Very Cool!!!

Pretty Good

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

The Rolfs' summer vacation has brought them to a ruined mansion (the Dunsmuir Mansion, which was also used for Phantasm) somewhere in the country. Marian and Ben have a 12-year-old son named Davey and have brought along their beloved aunt Elizabeth. Why would they stay in this ancient abode? Well, it's cheap. Real cheap thanks to the kindness of the Allardyce family, who only require that their mother stay upstairs and that the family provide her with meals all summer long. They will never see her or probably even speak to her, a deal that Marian agrees to quickly. The house is just too great and she's fallen in love with it.Love soon turns to the obsession that only comes from 1970's horror fiction. Soon, she's dressing like a Victorian woman and not speaking to her family, content to sit near Mrs. Allardyce's bedroom and stare at old photos.The house keeps getting cleaner and better looking the more weirdness happens, like windows locking shut, accidents all over the place, nightmares of an evil chauffeur and Ben flipping out and nearly killing his son while swimming and Aunt Elizabeth dying.Marian won't even leave the house for the funeral, so Ben angrily declares that he will leave without her. His attempts to escape with his son ends when a tree blocks the road and his wife becomes the dreaded chauffeur, turning the once strong man into jelly. Yet after the pool itself tries to kill Davey, Marian declares that they should leave once she tells Mrs. Allardyce goodbye.Easier said than done. She disappears into the house and when Ben goes to confront the old woman, he learns that she and his wife are now the same person. He's thrown from the attic window in a scene that ends the trailer to the film and even Davey is killed when a chimney falls on him, because the life of children was quite cheap in the movies of the 70's. To paraphrase John Mulaney, back then "no one cared about kids. I grew up before children were special. I did. Very early '80s, right before children became special."The house is now brand new as the Allardyce family and the chauffeur celebrate mother's return. The photos on the wall — all of the home's past victims — now include Ben, Davey and Aunt Elizabeth.Curtis was a fan of the book, except for the open ending which he thought was unfilmable. His ending is much different, as is the inclusion of the chauffeur, who is based on a childhood trauma where he watched a driver laugh during his grandmother's funeral.Some people dislike this film because of its slow pace, but others — like Stephen King — love it. I'm on the fence. I love parts of this, but the pace is truly glacial.Read more at http://bit.ly/2megicO

. . . would involved Bette Davis hacking off various people's appendages as she'd recently done in HUSH, HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE, and grilling these pieces and bits for her dinner guests. No such luck. BURNT OFFERINGS is more like that Eagles song, "Hotel California" ("You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave"). Only, in this case, it seems like the haunted Allardyce House represents Our Increasingly Decrepit America, in which the Repugs are currently overtaking Drugs, Terrorism, and Riots as our Leading Cause of Death. Bette Davis, for instance, suffers a Health Crisis during BURNT OFFERINGS and is soon shown enjoying the Benefits of TrumpCare. This involves a hearse swiftly arriving to box up Bette. The U.S. Congressional Budget Office and the American Medical Association concurred this month that TrumpCare will terminate the lives of 1.25 million U.S. citizens annually. But let's look on the Bright Side. The Repugs will have to rig another election for Red Commie KGB Chief Vlad "The Mad Russian" Putin in order for TrumpCare to top Hitler's World Record for Genocide. So sit back and savor BURNT OFFERINGS while you can, before TrumpCare chauffeurs you into an oven.

Ben and Marian Rolf (Oliver Reed, Karen Black) rent a somewhat rundown old mansion in the country for the summer. They move in along with their son and Ben's elderly aunt (Bette Davis) and soon strange things start taking place. Ben grows increasingly violent while Marian becomes obsessed with the mysterious old woman who lives in a room on the top floor that no one but her has contact with. The more their personalities change, the more the house itself changes. It literally renovates itself, feeding off the negative energy of the family.I love Dan Curtis' work. He was pretty much the most consistent voice for horror output in the '70s, primarily on television. He made a lot of entertaining TV shows and movies. He does a good job directing here but the movie has some issues. The biggest problem with the movie is its length. You would think with his experience in television that Dan Curtis would understand the value of telling a story succinctly. But no, this is nearly two hours. There are no twists that you won't have figured out by the end of the first hour so this really should have been cut by at least 20 minutes.Now for the positives. First and foremost, the wonderful location shooting at Dunsmuir House in Oakland, CA. I've said before and I'll say it again: I love movies from the '70s shot on location, particularly in small towns or rural areas. There's an authenticity about it that movie sets and (God forbid) CGI effects can't match. Also love the foggy lens thing. Not sure how that was accomplished but it's very effective and gives the movie a unique style. Another huge plus is the creepy music throughout. The cast is good. Oliver Reed plays the father-going-crazy thing better than most. Not quite Nicholson but better than Brolin. Karen Black does okay. She was never the greatest actress but had a distinctive look that helped her greatly in horror films. Bette Davis is very good but gets way too little to do. Her last scene is pretty scary. Lee Montgomery is the son who gets very excited when he finds a case of Ding Dongs in the kitchen. In addition, there's Burgess Meredith in a small role early on. He's always good. Dub Taylor is also in this briefly doing his cornpone thing. It's out of place but harmless, I guess.There are some genuinely scary and surprising moments in this film. It has a creepy atmosphere that manages to elevate it above many similarly-themed movies over the years. The last 20-30 minutes is especially good and the ending is memorable. It's worth a look for Curtis fans or fans of '70s horror in general.

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.