Burnt Offerings (1976)

38% of critics liked it
(8 reviews)
44% of users liked it
(3,920 ratings)

Dan Curtis, director of TV's Dark Shadows series, directed this eerie haunted-house thriller about a house which draws energy from its inhabitants and selects its own "keeper" from the family of Ben and Marian Rolf (Oliver Reed & Karen Black), who rent the strangely-affordable house one fateful… More Dan Curtis, director of TV's Dark Shadows series, directed this eerie haunted-house thriller about a house which draws energy from its inhabitants and selects its own "keeper" from the family of Ben and Marian Rolf (Oliver Reed & Karen Black), who rent the strangely-affordable house one fateful summer then find themselves slowly succumbing to its creepy powers. The photography is suitably moody, and many of the standard haunted-house cliches are used to decent effect -- particularly a violent scene in which the surrounding woods form a barrier to prevent the family station wagon from escaping the area -- but the pace is too leisurely overall, climaxing with the type of grim ending employed by nearly every mainstream horror film in the late 70's. Black's spooky looks are used to maximum effect, but are never quite as chilling as the final shot of Curtis's TV movie Trilogy of Terror from the previous year. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 56 min.
Directed By: Dan Curtis
Genres: Horror

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1976 Wide
On DVD: Aug 26, 2003

Critic Reviews

Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Plodding, campy haunted-house chiller.
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
Haunted house completists should check it out, but don't expect a classic.
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
Black e Reed oferecem boas performances, o que é um feito admirável em um filme no qual até mesmo Bette Davis parece perdida - e o inspirado ato final quase salva o projeto.
Gil Jawetz, DVDTalk.com
A pretty poor excuse for a horror film, Burnt Offerings gets by basically on the weirdness of its ending and some of the performances.
Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
One of those comfortable relics that doesn't scare so much as mildly chill.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Tepid old house thriller marginally redeemed by Reed and Bette Davis.

Read all 6 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

Robert C

This felt like a "made for tv" movie, with the exception of the last five minutes of the film (which almost made up for the prior 115 minutes). Staring Karen Black as: Karen Black Oliver Reed as: Oliver Reed and Bette Davis as: Bette Davis No REAL surprises here… More
This felt like a "made for tv" movie, with the exception of the last five minutes of the film (which almost made up for the prior 115 minutes). Staring Karen Black as: Karen Black Oliver Reed as: Oliver Reed and Bette Davis as: Bette Davis No REAL surprises here (with the exception of the last five minutes). Not horrible...just kind of slow.
Red L

I started to watch Burnt Offerings on TV, but it takes such a long time to come to the point, I left it going in the next room and came to the computer for my entertainment.
Dr Blood

One of the better "haunted house" movies even though it's still a bit long and not as scary as it could be. It's no surprise to learn that Stephen King rates Robert Marasco's novel (which this is based on) quite highly as it certainly seems to have… More
One of the better "haunted house" movies even though it's still a bit long and not as scary as it could be. It's no surprise to learn that Stephen King rates Robert Marasco's novel (which this is based on) quite highly as it certainly seems to have influenced "The Shining" and "Rose Red". The acting is just what you'd expect from Karen Black and Oliver Reed but don't let that put you off as the spookiness of the house almost makes up for it. Apart from a very telegraphed but still shocking ending the only thing which really lets this down is that it seems to suffer from excessive padding. It could have been done in half the time really.
Ken S

This movie is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Truly horrendous...
Lafe F

Like a cousin of "The Shining", this movie has the Rolf family taking care of an old house for the summer. This movie creeped me out, with the old lady we never see shut up in the attic, dreams of a wicked funeral hearse driver, unscheduled home renovations, a father trying… More
Like a cousin of "The Shining", this movie has the Rolf family taking care of an old house for the summer. This movie creeped me out, with the old lady we never see shut up in the attic, dreams of a wicked funeral hearse driver, unscheduled home renovations, a father trying to drown his son in the pool, and that final heart-stopping conclusion. They did it good and scary in this one. Oliver Reed, Karen Black and Bette Davis and Lee Montgomery play their roles of a family living in madness and fear wonderfully. The whole gardening theme was unique. I liked the photo collection upstairs. There's no real devil or ghosts involved; it's quite unnamable, which makes it scarier for some reason.
Steve B

Saw this AGES ago, and have only vague memories, so 3 stars is giving it the benefit of the doubt.
Jim W

Just due to the horrifying and creepy ending, this should be considered a horror classic!