Burnt Offerings is a 1976 American supernatural horror film co-written and directed by Dan Curtis and starring Karen Black, Oliver Reed, Bette Davis, and Lee H. Montgomery, with Eileen Heckart, Burgess Meredith and Anthony James in supporting roles.

Produced by Alberto Grimaldi's Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA), Burnt Offerings was filmed on location at the historic Dunsmuir House in Oakland, California.

Writer Ben Rolf, his wife Marian, and their 12-year-old son Davey tour a large, shabby, remote neo-classical 19th-century mansion to rent for the summer.

Of particular interest to her is Mrs. Allardyce's sitting room, which contains a massive collection of framed portraits of people from different eras, apparently former occupants of the house.

The next day, while Davey is swimming and a catatonic Ben is watching him, the pool water turns into vicious waves, pulling the boy under.

[7] In the 1978 book An Introduction to American Movies, Steven C. Earley cited Ben's fall onto a car window as an example of the high presence of violence in films of the 1970s.

"[12] Burnt Offerings was directed by Dan Curtis, best known for television horror works such as the TV series Dark Shadows (1966–1971) and made-for-TV films like The Night Stalker (1972).

[3] Arizona Republic critic Mike Petryni was frightened by the film, particularly the smiling chauffeur, but felt it was ruined by an emphasis on constant thrills over subtle horror.

[21] George Anderson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette criticized the film as dependent on typical horror tropes such as shocks and loud music hits; he also described the tension as "a lot of sinister huffing and puffing to little effect", noting how most of the runtime is spent on mystery of which characters are the antagonists or protagonists.

[22] Ron Cowan of the Statesman Journal described the film as a "less than Grand Guignol venture" with a "stellar cast," concluding: "The house is a real charmer...  especially when it sheds its shingles and siding and neatly disposes of troublesome people.

[24] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times gave the film an unfavorable review, writing that it is "too trite, too drawn-out and repetitious, too poorly motivated and finally too vague in the nature of its supernatural evil to make it.

"[25] Variety stated "The horror is expressed through sudden murderous impulses felt by Black and Reed, a premise which might have been interesting if director Dan Curtis hadn't relied strictly on formula treatment.

The original video shape is in wide screen (16:9) and also features an audio commentary with Dan Curtis, Karen Black and William F. Nolan.

Reviewers criticized the video quality, which appeared to have been shot with soft focus,[31] and the Dolby Digital Mono audio that made the voices muddy and indistinct.

[33] An original suite of the film's soundtrack can be found on the 2000 Robert Cobert collection album The Night Stalker and Other Classic Thrillers.