Review of Burnt Offerings (1976) by Grayson W — 22 Feb 2016

Dan Curtis made his name in Horror on television. He introduced vampire Barnabas Collins to TV's Dark Shadows; he produced THe Night Stalker TVM and produced and directed its sequel The Night Strangler (he had nothing to do with the TV series seasoned by those telefilms, Kolchak: The Night Stalker) and directed a number of superior TVMs with horror themes including a version of Dracula with Jack Palance and Trilogy of Terror with Karen Black.

He had dabbled in film with two big screen Dark Shadows films but this film was his swan song to the genre. A variation on the haunted house theme that sees Karen Black and Oliver Reed playing a couple who rent a strangely-affordable old mansion for the summer from a creepy brother and sister (Burgess Meredith and Eileen Heckhart).

The only catch is that they must bring up three trays of food a day to their never-seen mother, the mysterious Mrs. Allardyce. Strange things start happening right away the house and grounds rejuvenate and everyone seems affected by the mansion.

Also starring Bette Davis as the family's aunt and Lee H. Montgomery as their son. Very creepy film that relies an awful lot on atmosphere and not as much on FX. Curtis would return briefly to TV Horror with the short-lived revival of Dark Shadows in 1990-91 but was mainly known for producing the highly successful Wings of War and other TV miniseries; he never directed or produced another big screen film again.