Rating: 
Summary: This is classic horror
Review: Three words: The smiling chauffer... gave me the willies when I first saw this movie 20 years ago and I get the willies now just thinking about it. If for no more than that one scene it's worth the purchase.
Rating: 
Summary: DVD Coming Soon!
Review: I have been a tremendous fan of this one since seeing it (like just about everyone else) as a kid. Having NEVER seen it on television, I finally tracked down a VHS copy - really a pretty lousy transfer with horrible sound and a flutter running through the tape about midway through. Now, MGM is currently finishing the remaster and transfer for DVD. This title is scheduled to street in August (complete, at this point, with featurette of some sort). Wading this far through the reader reviews, I thought you might like to know.
Rating:
Summary: You can't say too much about these offerings
Review: In "Burnt Offerings" a seemingly stable family slowly burns into self-destruction when they agree to spend the summer at a charming (I guess Victorian) house. Unfortunately, supernatural forces stirring in the house aren't their only problem - the Rolf's are plagued by the instability of being a family unit where the parents are played by the belovedly intense Oliver Reed and Karen Black (with Bette Davis as an even more star-crossed grandparent). The house is lovely, but in that old way that suggests a torrent of pain and cruelty underlying its timbers. An almost never-seen elderly woman occupies the top floor, and is cared for by Black, while Reed slowly realizes that the house is not as much haunted, but alive - a dark god that feeds upon suffering like offerings on an altar. This was one of those great TV movies of a pre-CGI age, where scripts relied on actors to provide their own special effects (Reed's "terror-face" should rank up there with the exploding "White House" from ID4; there's a truly sinister chauffer driver who's got more menace than Darth Maul). The story is a bit confused about who it's supposed to be about (obviously Reed's character is the focus, but are we supposed to suspect Karen Black immediately?) but never lets up on the chills. This classic is one of a treasured few that recalls another era when TV movies were about more than disease-of-the-week movies or being "inspired by actual events". To say anymore would spoil the fun.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic
Review: Compared to some movies that have come out since, this movie may seem tame, but on the creepiness scale, you can't beat it. I remember the first time I saw "Burnt Offerings." The suspense slowly builds, the claustrophobia, the frustration, the realization that something evil is in that house, wanting to scream at the screen "get out of that house and leave!" And the ending! I was shocked and horrified. I never saw that one coming.
Rating: 
Summary: Burnt offering-the script?
Review: Mysterious events are afoot in this dire offering from the Curtis stable. A man who is unable to leave an estate by car or foot is soon after visited by a doctor who seems to have had no trouble getting to the house. The same man has a coffin shoved into his face by special delivery from an apparition and he has nothing subsequently to say about it, despite it resulting in the death of a loved one. In fact, he shows all the insouciance of a man having been kept awake by a car alarm. The man's wife makes a mad dash to save her son despite being in cahoots with the house all along. The entire family keep insisting on jumping into a pool with dodgy plumbing and the tendency to turn everyone into homicidal maniacs at a moments notice. Yes, haunted houses are indeed perplexing places, as is the casting to this turgid curiosity. Karen Black spends the entire proceedings pulling the strangest faces, as if sucking on a lemon and Oliver Reed let's us know that it may ALL-BE-IN-HIS-MIND by constantly rubbing his temples in an exaggerated fashion. His bizarre over-acting may explain the Chauffeur's constant wry smile.
There's a couple of seconds creepiness in an attic but by then it's not only the chimney that's run out of puff.
By the way, does anyone else notice the mysterious fact that when you play the name Allardyce in reverse it sounds completely incomprehensible?
Rating:
Summary: Scary without the use of Special Effects!!!!
Review: This is a childhood favorite! I still have not forgotten how scared I was watching this movie as a kid. Only one word can describe this movie "CREEPY". This movie grabs hold of your inner fears without the use of expensive special effects. I guess the two things that scared me the most were the hearse chauffeur and the ending! Brilliant!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Not your typical Haunted House Saga
Review: I had heard about this film for many years before I finally saw it for the first time this year and I must admit I was pleasantly surprised by not only the rather original story but also with the care that was shown in the overraul presentation of the story and the development of the central characters as the house slowly takes them over. I was amazed to see the number of reviews for this film but I can see that it has affected others as it did myself. I wont retell the story but to say that a family looking after an old mansion over their summer vacation slowly find that the house has a personality of its own which slowly takes them over resulting in tragedy for all concerned. Dan Curtis here has created a very eerie and memorable piece of horror fiction based on the novel by Robert Marasco. As stated earlier it is not your typical haunted house tale but the sinister qualities of this film are largely manifested in other ways. The eerie bright lighting of the film gives out an almost impending sense of doom and you always have the feeling even during the daylight scenes that something evil or at least inherently bad is about to happen. Indeed it is interesting that most of the horrific elements of the story occur in scenes of broad daylight, ie the two horrific scenes that take place in the swimming pool, the scenes of the house renewing itself and literally shedding its old skin ( a very scary scene indeed) and of course the famous chaffeur with his macarbe appearances driving a hearse.This is all toped off by the very disturbing finale when the whole family is engulfed in the houses evil plan. All is very well done and succeeds in keeping you on the edge of your seat. The cast for this film is a strong one. Oliver Reed, never a favourite actor of mine shines in the role of the father who through the power of this house almost murders his son played by 70's popular child actor Lee H. Montgomery. Karen Black is really central to the whole action of the piece and really delivers a tour de force as the mother who becomes first obsessed and then totally possessed by the house and its evil plan. Her unnatural attention to a mysterious old woman who is never seen and who resides in a locked room in a distant part of the house is very disturbing and her final scenes when the room completely takes her over is a total shocker. Karen Black has never been better than in this performance and every mannerism and look she displays as she is slowly taken over is stunningly arresting. Bette Davis appears as the family's aunt and although in her autobiography she dismisses this film as a piece of trash she was forced to make because she needed the money, I think she is far too harsh on it and indeed , along with "Death On The Nile" is one of her better films from this late part of her career. "Burnt Offerings" is well worth a look and for those of you who enjoy stories with a supernatural flavour it will be a most rewarding experience. It's a subtle film horror wise, that implies more than it shows and that always indicates that a bit of thought has gone into the preparation. Watch it late at night with all doors firmly locked!! Enjoy
Rating: 
Summary: A B-Movie Classic
Review: This is a creepy film. The late great Oliver Reed (The 3 Musketeers, Gladiator) stars as the father who finds himself getting possessed by the house and almost even drowning his son in one scene. The end is probably the creepiest and most disturbing ending to a haunted house movie you'll ever see. Would be cool to see this movie on dvd sometime.
Rating:
Summary: A scary movie, hope it makes DVD!!!
Review: I saw this flick when I was about 8-10 years old and I haven't forgotten it. Salem's Lot and Phantasm creeped me out, but this one scared me the most. I agree with some of the other reviews, the Chauffer gave me nightmares. To those who didn't see the film before, trust me. No matter how old you are, the hearse driver will give you the creeps big time. Anyway, the film is not the best of storylines or anything but on the creepiness factor, I give it 4 stars. I haven't seen this film in about 20 years. I didn't buy it on VHS because I'm hoping it will make DVD. Despite the 20 years, I haven't forgotten it.
Rating:
Summary: An Good Supernautral Ghost Story.
Review: A Family of Four (Karen Black, Oliver Reed, Two-Time Oscar-Winner:Bette Davis and Lee Montgomery) rents a House for the Summer and they are Beforehand Overtaken by an Unseen Compulsion. Directed by Dan Curtis (Trilogy of Terror 1&2) made a Good Ghost Film but the Movie is Familiar and Predicable. Based on a Novel by William F. Nolan (Logan`s Run), he also Written the Screenplay with Dan Curtis and Robert Marasco. The Cast is Good, Bette Davuis hams it a bit too much than the Cast. The Film is Slowpacing and Downbeat Atmosphere. The Movie does have some Genuine Moments. Karen Black does have give the Movie, Best Performance. Although for all it`s flaws, this is a Good Looking Supernatural Thriller. Grade:B+.
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