Saturday, August 2, 2014

Burnt Offerings (1976)



Directed by Dan Curtis (Dark Shadows, The Night Stalker, Trilogy of Terror, The Winds of War), 1976s Burnt Offerings is remembered by many who caught a viewing  of the film during the 1970s. According to IMDb.com trivia "Burnt Offerings is one of Stephen King's favorite horror movies."

Folks familiar with films from the 1970s (and earlier) will recognize many of the actors involved here: Karen Black, Oliver Reed, Burgess Meredith, Bette Davis, and Anthony James as a frightening chauffeur. They are long standing rumors that Bette Davis felt slighted by Karen Black for not affording enough respect to her standing as a veteran actress. This rift caused some minor trouble on the set.


For budgetary reasons the Long Island, New York setting of the novel was moved to California and the Dunsmuir House located in Oakland, California became the principal location for filming. Burnt Offerings was the first film to be allowed the opportunity to film on site. A few years later, director Don Coscarelli would also make great cinematic use of the Dunsmuir House when he used it extensively in Phantasm. Since the story basically concerns a "haunted" house, having such a ready made and impressive set helped flesh out Burnt Offerings.


the trailer





the feature





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