Burnt Offerings (film)
Encyclopedia
Burnt Offerings is a 1976
horror film based on the 1973 novel of the same name by Robert Marasco
. It is about a family who moves into a haunted house that rejuvenates itself with each injury and death that occurs inside of it. Due to this unique and particular wrinkle on the haunted house theme, Burnt Offerings was an influence on subsequent films such as The Amityville Horror
, The Shining
, and, to a lesser extent, Phantasm
. The film stars Burgess Meredith
, Karen Black
, Oliver Reed
, and Bette Davis
and was directed by Dan Curtis
.
The movie won the 1977 Saturn Award
for Best Horror Film
.
) and her husband Ben (Oliver Reed
), their young son David (Lee Montgomery
), and their elderly aunt Elizabeth (Bette Davis
). The owners of the house are the Allardyce siblings, brother Arnold and sister Roz, played by actors Burgess Meredith
and Eileen Heckart
, respectively. The Allardyces appear at the beginning of the film when they inform their new tenants of a particularly odd requirement for their rental: the Allardyces elderly mother continues to live in her upstairs room and the Rolfs are required to provide her with food during their stay. The siblings explain that the old woman is obsessed with privacy and will probably not interact with them, so the food is to be left outside her door.
As it turns out, this task falls to the mother who quickly succumbs to the allure of the ornate Victorian house and its period decor. Various "accidents" occur during the summer, including the suspicious death of Aunt Elizabeth. As the film progresses, Ben becomes increasingly depressed and anxious while Marian becomes increasingly obsessed with the house, the old woman in the attic, and all of the Victorian artifacts. It gradually becomes clear that Marian is somehow being possessed
or controlled by the house and that a malevolent force is slowly consuming the whole family.
At the climax of the movie, Ben readies his family to leave the house. Before leaving, Ben confronts the elderly Mrs. Allardyce whom he has not seen face to face. Horrified, he finds that his wife has somehow become the old woman in the attic, or perhaps always has been. Ben is thrown from attic window, landing on the windshield of his car. In shock, David runs toward the house and is killed when one of the chimneys falls on him.
The film ends with the house fully rejuvenated and glistening like new. As the camera pans over the interior of the renewed house, the voices of the Allardyce siblings are heard marveling at the house's beauty and rejoicing over the return of their mother. The house is shown to be filled with pictures of various people, many from years past, some more recent - including those of Ben, David and Aunt Elizabeth.
1976 in film
The year 1976 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*March 22 - Filming begins on George Lucas' Star Wars science fiction film...
horror film based on the 1973 novel of the same name by Robert Marasco
Robert Marasco
Robert Marasco was an American horror writer best known for the 1970 Broadway play Child's Play....
. It is about a family who moves into a haunted house that rejuvenates itself with each injury and death that occurs inside of it. Due to this unique and particular wrinkle on the haunted house theme, Burnt Offerings was an influence on subsequent films such as The Amityville Horror
The Amityville Horror
The Amityville Horror: A True Story is a book by Jay Anson, published in September 1977. It is also the basis of a series of films released between 1979 and 2005...
, The Shining
The Shining (film)
The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, co-written with novelist Diane Johnson, and starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, and Danny Lloyd. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. A writer, Jack Torrance, takes a job as an...
, and, to a lesser extent, Phantasm
Phantasm
Phantasm may refer to:In comics:* Phantasm , a short-lived member of the New Teen TitansIn film:* Don Coscarelli's Phantasm series** Phantasm , a 1979 horror film** Phantasm II...
. The film stars Burgess Meredith
Burgess Meredith
Oliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor in theatre, film, and television, who also worked as a director...
, Karen Black
Karen Black
Karen Black is an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She is noted for appearing in such films as Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, The Great Gatsby, Rhinoceros, The Day of the Locust, Nashville, Airport 1975, and Alfred Hitchcock's final film, Family Plot...
, Oliver Reed
Oliver Reed
Oliver Reed was an English actor known for his burly screen presence. Reed exemplified his real-life macho image in "tough guy" roles...
, and Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
and was directed by Dan Curtis
Dan Curtis
Dan Curtis was an American director and producer of television and film, probably best known for his miniseries The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, his afternoon TV series Dark Shadows, and the made for TV movie, . Dark Shadows originally aired from 1966 to 1971 and has aired in syndication...
.
The movie won the 1977 Saturn Award
Saturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
for Best Horror Film
Saturn Award for Best Horror Film
The following are a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Horror Film:-References:...
.
Plot
The Rolf family takes a vacation from the city (the specific city is not identified in the film) at a large Victorian mansion in the California countryside. The family consists of Marian (Karen BlackKaren Black
Karen Black is an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She is noted for appearing in such films as Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, The Great Gatsby, Rhinoceros, The Day of the Locust, Nashville, Airport 1975, and Alfred Hitchcock's final film, Family Plot...
) and her husband Ben (Oliver Reed
Oliver Reed
Oliver Reed was an English actor known for his burly screen presence. Reed exemplified his real-life macho image in "tough guy" roles...
), their young son David (Lee Montgomery
Lee Montgomery
Lee Montgomery was a child actor in the 1970s, best known for his role as a lonely little boy who befriends a pack of killer rats in the film, Ben .-Hollywood:...
), and their elderly aunt Elizabeth (Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
). The owners of the house are the Allardyce siblings, brother Arnold and sister Roz, played by actors Burgess Meredith
Burgess Meredith
Oliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor in theatre, film, and television, who also worked as a director...
and Eileen Heckart
Eileen Heckart
Eileen Heckart was an American actress of stage, screen, and television.-Early life:Heckart was born Anna Eileen Heckart in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Esther and Leo Herbert. She was legally adopted by her grandfather, J.W. Heckart. Her family was of Irish and German descent...
, respectively. The Allardyces appear at the beginning of the film when they inform their new tenants of a particularly odd requirement for their rental: the Allardyces elderly mother continues to live in her upstairs room and the Rolfs are required to provide her with food during their stay. The siblings explain that the old woman is obsessed with privacy and will probably not interact with them, so the food is to be left outside her door.
As it turns out, this task falls to the mother who quickly succumbs to the allure of the ornate Victorian house and its period decor. Various "accidents" occur during the summer, including the suspicious death of Aunt Elizabeth. As the film progresses, Ben becomes increasingly depressed and anxious while Marian becomes increasingly obsessed with the house, the old woman in the attic, and all of the Victorian artifacts. It gradually becomes clear that Marian is somehow being possessed
Demonic possession
Demonic possession is held by many belief systems to be the control of an individual by a malevolent supernatural being. Descriptions of demonic possessions often include erased memories or personalities, convulsions, “fits” and fainting as if one were dying...
or controlled by the house and that a malevolent force is slowly consuming the whole family.
At the climax of the movie, Ben readies his family to leave the house. Before leaving, Ben confronts the elderly Mrs. Allardyce whom he has not seen face to face. Horrified, he finds that his wife has somehow become the old woman in the attic, or perhaps always has been. Ben is thrown from attic window, landing on the windshield of his car. In shock, David runs toward the house and is killed when one of the chimneys falls on him.
The film ends with the house fully rejuvenated and glistening like new. As the camera pans over the interior of the renewed house, the voices of the Allardyce siblings are heard marveling at the house's beauty and rejoicing over the return of their mother. The house is shown to be filled with pictures of various people, many from years past, some more recent - including those of Ben, David and Aunt Elizabeth.
Cast
- Karen BlackKaren BlackKaren Black is an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She is noted for appearing in such films as Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, The Great Gatsby, Rhinoceros, The Day of the Locust, Nashville, Airport 1975, and Alfred Hitchcock's final film, Family Plot...
- Marian Rolf - Oliver ReedOliver ReedOliver Reed was an English actor known for his burly screen presence. Reed exemplified his real-life macho image in "tough guy" roles...
- Ben Rolf - Lee MontgomeryLee MontgomeryLee Montgomery was a child actor in the 1970s, best known for his role as a lonely little boy who befriends a pack of killer rats in the film, Ben .-Hollywood:...
- David Rolf - Bette DavisBette DavisRuth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
- Elizabeth Rolf - Burgess MeredithBurgess MeredithOliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor in theatre, film, and television, who also worked as a director...
- Arnold Allardyce - Eileen HeckartEileen HeckartEileen Heckart was an American actress of stage, screen, and television.-Early life:Heckart was born Anna Eileen Heckart in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Esther and Leo Herbert. She was legally adopted by her grandfather, J.W. Heckart. Her family was of Irish and German descent...
- Roz Allardyce - Dub TaylorDub TaylorWalter Clarence Taylor, Jr. , better known as Dub Taylor, was an American actor who worked extensively in Westerns, but also in comedy from the 1940s into the 1990s.-Early life:...
- Walker - Anthony JamesAnthony JamesAnthony James is an American actor. Tall, often greasy-haired and with an oily grin, James specialized in creepy, sleazy villains in films and TV, many of them Westerns. His first major role, and probably his best known, was as Ralph, the diner counterman in the 1967 Oscar-winning movie In the...
- Chauffeur
Filming details
- Filming took place at Dunsmuir HouseDunsmuir HouseThe Dunsmuir House and Gardens is located in Oakland, California on a site. The Dunsmuir House has a neoclassical-revival architectural style and is listed in the US National Register of Historic Places...
and Gardens in Oakland, CA. - Although Dunsmuir HouseDunsmuir HouseThe Dunsmuir House and Gardens is located in Oakland, California on a site. The Dunsmuir House has a neoclassical-revival architectural style and is listed in the US National Register of Historic Places...
was used as a model for the Allardyce Mansion, artificial 'wear-and-tear' on the actual structure was necessary prior to the building's complete "rejuvenation": The real place was dressed to look as if the fictitious place had peeling paint, overgrown weeds, and various cracked walls; the outdoor swimming pool is likewise dressed, and drained at the beginning of the story, then cleaned, repaired of its cracks, and refilled with chlorinated water; during a rainstorm, the roof sheds its worn-out shingles and new ones materialize underneath; likewise, the disintegrating chimney rids its outer weathered-brick 'shell.' - An artificial wave machine was used in the sequence in which the pool water suddenly turns choppy and almost drowns the boy.
Variations from the novel
- The novel's vacationing family are from QueensQueensQueens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
and the fictional Allardyce mansion is located somewhere in the Peconic BayPeconic BayThe Peconic Bay is the parent name for two bays between the North Fork and South Fork of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. It is separated from Gardiners Bay by Shelter Island....
area of Long Island, New York, whereas in the film the family is from California and the Allardyce mansion is in California as well. - The rusty tricycle shown briefly in the film's graveyard sequence is described in the novel as being splattered with blood.
- The endings of the novel and film adaptation differ; while Marian Rolf does become Mrs. Allardyce in both versions, the novel has Davey drowning in the pool with Ben dying from a brain hemorrhage at the same time while Marian watches through a window, desperately attempting to reach them.
Awards
- Burnt Offerings won 3 awards at the 1977 Saturn Awards: Best Horror FilmSaturn Award for Best Horror FilmThe following are a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Horror Film:-References:...
, Best DirectorSaturn Award for Best DirectionThe following is a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Direction:-Multiple Winners:*James Cameron - 5 awards*Steven Spielberg - 4 awards*Peter Jackson - 3 awards*Bryan Singer - 2 awards...
(Dan CurtisDan CurtisDan Curtis was an American director and producer of television and film, probably best known for his miniseries The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, his afternoon TV series Dark Shadows, and the made for TV movie, . Dark Shadows originally aired from 1966 to 1971 and has aired in syndication...
) and Best Supporting ActressSaturn Award for Best Supporting Actress (Film)The following are a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Supporting Actress :...
(Bette DavisBette DavisRuth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
). - At the Sitges Film FestivalFestival de Cine de SitgesThe Sitges Film Festival is a Spanish film festival that is one of the most recognizable ones held in Europe, considered the world's foremost international festival specializing in fantasy and horror movies...
of 1977, Burnt Offerings won Best Director (Dan Curtis), Best Actor (Oliver ReedOliver ReedOliver Reed was an English actor known for his burly screen presence. Reed exemplified his real-life macho image in "tough guy" roles...
) and Best Actress (Karen BlackKaren BlackKaren Black is an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She is noted for appearing in such films as Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, The Great Gatsby, Rhinoceros, The Day of the Locust, Nashville, Airport 1975, and Alfred Hitchcock's final film, Family Plot...
).