Burnt Offerings - Creepy Dream Sequence

[BigFatCode]

The driver scared the shit out of me when i was a kid and had seen him for the first time!

[StanBennet]

For some odd reason he always reminded me of Kent Tukulve of the '79 Pirates.

[darker91]

I slept with the image of that smiling guy in my head for many years after I saw this movie as a child. SHEESH!

[mizzday100]

@darker91 You're not the only one! I had recurrent nightmares on this one as well. What made it worse was that he looked just like my dad, creepy smile and all!

[mrshinyshoes]

Does the chauffeur have a thing for the kid? It's like he is attracted to him or something. Hehe.

[alexmfrankel]

This is a brilliant film. I don't understand why most reviews of it were negative (see Ebert's). It has aged well and while the first hour is a little mild, the end is darker than THE SHINING and most other horror films. And some of the scariest parts occur in broad daylight!

[ReviewCam]

Then there's the scene when that same guy comes in when Bette Davis is having a heart attack. That coffin and the sound it makes coming down the hall. Too scary, but this scene is the scariet of them all

[royalnaz1]

yes. this is the part that is creepy in the movie. that limo driver had some scary scenes in the movie if it wasnt for him the movie would have sucked

[taledarkside]

whats weird is only people from the 70s have that look like the limo driver.

skinny tall, sideburns

[ReviewCam]

kids should be taken to funerals. Too scary for them

[SopranoOfTheNight]

@ReviewCam That depends on the kid. Sensitive kids shouldn't be taken to funerals, it's true. I wasn't a sensitive kid and when I went to my first funeral at the age of 9 I was fascinated and then bored. Granted, when I was even younger I wanted to be a paleontologist and dig up dead dinosaurs, and I had also watched a lot of documentaries on mummies.

[el3m3nthorze]

That's not even creepy. xD

[gdailler]

why was that drver sitting there and laughing very weird

[36DoppelEfan]

@gdailler

because he is a bugbear :-)

[gdailler]

why was that drver sitting ther and laughing

[ReviewCam]

@guyonlinenow I saw this movie when I was younger, before I had ever been to a funeral. Then at 14 I went to an uncle's funeral, saw the casket and ran out crying. Very disturbing movie and scene in particular. Little kids shouldn't go to funerals. Too scary.

[ReviewCam]

this has to be the scariest scene in a horror movie

[JP5466]

@guyonlinenow Great comment... I agree completely. The 70's were certainly a great time for horror movies and movies in general. 

Can someone please invent a time machine?

[JP5466]

Anthony James was perfect for this part.

[pccrybabyhater]

what the fuck was this film about?

[PGMEagle]

Wow the muted the sound nice :-(

[CrazyFoo501]

I never found the movie as a whole scary but that grinning bastard sure is.

[Erock23432]

1:27 Did he just say booty-ass?

[Senor1Droolcup]

My older sister made me watch this film when I was 8 and it scared the %$*^% out of me: couldn't sleep alone for weeks. The spectral chauffeur was played by Anthony James, an underappreciated actor who also played opposite Bette Davis in Disney's "Return from Witch Mountain" and most famously in Blue Thunder opposite Roy Scheider. But he was never scarier than in this movie.

[blueyddam16]

Im sitting alone in my room and now im like lookin around all paranoid!

[smp156]

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ENTIRE MOVIE?!?!?!

[lindacholita]

First time I saw this flick was in 1976.....34 years later and that fuckin' chauffer STILL gives me the creeps...I wonder if that actor knows what kind of affect he's had on people

[Kitsuneranger]

The German Nazi Pedophile is on the loose!

[mobydee71]

they need 2 remake this movie but not like some have been remade..i.e. "Amityville Horror"...but not sure if they could find someone as creepy as the chauffeur...

[S0lidState]

,,looks like Jim Carrey.

[archuletafan111]

I watched this movie yesterday and it scared the crap out of me especially this part!!! Ahhh I hate his smile!

[alwayzsic]

holy crap i remember this movie as a kid.i always wanted to know the name.that fuken damm limo driver scared the shit and piss out of me.

[bluecatky]

So what exactly is the deal with the creepy chauffer?

[hgoblin]

The creepy violins and bells intensifying in the sequence heighten how spooky it becomes. The musical box tune is there too as foreshadowing to the connection the dream will have with the house.

The smokey visual aspects seem to imitate the fogginess of remembering a dream while also making the scene more dreary. The low camera angles that follow the line of sight of Ben as a boy put us in the driver's seat almost literally and emotionally. I love this movie and especially this scene!

[hgoblin]

I think this is the BEST dream sequence ever made. As with so many others, I was scared for years from the haunting memory of the chauffeur and still get chills in my spine watching the scenes with him. If the director wanted us to empathize with how traumatic it was to witness some chauffeur grinning while he was crying at a funeral, he succeeded brilliantly. But to have this frightening specter then manifest in reality to help kill the aunt was superb horror.

[vestman95]

In the special features on the DVD, I remember the Director saying that he got the idea for James' character from his own Mother's funeral. He was obviously devastated and grieving, but these hired chauffeurs were goofing around with each other and generally being jack asses, completely oblivious to the fact that a funeral was taking place. He drew from that pain and made one of those tormentors into a monster. Brilliant!

[lloyddobblerNJ]

That driver... man, when I was little, he haunted me for years after I saw this flick. by the way, the same actor played the killer in "In the Heat of the Night".

[kenitobaby75]

The thing I never understood is if the chauffeur was just a dream to Ben? It might have been real as a child only? What about when the chauffeur pushed the coffin into his aunt? Was that a fantasy to Ben? Why couln't Ben stop the guy from killing her? He just looked down, and let it happen? Or...was it a fantasy?

[vestman95]

@kenitobaby75

I think the idea is that as a child, this was a bad memory for Ban. His Mom just

died and he was grieving and this chauffeur was taunting him. So when they

moved into the House, whatever spiritual force was there, drew from Ben's pain and fear, and manifested itself as the chauffeur....like the Grim Reaper.

[PikesPeakOcean]

This movie scared me when I was a kid

[coldandblank]

this guy gave me nightmares for years when i was a kid. i love this movie.

[silliegirl50]

Oliver Reed also did a great performace in TOMMY

[copyright1982]

Mmmm...Ollie breathing heavily and writhing in bed :P:::::

The chauffeur dude would look like one of the Ramones if he had long hair and worse posture.

[kolbek2001]

@copyright1982 -funny!

[Aljinon]

I always thought the chaffeur was hot...guess its just my type of guy...tall, thin and pale. I mean c'mon- he's all mysterious in those glasses. I guess in your words 'creepy' is my type of guy :)

[lensjockeyvideo]

@Aljinon no sorry, he was totally sexy is this awful way hahaha. when you are 12 and you feel attracted to this it is weirdly powerful and crazy. hahaha

[mattkissband]

i love this movie; its one of my all time faves; but--and not to rain on anyones parade--but-why does all everyone talk about is the chauffer and how creepy he was? i just dont see it;.......the creepiest thing about the whole movie was the ENDING when he whips the chair around and shes possesed. THATS the image that gave me nightmares and made me sleep w/ the lights on....im 37 and it STILL rattles me.

[zaqwert777]

I bet there's more than a few sadists who work at mortuaries in real life.

[cynthiacher]

Dan Curtis: what a master he was at horror!

[mattaroo]

I seen this as a Double feature at the movies as a kid with "Its Alive". Just this one seen stuck with me. Isn't it strange though, sometimes when you think your the only one who has intimate fears.

[darkestfugue]

the driver reminds me of roger waters

[goobermouth17]

Burnt Offerings Chauffeur - greatest horror movie character EVER.

Well, in my humble opinion anyway. :)

[HorrorFilmAddict]

That grin from the guy is so creepy!

[StanBennet]

@HorrorFilmAddict The funny thing is, if you've watched a lot of Clint Eastwood westerns, you would believe it's the same guy. Look up Anthony James actor.

[StanBennet]

@HorrorFilmAddict Check him out by renting High Plains Drifter. I can't believe that it took me until now to realize it's the same actor Anthony James.

[tegrimm]

This is the creepiest of the creepy

[johnramaine]

At 1:24 that lady with the hanky on her face looks like Karen Black as Mrs. Alerdice. I can see why Reed freaked out at the end of the movie because he remembered her from the funeral. What you you think?

[SikkiNiki]

too creepy!

[kazrules2007]

I saw this years ago when I was babysitting. That smile scared me to death. Slept with the lights on for a very long time.

[ProtoCosmos]

I remember seeing this for the first time way back when... This scene terrified me. With that moaning Bass Clarinet and the other meandering tones and the Heavy low strings when he shut the door. This whole scene is scarier than any modern day blood bath movie.

[phoenix1861]

Thanks for posting. I can vividly remember how much that chauffeur scared me as a kid. He's still creepy now.