repairing and renewing itself as the family begins to fall apart.

Here the home, which is the symbol of family and the American Dream, literally pits the family against one another, pulling at Ben’s insecurity to protect his family be tossing childhood fears into his face (i.e. the visions of the evil chauffeur) and Marian’s maternal instinct to take care of someone new as her boy is getting too big to cuddle. While THE SHINING and AMITYVILLE seem to focus on the father’s inability to provide for his family, at least this is an equal opportunity haunt, showing that mom can be bad given a few supernatural pushes herself. Still, this is a film rich in thematic heft, turning a magnifying glass on the family and how easily it can crack under pressure.

Having seen this film as a kid, I remember being frightened by the chauffeur, but at little else. But now grown, the film is definitely a bit more potent given the more cerebral fears at play. The mystery of the woman in the attic is well played, and really does factor in for a hell of an ending. I also found the disconnect between Ben and Marian to be fascinating, as the house seems to tear them apart as well as put them against their family in unique and distinctive ways. Compared to more modern straightforward haunted house films, this one is quite complex in the way the threats (be they animated vines, ghostly chauffeurs, or poolside shenanigans gone horribly wrong) attack the family.

In terms of performances, this one is filled with fun albeit sometimes campy ones. Oliver Reed is both aggressively powerful and surprisingly insecure here, in a performance that is much more nuanced that his usual bawdy characters, showing a more sensitive and vulnerable side as a man who is confronted with fears from his childhood. The arc he takes from happy and strong father to impotent vegetable is a powerful one, and Reed’s Ben is definitely someone completely different at the end of this film from who he is in the beginning. Black goes through a transformation as well, from wide-eyed and optimistic mother to the dark place she ends up in by the end of the film. In both cases this is a film where the actors are definitely changed for better or worse, and both actors are more than capable of showing this in their performances.

The supporting cast is fun as well, with Bette Davis really giving it her all as a plucky aunt sapped of energy once she enters the home, and Burgess Meredith, Eileen Heckart, and Dub Taylor all shine in the brief moments they appear as the house’s caretakers. Finally, Lee Montgomery had to have been traumatized as a kid with the horrors he is put through here. From being drenched with blood, almost drowned, and attacked by trees to how he ends up in the end, the kid really isn’t as safe as in most modern horror films.

BURNT OFFERINGS is one of the more wicked little films, with a ballsy ending that apparently was changed by Curtis from the original book. The film pulls no punches in terms of the way it inundates the family with horror and really does get under your skin, more so in retrospect long after the film is over.