The Frog is back, and this time out I’m throwing a little love toward the vastly underrated 1976 film Burnt Offerings. First off, the flick was made during the height (or perhaps tail-end) of the American auteur movement where films were personal and actually had something to say. And while Dan Curtis was certainly no household name at the time, the man plumbed the kinds of styles and sensibilities that made films from that era so damn superior. Not only that, the man championed the horror genre, writing and directing episodes for the TV program “Dark Shadows” (which spawned two film versions), as well as helming a barrage of other horror TV outings (Dracula, The Night Strangler). But to me, Burnt Offerings strikes the right chord between suspense and ambiguity that 70s filmmaking seemed to foster as a way to skirt pat endings and predictable cookie cutter formulas.
Burnt Offerings is a movie about a couple and their son who land a great deal on an antiquated summer home. The price is too good in fact. Once they arrive, slowly mounting signs of the ethereal begin to take hold. Ben (Oliver Reed) and Marian (Karen Black) Rolf, along with their son Davey (Lee Montgomery), accept the discounted rental fee on the agreement that they more or less look after the decrepit old woman who resides in one of the upstairs bedrooms. The landlord Arnold Allardyce (Burgess Meredith) and his sister Roz (Eileen Heckart) want to ensure the woman is taken care of. Or left alone, as it turns out. Awfully strange occurrences ensue and we soon gather the house is able to nurture and renew itself by basically feeding on its inhabitants. It’s an unnerving, slow burning story that conjoins impressive acting with the glum and grainy tint that pervaded the look of most ‘70s horror. The hauntingly simple “Music Box” score by Bob Cobert, the daunting on-edge environment and the fuckin’ ruler, violently morose ending that is one of the most memorable you’ll see make Burnt Offerings an underappreciated haunted gem that if you haven’t watched yet, should instantly leapfrog a few notches on your Netflix queue.
3 Best Moments:
1. The swimming pool scene where Oliver Reed, perhaps possessed, goes a little too far dipping and dunking his son underwater.
2. A bone-chilling scene involving a coffin and the chauffer of a hearse. That’s’ all I can say.
3. The Finale: a grim, downright shocking revelation hits all the right nerves.
That’s it for the month of April, as always, be sure to check in next month to see what Frog Baby’s Underrated Pick will bring!
