Burnt OfferingsOld homes, like people, often play host to increasingly eccentric sensibilities with time, even hostility. Burnt Offerings is the story of a very old mansion, which is rented to the Rolf family for the summer by the peculiar surviving members of the Allardyces. As the Rolfs attempt to settle in to the massive new residence, strange occurrences threaten their sanity and even their health, as though some presence in the house were subtly manipulating them, poisoning them, and ensnaring them to the house. Before long, most of the Rolfs begin to understand that the house in an enemy, a parasite looking to leech them of their vitality.
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Although preceding The Shining, Burnt Offerings possesses many similar narrative tropes, and the Rolfs are a familial paradigm comparable to the Torrances. Ben Rolf (Oliver Reed) is a strong, imposing man, who is also literate and can be implied to be in a state of hiatus from completing a large project, in this case his doctorate. Marion Rolf (Karen Black) is the dutiful mother, determined to care for the estate. And Davey (Lee H. Montgomery) is a more energetic--and older--boy than Danny Torrance, but becomes suspicious of his father following seemingly psychotic episodes. However, unlike the Torrances, there is no suggestion that prior to their stay at the Allardyce home that there was any internal strife or distress; as a matter of fact, they seem to be in pleasant harmony until the house begins to sink its teeth into them. And in the case of Burnt Offerings, it is Marion who falls most deeply under the sway of the house, keeping secret company with the reclusive Mrs. Allardyce, who was left behind by the owners, Roz Allardyce (Eileen Heckart) and her even stranger brother, Arnold (Burgess Meredith). Like the Overlook Hotel of The Shining, the Allardyce house is deeply rooted in history, an old institution described by Roz as "immortal", having been around for centuries. Pictures of the house adorn the living room walls, photographs from various decades, likely as old as daguerreotype itself. Even Mrs. Allardyce keeps a private collection of photographs of various people also varying from decade to decade. The house looks worn and aged from the start, as though the unkempt caretaker, Walker (Dub Taylor), were remiss in his responsibilities to tend the place. Wallpaper peels and a greenhouse is filled with the desiccated husks of various plants. It is no coincidence that this old house is also inhabited by a trio of old people, a place where time has desperately tried to take hold, and entropy plies at the home. The three residents are all a bit unhinged, and the general feel of the house is that there is something amiss, some malady brought on by extreme age and decrepitude. Like Ben's aunt, Elizabeth (Bette Davis), says: "Old people do crazy things sometimes."
The Allardyce house is massive, intimidating even--a gluttonous abode which Marion initially describes as "a waste" upon initial inspection. Marion changes her tune after her increasingly frequent visits upstairs to tend to Mrs. Allardyce, obsessing about making the house more and more beautiful. Coincidentally, the house seems interested in its own restoration; it flourishes upon the suffering of the Rolfs. The title of the film, Burnt Offerings, refers to sacrifices, and it would appear that the blood and pain of the Rolfs is the kind of sacrifice the Allardyce house needs in order to recover from its state of decay. Roz claims that the house "takes care of itself", although the deeper meaning of this ominous aside isn't felt until the Rolfs begin to feel their familial bond chipped and cut away at. The house exerts its influence over the adults primarily, from an episode in the pool leaving Ben guilt-struck to the increasing tiredness and absent-mindedness which seems to afflict Elizabeth. Marion reacts with a degree of distance and hostility to Ben's advances toward her, overly concerned for the state of the house over that of her family. Elizabeth paints as a hobby, and is seen painting images of the house, not unlike the photographs captured of the home, as though even here the house is thrusting its vain influence over her to satisfy its hunger. As Marion becomes more and more attached to the house, her style of dress and manner becomes more old-fashioned, as though she were losing her own personality to the mansion and the age preserved within it. Burnt Offerings has a kind of pervading, dream-like fog in the cinematography, as though it were part dream, part memory, or a photograph faded by time. All signs suggest that things were great for the Rolfs before coming--barring a mild disagreement here or there, such as Ben's apprehension to take the place from the start--but ultimately escalate into emotional distance and even domestic violence. As most of the film takes place at the Allardyce house, there is a sense of claustrophobia which hints at a kind of cabin fever, distracting the Rolfs from the real threat surrounding them. As the suffering occurs, the house begins to visibly thrive, as though by some vampiric link it were revitalized at the cost of the Rolfs' vitality. When Davey scrapes his knee, a dead plant blossoms a bit; when Ben hurts his thumb while opening a bottle of champagne, a light that was previously inoperable starts working again. Ben recalls a traumatic memory of a creepy chauffeur (Anthony James) who drove him to his mother's funeral as a child, which manifests seemingly as a hallucination, as though the house were trying to provoke more pain from him to feed its hunger. The terror of Burnt Offerings is in a possessive refusal to let go of life far after the time the Allardyce house should have passed--essentially, it is not so much that something is haunting the house but that it haunts the Rolfs, not trying to drive them away, but keep them, refusing to let them go.
Recommended for: Fans of a creepy horror film which hints at danger via unsettling eccentricities at first, but later evolves into a terrifying trap in the form of an unfriendly home.
The Allardyce house is massive, intimidating even--a gluttonous abode which Marion initially describes as "a waste" upon initial inspection. Marion changes her tune after her increasingly frequent visits upstairs to tend to Mrs. Allardyce, obsessing about making the house more and more beautiful. Coincidentally, the house seems interested in its own restoration; it flourishes upon the suffering of the Rolfs. The title of the film, Burnt Offerings, refers to sacrifices, and it would appear that the blood and pain of the Rolfs is the kind of sacrifice the Allardyce house needs in order to recover from its state of decay. Roz claims that the house "takes care of itself", although the deeper meaning of this ominous aside isn't felt until the Rolfs begin to feel their familial bond chipped and cut away at. The house exerts its influence over the adults primarily, from an episode in the pool leaving Ben guilt-struck to the increasing tiredness and absent-mindedness which seems to afflict Elizabeth. Marion reacts with a degree of distance and hostility to Ben's advances toward her, overly concerned for the state of the house over that of her family. Elizabeth paints as a hobby, and is seen painting images of the house, not unlike the photographs captured of the home, as though even here the house is thrusting its vain influence over her to satisfy its hunger. As Marion becomes more and more attached to the house, her style of dress and manner becomes more old-fashioned, as though she were losing her own personality to the mansion and the age preserved within it. Burnt Offerings has a kind of pervading, dream-like fog in the cinematography, as though it were part dream, part memory, or a photograph faded by time. All signs suggest that things were great for the Rolfs before coming--barring a mild disagreement here or there, such as Ben's apprehension to take the place from the start--but ultimately escalate into emotional distance and even domestic violence. As most of the film takes place at the Allardyce house, there is a sense of claustrophobia which hints at a kind of cabin fever, distracting the Rolfs from the real threat surrounding them. As the suffering occurs, the house begins to visibly thrive, as though by some vampiric link it were revitalized at the cost of the Rolfs' vitality. When Davey scrapes his knee, a dead plant blossoms a bit; when Ben hurts his thumb while opening a bottle of champagne, a light that was previously inoperable starts working again. Ben recalls a traumatic memory of a creepy chauffeur (Anthony James) who drove him to his mother's funeral as a child, which manifests seemingly as a hallucination, as though the house were trying to provoke more pain from him to feed its hunger. The terror of Burnt Offerings is in a possessive refusal to let go of life far after the time the Allardyce house should have passed--essentially, it is not so much that something is haunting the house but that it haunts the Rolfs, not trying to drive them away, but keep them, refusing to let them go.
Recommended for: Fans of a creepy horror film which hints at danger via unsettling eccentricities at first, but later evolves into a terrifying trap in the form of an unfriendly home.