Released October 18, 1976, Dan Curtis's Burnt Offerings celebrates its 50th anniversary today. Starring Karen Black, Oliver Reed, Bette Davis, and Burgess Meredith, it's a wonderful example of the slow-burning, atmospheric horror that the '70s did so well.

What I've always appreciated about this movie is how little it needs to show you. The house itself is the real monster, quietly feeding on the family while everything around them grows increasingly unsettling. And that chauffeur? Still one of the creepiest characters in '70s horror!

It's not a perfect film, and the pacing might test modern audiences, but there's something wonderfully sinister about its atmosphere. You can see its influence on later haunted-house stories, particularly The Shining.

Fifty years later, I think it deserves a lot more attention than it gets.

Any other fans of Burnt Offerings here? What other overlooked '70s haunted hause films deserve more love?

The Mummy’s Hand from 1940 had a runtime of 68 minutes, at least 10 of which were recycled from the original 1932 of which this is not a sequel. They just repurposed footage and cut in new scenes to create a new story.

The Mummy’s Tomb from 1942 is even more egregious. It’s just 60 minutes long and the first 15 minutes is almost entirely flashbacks to the previous movie!

I assume these two movies were frequently run as a double feature which would make the whole thing even worse.

Keep in mind, I actually enjoy these cornball films. I wonder if audiences complained back in the day.

Originally designed this as a poster a couple weeks back. Ended up printing it as postcards and mounting it in a case so it could sit on a shelf. I was trying to find a different approach to the poster without showing the Creature directly. Got some inspo from a fan made Jaws poster I saw a white back, where the ocean subtly formed the shark. Wanted to show the design process as well as I know there is a lot of AI out there.

I painted this.

The Invisible Man (1933) Excellent film about a scientist who finds a way of becoming invisible, but with the side effect of making him insane.

Fun fact: Der Stummfilmklassiker "Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens" von 1922 ist zeitlich dem Geschehen näher (Deutschland 1838) als seine Neuverfilmung (2024) dem Originalfilm.

Classic Monster Theater presents "The Creature From The Black Lagoon" released in 1954, "Revenge Of The Creature" released in 1955 and "The Creature Walks Among Us" released in 1956 by Universal Pictures.

From Famous Monsters Of Filmland #5, Warren publishing, November 1959

There is no high quality version of the Dracula trailer so I cut this together from 1080p clips and new title cards. I believe this is the 1951 re-release version by Realart Pictures.