Burnt Offerings ** (1976, Karen Black, Oliver Reed, Bette Davis, Burgess Meredith Lee H Montgomery, Eileen Heckart) – Classic Movie Review 6038

The 1976 American mystery horror film Burnt Offerings is co-written and directed by Dan Curtis, and stars Karen Black, Oliver Reed, Bette Davis, Lee H Montgomery, Eileen Heckart and Burgess Meredith, as yet another American family moves into yet another old house with yet another strange history.

So, here we go again with yet another horror mystery movie, another innocent family – Ben and Marian Rolf (Oliver Reed, Karen Black) and their 12-year-old son Davey (Lee H Montgomery) – and another evil old, haunted house. And this one, rented by the unsuspecting couple for their summer holiday, feeds on its tenants to regenerate itself!

There are a few good jolts and an agreeable cast on its side. But surely they could have found more for Bette Davis, Burgess Meredith and Eileen Heckart (as the Allardyces) and Dub Taylor (as Walker) to do. Davis is especially wasted as Aunt Elizabeth.

The thin story based on the 1973 novel by Robert Marasco will not fill the long-seeming two hours (it is 116 minutes). So director Dan Curtis has to direct his 1976 chiller at a snail’s pace. Curtis also co-writes the screenplay with William F Nolan.

Burnt Offerings nevertheless has its moments, and remains interesting and watchable though.

Also in the cast are Anthony James as the Hearse Driver, Joseph Riley as Ben’s Father, Todd Turquand as Young Ben, Orin Cannon as Minister and Jim Myers as Dr Ross.

The book is set on Long Island, New York, but the movie is set in California. It was shot in August 1975 at the Dunsmuir House in Oakland, California, the first movie to be filmed there. It was later used as the funeral home in Phantasm (1979) and featured in the 1985 Roger Moore James Bond film A View to a Kill.

Surprisingly, it won several awards in 1977, three at the Saturn Awards, including Best Horror Film, and three at the Sitges Film Festival.

The music is composed and conducted by Robert Cobert, as with most Dan Curtis films, finally released as a soundtrack album in 2011.

Davis had conflicts with Black, alleging her behaviour was not respectful and was unprofessional, and she disliked Reed’s noisy drunken escapades that woke her up at night.

In 2017 a remake is in the works.

The Metropole cinema in Victoria, London, which opened on 27 December 1929 closed on 11 June 1977 with Bette Davis in Burnt Offerings. It became The Venue concert hall from 1 November 1978 to August 1984. Then the auditorium was demolished along with the auditorium of the nearby Cameo/Classic Victoria). But the elaborate foyer was restored and opened as a restaurant. The entire block was demolished in March 2013. The Metropole was a true picture palace. Now we have a glass and steel monster in its place.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6038

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