MovieChat Forums > Burnt Offerings (1976) Discussion > Who in their right mind would move in?

Who in their right mind would move in?


Why in the world would anyone want to rent a huge, creepy old house AND agree to cook for an old woman whom they've never even met, let alone seen?!?

I'M A TRAVELING SALESPERSON. I SELL BANJOS.

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I think a lot of horror movies require a bit of suspension of belief or "logical" thinking.

I dont know if this is the "RIGHT" answer, but consider it as a possible explanation:
The house takes "possesion" of the mind (and ultimately the bodies) of one or more of its inhabitants. Part of the "test" of the persons renting the house, is to see if the house will take possetion of the potential person(s) who will reside there. The fact that "Marian" was taken in and receptive to the idea would indicate that the house already had a hold on her and her thoughts.......thus making her a replacement for Mrs Allardyce.

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I think a lot of horror movies require a bit of suspension of belief or "logical" thinking.

I dont know if this is the "RIGHT" answer, but consider it as a possible explanation:
The house takes "possesion" of the mind (and ultimately the bodies) of one or more of its inhabitants. Part of the "test" of the persons renting the house, is to see if the house will take possetion of the potential person(s) who will reside there. The fact that "Marian" was taken in and receptive to the idea would indicate that the house already had a hold on her and her thoughts.......thus making her a replacement for Mrs Allardyce.

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$900 rental for a mansion the whole summer--heck, I'd move in.

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You do realize that $900 in 1975 is equivalent to $3900 today?

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EXACTLY! Who would agree to a summer of hard labor in a creepy old isolated house, where you have to fix the pool, prepare three meals a day for an elderly woman you've never seen, weed the garden, etc. It's just ridiculous!

Most normal families would want to paid for these services, and this family is acting like it's a bargain to pay $900 to sign up for that crap!

I could think about was the bit from Eddie Murphy's stand-up, which was about Poltergeist.

Man- "Nice house, don't you think honey?"
Ghost -"Get out!"
Man - "Too bad we gotta be going!"

I mean, seriously. There is suspension of disbelieve, and then there are white families in a haunted house.





I will be your Sherpa up the mountain of gayness.

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$900 in 1975 = $3900 in 2014.

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I have to agree. Who the hell would want to spend their entire summer, a summer they are paying for no less, preparing 3 meals a day for an old woman...never mind one who is unseen?

Sure the house is beautiful (I LOVED that greenhouse) but who wouldn't think there was something reallllly fishy about a mansion for rent for $900 for the whole summer?



"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

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Yea that's a lot of $ for today to do that much work, they should be paying them to take care of the house or atleast be ale to stay there for free in exchange for upkeep, taking care if an old woman alone would cost $' that they should be paying the tenants for' I sure as hell wouldn't PAY to take care of some old woman and a huge house they can pay ME to do that! What kind of deal is that'!

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$900 in 1975 = $3900 in 2014.

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White family moves into a haunted house with a chilling past... typical.



How low can a punk get?

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[deleted]

They weren't required to keep up the house; Marian did all that work because she WANTED to. Also, the meals for the old lady were light cooking, not major gourmet productions.

It's explained better in the book that the house is in an area that is very posh and similar houses rent for thousands of dollars a month in the summer. So it WAS a huge bargain and a chance to have a taste of a very different life for the Rolfs--especially for Marian who lusted after that type of life even before she knew the house existed.

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SueCu is exactly right. Additionally, they were going to rent a house for the summer SOMEWHERE and the price was right for this one. Marion wanted it from the moment she saw it and convinced Ben.



Can you hear me?....They did this

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I feel like I would move in the house. It is a beautiful home for a very cheap price and such an opportunity would likely never show up again. Mrs. Allardyce wouldn't be bothersome since she never came out of her room so it would be like she wasn't even there. It would be unusual to know that a lady has lived in the house that you never get to see or hear from but I would probably just assume she was the type of person who preferred not to be around people. I would figure that if she really needed something important, she would come out. So to have such a gorgeous house for what is a bargain and technically being alone; I don't see why I wouldn't stay. Of course I would regret it later on, though.

It's very easy for people to say "I wouldn't do this, I wouldn't do that" while watching horror movies because we are outsiders that have knowledge the characters don't. But it's hard to tell what we would really do if these situations really happened to us in real life because we wouldn't know we were "in a horror movie" if that makes sense. The common mistakes that people usually shout at the characters onscreen for while watching horror movies, I can see myself making them all.

I've been waiting for you, Ben.

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"The common mistakes that people usually shout at the characters onscreen for while watching horror movies, I can see myself making them all."

Hmmmm...

"Hey guys, obviously there's a psychopathic slasher-killer in this house somewhere. Hey, let's split up. You go that way, I'll go thisway, Todd, you go down that hallway over there. That way, at least one of us is likely to find the killer..."

Methinks I, um, can't see myself making them all...

"I don't deduce, I observe."

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Not to mention, "Hey, there's someone in this house that's trying to kill me! Should I run outside?.......no, I think I'll run upstairs!".

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How about "I hear a strange noise. I think I'll go take a shower."

or

"What does this bloody knife/ax/chainsaw mean? And the members of the group are missing. Here's a cell phone. Hmmm...oh its just a trick."



"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

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I'm not sure if this is the right explanation but I think Marian was desperate to get away from the city. The scene in their apartment shows that they didn't have an ideal place. It looked tiny and the noise of the traffic outside could be heard inside their bedroom. Dan Curtis said he edited out another scene in their apartment because it was boring, but it could have clearly explained why Marian really wanted to rent that mansion.

The original novel states that the family is from New York and Marian hated the idea of her son having to play on the streets or the sidewalks. So to be entrusted with a mansion in the country would be like a priceless present Marian just couldn't refuse. (The mansion in the novel, by the way, was on a beachfront.)

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