Rating: 
Summary: On DVD at last!
Review: Directed by Dan Curtis (TV's Dark Shadows), BURNT OFFERINGS tells the story of the Rolf family who, one summer, rent a huge house to get away from it all. The home is owned by the Alerdyce (sp) family, an eccentric bunch including Burgess Meredith. The Rolf family is overjoyed, despite having to do amazing amounts of yard work (some vacation) and taking care of the elderly matriarch of the Alerdyce family who lives in the attic and whom no one ever sees. No one except Mrs. Rolf played by Karen Black.The house begins to repair itself and other weird things begin to happen. Sanity if questioned, bonds are broken, trust is shattered, and soon death arrives in the form of a ghostly hearse and it's pale driver...possibly one of the creepiest characters ever to grace your television screen. I am not sure if this movie was made for television, but that's where I first saw it. Later when I saw it on video, it appeared to be the exact version I saw. I cannot credit the cast of this movie enough. All were excellent, even the young boy. Bette Davis and Oliver Reed do excellent work, but the standout has to be Karen Black. Move over Scream Queens, Karen Black can outshine anyone when it comes to pushing creepy glances and facial expressions. Her last scene in the film haunts me to this day. Oh man, I can still see her! The title refers to the practice in some cultures of burning animals alive as sacrifices to the Gods. They don't realize it, but the Rolf family is being led to the altar, the fire is hot, and you are invited along. I encourage anyone who has not seen this film to not miss this opportunity to own it!
Rating:
Summary: Good movie poorly mastered
Review: I've always loved this movie because it was such a faithful adaption of the novel. Years ago I rented it on VHS for my mother and it scared the heck out of her because my sister's picture fell off the wall during the scene where Karen Black's character gazes at the haunting photographs that hold the secret of the house. She remembers it to this day 15 years later. I looked forward to buying the DVD but was very disappointed to find a poorly mastered sountrack. In the beginning of the film it's very hard to understand the dialogue because it is so muddy, as well as being too quiet in relation to the background music... almost like Dolby 5.1 with the center channel playback too low. Later it improves somewhat, but a movie this good deserves better. Having said my piece about the sound, I have to say that Bette Davis and Oliver Reed are wonderful in their roles. Reed's technique in depicting terror is perfect, and Davis' death scene is harrowing. For these two performances alone, I'm not deducting a star for the poor sound, and Burgess Meredith and Eileen Heckart as the Allardyces are just frosting on the cake... so just turn the treble all the way up and enjoy a great movie!
Rating: 
Summary: worth a look
Review: I know this film is no cinematic masterpiece,but its better than alot of these unqualified,cynical,and boringly negative reviewers would have you believe.Many of those reviewers werent even alive when this film was first released,so I dont think I`d give these people much credibility.This film doesnt jump out at you like some of the horror genre,but it has a genuine underlying creepiness that makes it worth viewing at least once.The DVD transfer is fair to good,although some viewers have confused the intentional soft-focus photography with "haziness"
Rating:
Summary: what's with all the DVD complaints?
Review: I first saw Dan Curtis's creepy haunted house story back in 1976, in a movie theater when I was a kid, and both the chauffeur and the end scene haunted me for the longest time afterward. VERY chilling. The Rolf family -- mother Marion (Karen Black), father Ben (Oliver Reed), son David (Lee H. Montgomery), and lively-as-heck 75-year-old Aunt Elizabeth (Bette Davis) -- decide to leave the city behind for a peaceful, quiet summer in the country (HAH! Not in a Dan Curtis film!). Marion and Ben find a wonderful, rundown old mansion owned by the Allardyces -- brother Arnold (Burgess Meredith) and his sister Roz (Eileen Heckart). You can tell from word one that the Allardyce siblings are not playing with a full deck, and that something VERY creepy is going on with this house, but of course the unsuspecting Rolfs don't notice -- especially when they find out they can rent the place for $900 ... not per month, but for the WHOLE SUMMER! Ben is still skeptical, especially when they learn the deal comes with taking care of the Allardyce's 85-year-old mother, who has the attic room but is never seen (well, ALMOST never). Marion, however, falls in love with the rambling old mansion, talking Ben into taking it, and swearing the old woman upstairs will be entirely her responsibility. The family moves in, but right away weirdness ensues: Ben starts dreaming a nightmare he hasn't had since his childhood, about his mother's funeral, a nightmare that includes maybe the creepiest chauffeur ever seen; the vibrant Aunt Elizabeth starts to get weak, wanting to sleep all the time, as if the very life force is slowly being drained from her body; Marion becomes obsessed with the house, cleaning and taking care of it, and with the old lady upstairs -- even Marion's manner, speech, and style of dress and hair change; Ben, in the middle of playing with David in the pool, suddenly tries to drown the boy -- and tells Marion later that he meant to drown him, for a moment lost control of himself and was trying to kill him. The weirdness escalates to the conclusion, which is not entirely surprising but very satisfying. Anyone who sees this film and knows Dan "Dark Shadows" Curtis's style will not be disappointed; the movie is atmospheric, well-acted, and has moments that genuinely get under your skin. The ending is a little hokey, but again -- if you know Dan Curtis's style -- it's also perfectly acceptable. For new viewers who are more accustomed to what horror movies have become in the last 20 years or so, this movie may be a real bore; it plays more with the mind than with the eyes, and blood, gore, and special effects are kept to a minimum or are non-existent. And that is exactly what makes it a good film; it relies on the viewer to insert his own creepiness via the "gauzy" visual look of the film, the performances (especially by Black, Davis, and Reed), and by watching these "burnt offerings" (a practice in some cultures of burning animals alive as sacrifices to the Gods) being lined up, unknowingly, for a house rooted in evil. What I don't understand are the complaints about the DVD quality -- mine is find. Granted, I am more about the picture quality than the sound, but I had no problem hearing the dialogue throughout the film, and the music was never too loud or a distraction. The picture quality was EXACTLY how it looked when I saw it on the movie theater screen 28 years ago -- that gauzy-white "burned" bright sort of look (burned - "Burnt Offerings"? Hmmm) is indeed how the film is SUPPOSED to look! So I don't know if I got lucky, or what, but my DVD is fine. I've watched it several times since buying it, and the film remains chilling to this day. Buy it, but don't look for Freddy or Jason or even Michael Meyers-type horror; this is much more of a game of the mind.
Rating: 
Summary: Could have been great
Review: Despite the outstanding cast, this Dan Curtis horror flick is so poorly thrown together that it makes you want to send up burnt offerings for a better remake. Karen Black, Oliver Reed, Bette Davis, Eileen Heckart and Burgess Meredith are professionals all. They're saddled with the usual house-that-swallows-its-inhabitants. Special effects are virtually nil. On the commentary, however, a short-tempered Dan Curtis raves about this effort as if it were another "Psycho." Karen Black offers some interesting insights as to how she interpreted her fatalistic heroine. Screenwriter William Nolan, along with Curtis, explains how they revised the novel into a screenplay. As Curtis says repeatedly, "in the book, there was no ending. No Ending. Absolutely no ending. There was no ending. We had to fix--no ending!" Very little is said about the hunky, charismatic Oliver Reed, although Black does mention at least one scene which Reed tries to steal from Black. Curtis says nothing about Reed. He must've been a handful, as Bette Davis recalls in her memoirs.Curtis remembers how the preview audiences screamed to the screen at the end: "Don't go back into the house." Curtis seems proud of eliciting this response. He doesn't appear to understand that the audience was probably screaming its frustration at seeing another bunch of good actors being forced to do stupid horror things.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent movie; Horrible DVD transfer
Review: I first saw this movie in the early 80's and again several times over the years. This version definitely does not resemble what I saw back then. As other reviewers have noted, the picture is almost milky white making it very difficult to view most of the time. Also, the audio is so muffled that I had to turn my TV volume way up just to try to make out the dialogue. Some of the time, I completely missed what was being said. If it weren't for the disappointing transfer, I would not hesitate to give this movie 5 stars. Great performances were given by all, but I feel Bette Davis provided her fans with a memorable performance as only she can do.
Rating:
Summary: still holds up
Review: i couldn't watch this movie when i was a kid because just the commercial would scare the hell out of me - i would always leave the room when it came on (KTLA Channel 5). Seeing that chauffer guy would always CREEP ME OUT (his face would haunt me for days). i finally worked up the nerve to see it when i was in college and it didn't disappoint (my wife on the other hand thought it was cheesy - especially the chauffer!) People always compare this movie to Amitiville Horror but IMHO this one is much better.
Rating:
Summary: 3 1/2
Review: Would give this film a better rating but the ending falls a bit short for me. The acting here is great by all , I LOVE Karen Black so its a must for anyone who likes her. The story itself is eerie and foreboding but not really "scary". The picture and format are great here but the story falls a bit flat for me, worth a rent etc.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Print. Memorable Film and Great Audio Commentary.
Review: The commentary by Karen Black is very insightful. Dan Curtis seems at times a bit impatient with some of the questions put to him but that only adds to the enjoyment of this feature. The film itself looks fantastic and it is hard to believe that Karen was five months pregnant when she filmed it!
Rating:
Summary: a classic
Review: I first saw this film in 1976 at the movie theatre and enjoyed it very much.I love the subdued creepiness of this movie and the scenes with the chauffer.Some comments have been made by other reviewers about the haziness of the film.This was actually the intent of the producer,its called "soft-focus" photography and was used to create "flashback" scenes or "vintage" scenes.This technique is used occasionally throughout this film for specific scenes,like the scenes with the chauffer.Aside from this,the transfer quality is good,though not outstanding.
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