The defence The Arthouse Gremlin
“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.
Back to trending 
Burnt Offerings
Horror · Thriller · Mystery · 1976
A family moves into a large old mansion in the countryside which seems to have a mysterious and sinister power over its new residents.
Movie details
Burnt Offerings
“Up the ancient stairs, behind the locked door, something lives, something evil, from which no one has ever returned.”
1976 Horror · Thriller · Mystery 1h 56m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.5 / 10
Community rating
A family moves into a large old mansion in the countryside which seems to have a mysterious and sinister power over its new residents.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Burnt Offerings?
For the defence
The Arthouse Gremlin
“The stranger, the better.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
The Dogs
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After fleeing his psychotic father, a young teen and his mom seek refuge in a remote farmhouse, only to face a pack of ferocious dogs and the sinister spirits that haunt the property.
Case 39
Horror · 2009
In her many years as a social worker, Emily Jenkins believes she has seen it all, until she meets 10-year-old Lilith and the girl's cruel parents. Emily's worst fears are confirmed when the parents try to harm the child, and so Emily assumes custody of Lilith while she looks for a foster family. However, Emily soon finds that dark forces surround the seemingly innocent girl, and the more she tries to protect Lilith, the more horrors she encounters.
The Home
Horror · 2025
A troubled man starts working at a retirement home and realizes its residents and caretakers harbor sinister secrets. As he investigates the building and its forbidden fourth floor, he starts to uncover connections to his own past and upbringing as a foster child.
The Wretched
Horror · 2019
A rebellious teenage boy, struggling with his parents' imminent divorce, encounters a terrifying evil after his next-door neighbor becomes possessed by an ancient witch that feasts on children.
Nocebo
Mystery · 2022
A fashion designer suffers from a mysterious illness that puzzles her doctors and frustrates her husband until help arrives in the form of a Filipino caregiver who uses traditional folk healing to reveal a horrifying truth.
Brahms: The Boy II
Horror · 2020
After a family moves into the Heelshire Mansion, their young son soon makes friends with a life-like doll called Brahms.
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Horror · 1964
An aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into madness after the arrival of a lost relative.
No One Gets Out Alive
Horror · 2021
An immigrant in search of the American dream is forced to take a room in a boarding house and soon finds herself in a nightmare from which she can't escape.
Funny Games
Thriller · 2008
When Ann, husband George, and son Georgie arrive at their holiday home they are visited by a pair of polite and seemingly pleasant young men. Armed with deceptively sweet smiles and some golf clubs, they proceed to terrorize and torture the tight-knit clan, giving them until the next day to survive.
The Others
Horror · 2001
Grace is a woman who lives in an old house kept dark because her two children, Anne and Nicholas, have a rare sensitivity to light. When the family begins to suspect the house is haunted, Grace fights to protect her children at any cost in the face of strange events and disturbing visions.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Dan Curtis
Written by
William F. Nolan · Dan Curtis
Karen Black
Marian Rolf
Oliver Reed
Ben Rolf
Burgess Meredith
Arnold Allardyce
Bette Davis
Aunt Elizabeth
Eileen Heckart
Roz Allardyce
Lee Montgomery
David 'Davey' Rolf
Dub Taylor
Walker
Court is in session
Put Burnt Offerings on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.