Review of Burnt Offerings (1976) by Brian L — 06 Feb 2012
"Burnt Offerings" follows the commonplace formula of almost all '70s horror movies - a family moves into/visits a haunted house possessed by some unexplained evil force that slowly drives them all to the breaking point.
Along the way, a menacing atmosphere is created by dissonant violin squeals, and random flashback sequences depicting something unnerving. The problem with "Burnt Offerings" is that while it manages to successfully create tension in a very unsettling way, it never truly delivers on the scares.
Opportunities are missed throughout this entire haunted house romp - the scariest part of this movie was the (incorrect) belief that something startling or frightening was actually going to happen, as I constantly psyched myself out when nothing truly interesting was going on.
The concept behind the action is creepy enough, but the action itself is so nonsensical that by the end of the film, nothing has been explained, and thus nothing is particularly memorable or satisfying.
If you're an old-school horror movie fanatic, you might get a kick out of this, but there are much better horror offerings from this era for everyone else.
This review of Burnt Offerings (1976) was written by Brian L on 06 Feb 2012.
Burnt Offerings has generally received mixed reviews.
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