Steve Senski on BURNT OFFERINGS
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ก.ย. 2024
- TV horror king Dan Curtis moved to the big screen with this Amityville-like adaptation of Robert Morasco's 1973 haunted house novel. Oliver Reed and Karen Black (now there's a couple you don't want to be trapped in an elevator with) move their family into a foreboding mansion that sucks the life out of its tenants. The presence of Burgess Meredith should have tipped them off...
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ABOUT STEVE SENSKI
STEVEN SENSKI is the avid TFH Fan whose Kickstarter contribution earned him a chance to host a week of Trailers from Hell commentaries of his choosing and has allowed us to keep running great, free film commentaries for much of the last 12 months. Thanks, Steve!
STEVEN has been many things, a few of them relevant; musician, actor, director, college instructor, television producer, book and film critic. Throughout, he has been an avid consumer of pop culture, his brain filled with esoterica that prevents him from becoming something useful, like an attorney, surgeon or mime. Presently, his pop culture remembrances can be found on the site whirledaffairs.com. To the statement, "One can never have too many books," he is the living, breathing rebuttal.
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That driver, all dressed in black and pushing the coffin, is one creepiest characters in any horror film. And hey, Dub Taylor is in it too.
I agree with other commenters that this is a seriously underrated movie. Horror in the plain light of day.
The sound of that coffin being dragged up the stairs.....such an underrated film.
That was a long staircase with multiple steps, but it only bumped 3 times before he came through the door. I guess if it bumped over every step it would be a 3 hour movie, plus he might would have thrown his back out....
Back when The Payoff truly meant something. I saw this in theaters and people were screaming not to go in that room. Burnt Offerings skillfully lead the audience through one creepy scene after another. My hat goes off to the sound effect of Bette Davis having serious back issues and her gasping as the Hearse Driver barges into the room.
I believe "Burnt Offerings" is truly one of the most underrated horrors of all time. Few scenes in film are creepier than that shot of the limo driver.
That was creepy..
gurskyman gave me nightmares of that chauffeur for years!!!
Laurie Riendeau I think it represented a Men in Black.
gurskyman I think its the scariest movie of all time.
I felt bad for the kid at the end lol.
Iconic horror flick.
This movie scared the hell out of me when I saw it in the theater back in the 70's. The creepy driver (or whatever he was) with his equally creepy smile haunted my dreams for a while afterward. The ending freaked me out. The single unbearable scene was when Oliver Reed and Bette Davis are in a room and they heard something being dragged very slowly up the stairs. The camera cuts back to them and the door. When that door flies open......I jumped. No spoilers. Probably very tame today but scary.
Dan Curtis is a legend of his time.
Great vid, but no love for the great Anthony James?? He scared the hell out of me as the hearse driver. He is key to the creepiness of this film. Like others, his smiling visage haunts me to this day.
also, R.I.P. Karen Black
And now RIP Anthony James.
A true timepiece of the 1970’s. Although not well-known today, and for many years after, in its time this movie was known and discussed by everyone during that decade. All-Star cast. Karen Black and her haunting eyes. The great energy of Oliver Reed. As well as some very famous moments. Anthony James in the dream/nightmare sequence traumatized virtually everyone who saw the movie. The death of Bette Davis and the sound of the casket going up the stairs. The pool scene which showed what a great actor Oliver Reed was in his prime. Lastly, the final scene as Karen Black leaves the car and goes up the stairs to the room at the top of the home. The movie is still difficult to watch.
I was in high school when I saw this movie. The limo driver gave me nightmares!
The scariest part of this flick was the chauffeur with the creeeepy grin. I bet he worked for The Tall Man from Phantasm :)
"I've been waiting for you Ben..."
🎃DaT'S, RIGHT BEN,IT😎
Scared the heck out of me !
That dream sequence scene was bone chilling. That grin one the hearse driver's face from a distance. That bass clarinet.
Such a great film, lots of atmosphere, an all-star cast, love the music, and if I was rich I would buy this mansion, Dunsmuir Gardens in Oakland California.
popular house, they filmed
phantasm & a few sitcoms there
I WAS SCARED AS SH*T WHEN I SAW THIS MOVIE BACK IN THE 80s....😱😱😱😱
This movie omg...lasting impression. spooky
Why mention the entire cast except for the kid, who had the third largest part? His name is Lee Montgomery. He did two films for Dan Curtis.
Exactly! His acting was better than Oliver Reed's...not that Oliver Reed sucked..but still...people always tend to not mention the child actors unless it's to complain about them.
the measure of Anthony James' greatness, showed up in this movie...as 'The Driver', he scared the hell out of us, without uttering one single word...and he's the same guy, who 4 or 5 yrs before this movie, actually played a gay hitcher who couldnt keep his mouth closed in "Vanishing Point". So among all these screen legends that were cast for this incredible horror film, he was the most impressive with the smallest part, among the main characters.
Probably the best horror flick of all time, amazing cast and creepy as freaking hell!! BEST ENDING!!
The fright factor part, at least, is so damn scary...when she turns..it's out there man
The Chauffeur gave me nightmares for months
And the ending, which you might see coming, but that does not mean it's not shocking when they go there.
The Hearse driver is most terrifying character ever.
This is a very good commentary on it, and yes, it's a "tribute" too.
My only problem with it is a little like the Anthony James complaint, and that's that Lee Montgomery isn't mentioned. I know he isn't exactly everyone's favorite child actor, but I think he was very good in this and other things.
@P PA - Yep! And, he was in "Dead of Night, part 3, Bobby." He was creepy in that. It's here on TH-cam.
I absolutely LOVE Lee Montgomery. Been trying to find anything and everything of his. He never seems to get a mention unless it's a complaint about how "annoying" he is. He's one of the best child actors around...well, was...
A lot of the movie relies on his reactions to what we are seeing. Great actor.
This one and Eric Shea of The Poseidon Adventure.
The plot of the film is almost exactly the same as the Shining. With the mother being the Jack Nicholson character....right down to there being a photo her shown at the end amongst a group of other photos of people who lived in the place in the past.
Karen's eyes in this ......the consistency .....
I can't think of any other
horror films from the '70s
featuring Burgess Meredith,
but, after playing Penguin
on the '60s "Batman" series,
he definitely experienced
a renaissance in his career:
"The Day Of The Locust"
"Foul Play" "Rocky", among others.
'70s horror films not featuring
Burgess Meredith:
"Necromancy"
"Sisters"
"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"
"Black Christmas"
"Bug"
"Halloween"
"Prophecy"
"Phantasm"
"Invasion Of The Body Snatchers"
&, of course, "Trilogy Of Terror".
The novel/film got the appreciation it deserved although in a kind unorthodox manner.
After Steven King plagiarized it in its entirety to craft his 'The shining' he credited it as its ''inspiration'' for 'Theshining''
Remember , when everyone else does it's plagiarism(legally too, remember the italian Jaws movie being banned in Usa or the director and producers of the marvelous masterpiece 'Once Uppon a Time in The West' forced to retrospectively pay copyrights to Kurosawa for his film Yojimbo, etc etc etc) but when Steven King and Tarantino does it , it's homage.
Another King example:
"...Shawshank..." "inspired"
by "Escape From Alcatraz".
youre very right stephen king copied that for his shining....robert marasco must take it him to trial
the same that carpenter plagiarized psycho 1960 for his halloween 78
but mr king plagiarator copied alot of movies and nobels for his things
great movie scared the shit out of my that damm limo driver pushing that coffin across the room wow
Dan Curtis did another anthology style made for tv horror film called Dead of Night in 1977. He reused the best story from the film, "Bobby" in Trilogy of Terror 2 which I haven't seen, but highly recommend Dead of Night to any Curtis fan whi hasn't seen it. Good review sir
For "Trilogy Of Terror II",
Lysette Anthony (a terrific choice)
took over for Karen Black.
Creepiest scary movie ever, miss the 70’s
Still creepy as hell today!
The commentaries were filmed months ago, so releasing this just after Karen's death is both coincidence and (I think) tribute. Also, a LOT gets left on the table when you have under three minutes, sadly. This was done in one take, from memory, without a script or notes. I decided to just let the face of James in the trailer do what you said. He's remarkable.
Oddly, Anthony James & Bette Davis
appeared together 2 years later
in, of all things, a Disney sequel:
"Return From Witch Mountain".
Burnt Offering reminds me somewhat of Amityville Horror.
Not gonna lie: Karen Black always kinda freaked me out. Never better than as Amelia in Trilogy Of Terror. Have you seen her Charlie Rose interview? She’s on something and is VERY bizarre.
Great movie!
Fun movie😊
I think the house used in Burnt Offerings was also used in Phantasm(1979).
You nailed it. Good job, Esteban.
this is dan cirts most scary and very frightning ending a good
The bloodied face on the shattered windshield...
Nicely done, Steve!
I hear ya. Great vid and great series. Keep making them.
Looks like a cool movie. I know some couples who deserve a cursed house like this, lol!
Real
Good
Ending❤
THATS THE ONE STEPHEN KING COPIED FOR HIS SHINING......
Is Karen Black being played by a puppet from Thunderbirds?
That's the same house from Phantasm!!
Yup that it is buddy.
Also in View to a Kill ( Tanya Roberts house).
"Phantasm" was three years later.
Burgess Meredith, and his "sister," were in it for about 3 mins total. Lee Montgomery was in most of it, yet you don't mention him? WTF?!
If someone is going to review a movie/tv show, give ALL the main cast members credit.
The commentary has to be as long as the trailer, about 2 1/2 minutes. This your first time here?
I watched it again not too long ago on TCM. It screamed out "70's TV movie of the week!" Dan Curtis couldn't escape his TV roots, evidently. Having Jacques Marquette (ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN) on camera probably didn't help matters. Burgess Meredith REALLY camps it up here, providing the only real reason to watch this.
I could not DISAGREE more!!