Burnt Offerings (1976)

Directed by

Dan Curtis

Genre

horror film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 56m

Rated

PG

Rating

6.5 of 10 from 278 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A family rents a large estate for the summer. As they settle in, strange supernatural forces cause their relationships to fray and dissolve.

tenseunsettlingslow-burneeriemelancholicclaustrophobicdreadfulatmosphericcreeping

What happens

Burnt Offerings (Italian: Ballata macabra, lit. 'Macabre ballad') is a 1976 supernatural horror film co-written and directed by Dan Curtis and starring Karen Black, Oliver Reed, Bette Davis, and Lee H. Montgomery, with Eileen Heckart, Burgess Meredith and Anthony James in supporting roles. It is based on the 1973 novel by Robert Marasco. The plot follows a family which begins to interpersonally dissolve under supernatural forces in a large estate they have rented for the summer. The film's title derives from the Book of Leviticus, referring to a "sacrifice by fire" and a "gift offered to God." The screenplay was adapted from Marasco's novel by Curtis and writer William F. Nolan, and the project marked Curtis's theatrical feature debut, as his prior work had consisted primarily of television films. Co-produced by Italian producer Alberto Grimaldi's Produzioni Europee Associati, Burnt Offerings was filmed on location at the historic Dunsmuir House in Oakland, California in the late summer of 1975. The shoot was marked by several difficulties, including a camera man being fired after improperly lighting two weeks' worth of material, as well as the production being temporarily halted when Curtis's daughter died by suicide. Davis also clashed with co-stars Black and Reed, deeming their actions on set as "unprofessional." Distributed by United Artists, Burnt Offerings was given a domestic limited theatrical in August 1976, which expanded later that fall. While the film received mixed reviews from critics and was a box-office flop, it won several awards in 1977, including three Saturn Awards for Best Director (Curtis), Best Supporting Actress (Davis), and Best Horror Film. In the years since its release, the film has been analyzed by film scholars as a commentary on materialism and the dissolution of the American family. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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