cinema history class: burnt offerings

Session: Get Your Haunted House On, Week 3
Movie: Burnt Offerings (1976)
Directed by Dan Curtis

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL

Plot:
Looking to get away for the summer, a family rents a huge, isolated old mansion. They get more than they bargained for.Hilarity ensues.

Reaction:
First I note that this was the first time that everyone in the class gave the movie a 10.* I should also point out that this wasn't the best movie we've seen in this class. Night of the Living Dead is arguably a better movie. And so is Freaks -- if you grade it on a curve that acknowledges when it was made and the state of film at the time. But the fact that we all gave it a ten, despite the differences in how we each judge these movies is indicative of how good a film it is.

The thing with BO is that the tension starts out in a subtle way. But it builds. And it builds and it builds. At first, you're simply noticing things and thinking, "Huh...that's odd." But by the end you're on the edge of your seat in rapt fascination, wondering what the fuck is going to happen next.

One thing that I really enjoyed was the way the characters were portrayed as aging prematurely. AT first it's almost imperceptible. You wonder if you're imagining it. But as it goes on, they age more and more, until you're forced to realize it. This is most obvious with the old eccentric aunt played by Bette Davis. At first, she's energetic and irascible. But by the end of the summer she's old and decrepit.

Worth noting is the scene (part of which is shown in the trailer above) in which the trees on the grounds stop the family's escape. This is something that could have been unintentionally comical, and yet it was handled well enough that it worked.

Interestingly, BO started life as a made-for-TV movie, but was rejected by the networks for being too intense. So it ended up in the theatres. Despite it being too intense, it isn't simply one big extended adrenaline rush. It has the ups and downs that a good horror film needs. And, despite having those ups and downs, it was never slow.

Ratings:

Me: 10

Dave: 10

Ethan: 10

Joe: 10

*Sean, who rates movies on a scale of 1-4, was absent. He probably would have scored this 3 out of 4. Hah! Just kidding. Sean would have given this either 3 or 4 out of 4.

it's zmedsday!! (xix)

it's tunesday! "get those cables out (charge 'em up!)" by two women who i have no idea who they are

I have no idea who these women are, and I don't know exactly how it came to be that they jammed like this. Heck, I'm guessing that they don't even know each other. But I just love this joyful musical moment.

when i tried to get speck to take antidepressants

In my last post I talked about how Ethan's cat, Red, was stressed out by having to take pills.

It reminds me of a cat I used to have. Speck was an unhappy boy. I had gotten him and his litter mate, Bungee, at a shelter and they were both neurotic. Bungee was OK as long as long as I let her sit on my lap. Anytime I'd sit down she would jump on my lap. If I pushed her off, she'd jump back on. Over and over.

Speck wasn't quite as affectionate. He was more like a regular cat. He did show affection -- headbutting me every morning, for example. Well, maybe he just wanted food. Anyway, he had some behavioral issues which concerned me. I won't go into detail here, since there's no need.* I had an animal behaviorist come over to observe Speck and the apartment and assess the situation. She prescribed antidepressants. And this is where the problem came in.

I couldn't give him pills like we did with Red. Speck would bite and scratch if I tried to catch him to give him a pill. As much as I loved him, I wasn't about to submit to that. The behaviorist suggested I try mashing up pills into his food. Now, this meant that I had to start giving him canned food. Have I ever mentioned that I think canned cat food is disgusting. I go with dry. All. The. Time. But, OK, if my cat's emotional well-being was at stake, well, desperate times and all that hooey.

So I got him canned cat food, and gave it to him. At first I didn't adulterate it with the pill because I wanted to make sure he was happy with it. He was. After a couple days, I tried mashing up a pill into the food. Other than that step, I did everything the same. When I put the food bowl down on the floor, Speck came in to eat. He stopped and stared at the bowl. He sniffed it. Several times. I ended up with wet cat food all over the kitchen walls, and a grumpy cat. Bungee ended up eating the food -- she wasn't nearly as discerning as Speck.

*Yeah, like that's ever stopped me.

no more pills for the reticent cat

the reticent patient

Some time ago, Ethan's cat, Red was diagnosed with arthritis. At first, it was very mild -- hardly noticeable (by us at least). But it has gotten worse. We often see it when he walks. Even more so when he climbs stairs. Sometimes he looks more like he's hopping, rabbit-like, to avoid pain.

Our vet recommended something called Cosequin. I don't know if that's a generic name or a brand name, but it's a "joint health supplement" for cats. It contains glucosamine, chondroitin and manganese. So, every morning, Blair would give Red one of these pills. Suffice to say he didn't like them. Fortuntaely, he's a red male Maine Coon. And he's 11 years old. So, while he would struggle and resist the pill, he never bit or scratched. We'd been seeing some progress. He seemed to be more comfortable on the stairs. But, who knows -- maybe we were imagining it.

But we stopped this week.

We'd been starting to wonder if the benefits of the pill (which we couldn't be sure were real) were outweighed by the stress that they were clearly causing. Until we started this regimen, Red was always friendly in the morning. He was always on someone's bed, and was happy to be held and pet when people started getting up. But after we started giving him pills, he started spending his nights downstairs. I'd go down in the morning and find him on the sofa, eyeing me suspiciously. And if I went to pick him up, he'd try to get away. Now, it's easy to say that he doesn't know what's good for him and we should just force him -- having less pain will improve his quality of life. While that last point is true, constant stress is bad for his quality of life. And he was clearly stressed out. And, of course, we don't relish the idea of repeatedly dealing with cat pee in the bed.

So, for now, Red doesn't get pills. And we've embarked on the slow process of getting him to accept that.

Now, I see on Amazon that there's a chewable version of the pills. Maybe they're formulated to taste good. I think we'll try those and see what happens.