Burnt Offerings

[endo]

Just wondering what everyone's opinion on this movie was. I personally love it, and have for a long time.
Oliver Reed overacts at times, as does Bette Davis, but she could pretty much do whatever she wanted.
All in all, I thought it was a good twist on the sinister house taking over story. Being one of my favorites, I'm probably biased...my wife hates it, lol.
So, just wondering what all of you thought.

[woofy]

Just wondering what everyone's opinion on this movie was. I personally love it, and have for a long time.
Oliver Reed overacts at times, as does Bette Davis, but she could pretty much do whatever she wanted.
All in all, I thought it was a good twist on the sinister house taking over story. Being one of my favorites, I'm probably biased...my wife hates it, lol.
So, just wondering what all of you thought.

I'm prejudiced. I was in love with Karen Black ever since I was a teenager and saw her in You're A Big Boy Now. So I'll watch anything she's in, including Burnt Offerings. As you said, Mr. Reed tends to chew up the scenery and he's a bit too macho for my taste. By this time Bette Davis was acting more out of habit than anything else. (Of course, Barbara Stanwyck and Bette Davis are my favorite actresses, so I'm prejudiced there as well )
The movie was okay. I think it was pretty much an attempt to cash in on the popularity of The Amityville Horror. It had some good sequences in it, but I can't say that I enjoyed the film all that much. For me, the ultimate "'haunted house' film" is, and always has been, Robert Wise's The Haunting (the 1963 version, not the crummy remake). I'm 57 now and that film still gives me the creeps.

[endo]

The Haunting is a very good movie. I actually watched that one and The Legend of Hell House over Halloween and both are great.
Speaking of Karen Black, I saw Trilogy of Terror as a kid on the 4 o'clock movie they used to show on channel 7 here in MD.
That movie, particularly the story "Amelia", terrified me. The Zuni doll gave me nightmares as a child and is one of the reasons I love horror as much as I do today.
I've been a big fan of Karen Black's ever since seeing this one, though seeing it now, it's far from her best work.

[woofy]

Dec 30, 2012 22:36:47 GMT endo said:

The Haunting is a very good movie. I actually watched that one and The Legend of Hell House over Halloween and both are great.
Speaking of Karen Black, I saw Trilogy of Terror as a kid on the 4 o'clock movie they used to show on channel 7 here in MD.
That movie, particularly the story "Amelia", terrified me. The Zuni doll gave me nightmares as a child and is one of the reasons I love horror as much as I do today.
I've been a big fan of Karen Black's ever since seeing this one, though seeing it now, it's far from her best work.

Yes, every since Trilogy of Terror I make sure to look under the bed before I go to sleep. Karen is 73 now, so she's not much in demand these days. She made some incredible films in the 60s and 70s, but as she got older she started accepting "pay the bills" types of roles that are forgettable. Karen was nominated for an Oscar for Five Easy Pieces but my favorite film is her very first film, You're A Big Boy Now (which was also Francis For Coppola's fifth film. His third film, Dementia 13 is a really good b/w scary film.)
What part of MD do you live in? (I live in Philadelphia.)

[endo]

I'm from the Annapolis area. More out in the sticks of Southern MD than near the city, which I like...except for when we get bad storms. Seems like you can sneeze where we live and lose power, lol.
I've never been there, but from what I've seen Philadelphia looks nice.

[woofy]

Jan 2, 2013 22:44:19 GMT endo said:

I'm from the Annapolis area. More out in the sticks of Southern MD than near the city, which I like...except for when we get bad storms. Seems like you can sneeze where we live and lose power, lol.
I've never been there, but from what I've seen Philadelphia looks nice.

Living in the sticks must have its compensations. I've been in parts of New Jersey where I expected to find a Gingerbread House.
I've spent a little time in Baltimore and Fort Meade, but I've never been to Annapolis. I should like to go there, if only to visit the US Naval Academy.
Philadelphia, like any large city, has its nice and not so nice parts. At its best, Philadelphia is a gorgeous. We have the largest inter-city park in the world. (You could fit six of NY's Central Park in our Fairmount Park and still have room left over. And we have many other parks besides Fairmount.) And Philly is very large: 331 sq. miles-as large as Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens combined.
Having said that, I wouldn't mind living out in the suburbs somewhere in Colorado. My brother lives in suburban Denver and I used to spend every summer there. It's a much slower pace there and it's not so crowded. I take care of my 94 year old mother and so I'm kind of tied to this area, but some day I'd like to move to the west.
(One advantage to living in Philly is that we rarely get power failures and when we do, they seldom last more than an hour or two.)

[Mrs Vindecco]

Dec 29, 2012 5:48:17 GMT endo said:

Just wondering what everyone's opinion on this movie was. I personally love it, and have for a long time.
Oliver Reed overacts at times, as does Bette Davis, but she could pretty much do whatever she wanted.
All in all, I thought it was a good twist on the sinister house taking over story. Being one of my favorites, I'm probably biased...my wife hates it, lol.
So, just wondering what all of you thought.

I saw this on Netflix and decided to give it a go based on your review. I've not seen many Karen Black films, but I do think she gave the best performance. Bette Davis was ok in support. While she was a tad melodramatic, I think her performance is at least a proper role rather unlike some of her later performances which were more like cameos for an old Hollywood legend, if that makes sense.

Oliver Reed was just not right in this role. Maybe I've heard too many stories about the drinking and wild times, but he just didn't feel right as the family man. (It didn't help that my husband kept doing his Ollie impersonation from the famous After Dark appearance).


Burgess Meredith was hilariously camp. It would have been good to see more of him.

[endo]

Jan 4, 2013 21:35:12 GMT woofy said:

Living in the sticks must have its compensations. I've been in parts of New Jersey where I expected to find a Gingerbread House.
I've spent a little time in Baltimore and Fort Meade, but I've never been to Annapolis. I should like to go there, if only to visit the US Naval Academy.
Philadelphia, like any large city, has its nice and not so nice parts. At its best, Philadelphia is a gorgeous. We have the largest inter-city park in the world. (You could fit six of NY's Central Park in our Fairmount Park and still have room left over. And we have many other parks besides Fairmount.) And Philly is very large: 331 sq. miles-as large as Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens combined.
Having said that, I wouldn't mind living out in the suburbs somewhere in Colorado. My brother lives in suburban Denver and I used to spend every summer there. It's a much slower pace there and it's not so crowded. I take care of my 94 year old mother and so I'm kind of tied to this area, but some day I'd like to move to the west.
(One advantage to living in Philly is that we rarely get power failures and when we do, they seldom last more than an hour or two.)

I'd like to get out there one day just to see it. I have a friend in New York that I will visit one day if it kills me, so maybe I could make a big loop and see it then.
As for our power, it has gotten much better since the big Derecho storm we had last July here.
I think that got rid of every loose branch there was and there was nothing left to fall during Sandy, lol.

[endo]

Jan 6, 2013 18:45:19 GMT Mrs Vindecco said:

I saw this on Netflix and decided to give it a go based on your review. I've not seen many Karen Black films, but I do think she gave the best performance. Bette Davis was ok in support. While she was a tad melodramatic, I think her performance is at least a proper role rather unlike some of her later performances which were more like cameos for an old Hollywood legend, if that makes sense.

Oliver Reed was just not right in this role. Maybe I've heard too many stories about the drinking and wild times, but he just didn't feel right as the family man. (It didn't help that my husband kept doing his Ollie impersonation from the famous After Dark appearance).


Burgess Meredith was hilariously camp. It would have been good to see more of him.

I just love the whole package, but I'm strange like that, lol. Sometimes I'll latch onto the oddest or most awful movie and just love it.
Not saying this one falls into either category, but it certainly wasn't one of the best I've seen.
But, I watch it every time it's on. The first few times my wife tolerated it, now she leaves the room.
Her loss.