Burnt Offerings

Directed by Dan Curtis, Burnt Offerings (1976) is quite an interesting film. I feel really conflicted because on one hand, there are certain elements of the film that I really enjoyed. However, I can't say I like the film as a whole. There are a few small horror elements that I liked in particular but the actual film plot is just so... indescribable.

Here, only the car containing youth and life glows; the house is dull. 

The obvious horror element is the house come to life. The home "grows young" by feeding off of bodily injury and death. I think it's pretty clear once Marian starts acting suspicious about the old mother's room that there is no mother at all. Around this time we begin to see the house in better condition (flowers blooming inside the home being an example). Also, the cinematography is well composed in this regard; as the film progresses I noticed that there was much softer lighting, and many whites and bright colors in the picture glowed (with youth!).

In this tense moments, everything glows, including the pillars of the house in the background. 

The pacing and direction of the plot also contribute to the feeling of anxiety. The film's pace is pretty darn slow, which heightens the intensity of any tense moments that do occur (most of which don't happen until the very end...). The plot of the film is pretty confusing at times. It's not necessarily the plot that's confusing though, it's more of the fact that the film kind of just goes on for a bit. Ben's dream and the reoccurrence of the hearse driver are never explained as well (at least the dude is super creepy though).

I thought there was some Oedipal themes going on in the beginning of the film. In the beginning of the film David is shown to be more adept and cunning than his father, and shortly afterwards the attack in the pool occurs. I thought this was a very good set up for the father's psychology to go haywire (as the son was "replacing" him) but he ended up returning to his normal state.

I wish I had more to say about this film but I really don't. I will say that the acting was absolutely terrific; the entire family was completely believable. Ultimately, if a little bit more sense were thrown into the film, I think it would be a wonderful horror film and a real classic.