“Get out of that dang house!” is what you might yell at the screen while watching Burnt Offerings (1976), a haunted house movie with a cult following, not as well known as either The Amityville Horror or The Shining. One reason to see it is the pairing of two actors in their 1970s heyday, Oliver Reed and Karen Black, who have such distinctive, contrasting energies – Reed, all burly terseness, and Black, optimistic naivety – that they make for an intriguing pairing who will be driven mad by living in a stately mansion out in the Californian countryside. Along with their plucky adolescent son and Reed’s aunt (played by Bette Davis, bringing some Classic Hollywood class and professionalism to the spooky proceedings), the family have agreed to rent the mansion for a summer for a total of $900. The catch? They have to look after an old woman who resides hidden in a room at the very top of the house, and the deal is offered by her very eccentric grandchildren (played by Burgess Meredith and Eileen Heckart). Viewers familiar with the genre will recognise what’s coming as the house slowly affects their personalities, causing great tension within the family. The movie is invested in this dynamic and parcels its horrors out with patience, including the very creepy vision of a smiling funeral driver (Anthony James) who appears now and then, a childhood nightmare from Reed’s character. There’s an old school gothic appeal in how the movie creates tension, holding back on any gore or blood until the very end, which is inevitable but still nevertheless memorably effective (no doubt due to its inevitability). Directed by Dan Curtis, creator of the Dark Shadows TV series, and based on the novel by Robert Marasco. Burnt Offerings is available to stream in a remastered quality version on Stan. Recommended.
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