The Scariest Haunted House Horror You’ve Never Seen, Stream Immediately
Horror productions have used a multitude of otherworldly specters, demonic entities, and human monsters to give audiences chills since the dawn of the silent film era. The masked slashers and ghostly visitors that are front and center in the genre have certainly earned their places in horror history, as fans pile into theaters to see the latest Halloween or Insidious installments. But as the 1976 film Burnt Offerings shows, sometimes the scariest antagonist isn’t what is seen, but rather the visceral reaction a seemingly innocent house will have on a character’s sanity.
Burnt Offerings And The Rolf Family
Burnt Offerings centers around the Rolf family, who decide to escape the hot city and rent a remote mansion in the countryside for the summer.
Ben and Marian are accompanied by their 12-year-old son Davey and Ben’s aunt Elizabeth.
The Rolfs find Arnold and Rosalyn Allardyce, their elderly landlords, a bit eccentric. They are a bit shocked when they are offered a dirt-cheap price to stay all summer long but with one caveat.
Another Houseguest
To seal the deal, the Rolfs will have a houseguest. Allardyce’s ancient mother will have to stay at the home, though the siblings assure the Rolfs that they will likely never see or hear from her.
In Burnt Offerings, all that the Allardyces ask is that the Rolfs set out a tray of food for her outside her bedroom door at meal times. After that? Let the old woman go about her own devices.
Creepy Things Happening
The 19th-century Burnt Offerings mansion has certainly seen better days, but Marian becomes interested in being its caretaker. The Rolfs aren’t there too long when odd things begin to happen.
Each time one of the family hurts themselves (Davey while he’s playing, Ben when he cuts himself), a feature of the home that was in disrepair or broken becomes like-new.
Sucking Out The Family’s Life Force?
The unseen Allardyce matriarch becomes as much of an obsession for Marian as the house itself. Burnt Offerings never shows the character, but her presence plays a crucial part in the film’s finale.
Burnt Offerings casts the house as the central antagonist, a structure that, while not capable of breathing or bleeding, gets new life from every physical and emotional woe by its occupants.
When Ben’s aunt falls ill and dies in the house, the solarium that was filled with dead plants suddenly is host to an entire room full of blooming flowers. The house seems to be sucking the life force from each member of the Rolf family, but to what end?
Eerie Portraits And More
Burnt Offerings uses eerie portraits instead of monsters, a chilling score in place of spirits, and fevered hallucinations suffered by its characters over maniacal killers with axes.
While the house is the villain, its victims are portrayed by industry veterans, who help make the unseen terror all the more real. Unlike films with visible killers like Halloween or Scream, Burnt Offerings forces audiences to perceive the threat in other ways and does an incredible job of doing so.
Rating Burnt Offerings
REVIEW SCORE
Burnt Offerings stars Karen Black (The Great Gatsby, House of 1000 Corpses) as Marian, Oliver Reed (The Curse of the Werewolf, The Devils) as Ben, Bette Davis (Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, Watcher in the Woods) as Aunt Elizabeth, and Lee H. Montgomery (Ben, The Midnight Hour) as Davey.
You’ll likely recognize the Allardyce siblings, too, as they are portrayed by screen legends Burgess Meredith and Eileen Heckart.
The 1970s classic is worth every bit of 4.0/5.0 stars and is certainly one that horror fans should stream while it’s still available.
Burnt Offerings can be streamed for free with Tubi and Pluto.
