Very tense and gripping with some excellent performances that made this quite an emotional and scary 90 minutes, when in less capable hands it might have merely been another silly, run-of-the mill film about a spooky house.
Look at that list of actors: Bette Davis, Karen Black and Oliver Reed all sharing screen time... and a house - you just know it's going to turn into a powder keg!
An ominous air hangs over everything as you try to piece together exactly what is going on, although much of the imagery and action works to just create a dread sense of tension and ratchets this up as the film goes on.
Although we all saw the ending coming, the build-up to it as Reed's character re-enters the house is really nerve-wracking and the pay-off excellent. The final scenes pull no punches and are truly disquieting and chilling.
As others have noted, there are great similarities to The Shining, which seems to borrow liberally from Burnt Offerings, as well as other 70s films that deal with damaged characters in new houses who may be victims of the supernatural or could just be going mad, such as Let's Scare Jessica to Death, The Tenant, The Sentinel, Full Circle etc. One of the most interesting similarities, however, is to the classic The Haunting (1963) and the way in which both films deal with a character, seemingly unhappy and unfulfilled, building an unhealthy attachment to a house and its history.
This is an excellent horror/chiller, well directed and acted, with some memorable and disturbing images and themes that will linger with you long after it is over.
Look at that list of actors: Bette Davis, Karen Black and Oliver Reed all sharing screen time... and a house - you just know it's going to turn into a powder keg!
An ominous air hangs over everything as you try to piece together exactly what is going on, although much of the imagery and action works to just create a dread sense of tension and ratchets this up as the film goes on.
Although we all saw the ending coming, the build-up to it as Reed's character re-enters the house is really nerve-wracking and the pay-off excellent. The final scenes pull no punches and are truly disquieting and chilling.
As others have noted, there are great similarities to The Shining, which seems to borrow liberally from Burnt Offerings, as well as other 70s films that deal with damaged characters in new houses who may be victims of the supernatural or could just be going mad, such as Let's Scare Jessica to Death, The Tenant, The Sentinel, Full Circle etc. One of the most interesting similarities, however, is to the classic The Haunting (1963) and the way in which both films deal with a character, seemingly unhappy and unfulfilled, building an unhealthy attachment to a house and its history.
This is an excellent horror/chiller, well directed and acted, with some memorable and disturbing images and themes that will linger with you long after it is over.