MovieChat Forums > Burnt Offerings (1976) Discussion > was 'the shining' a ripoff of this movie...

was 'the shining' a ripoff of this movie?

posted 11 years ago by clockworkorange13
28 replies | jump to latest

(Spoilers)

I mean the similarities between the two movies are very obvious. And "The Shining" was written one year after this movie came out. It even says in the trivia for this movie that its one of Stephen Kings favorite movies.

-the building is alive and evil in both movies
-in both movies one person wants to leave (oliver reed in this movie and Shelly Duvall in the shining) and someone wants to stay in order to fulfill their duties (Karen black in burnt offerings and jack Nicholson in the shining)
-both movies end with a shot of the picture(s) of the people that are absorbed by the building

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] SWLinPHX-2 11 years ago

Oh, King definitely was influenced by this film when he wrote "The Shining". Just as this film obviously borrowed a bit from "Psycho".

[–] snickz 10 years ago

There are similarities.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] FlyingSaucersAreReal 10 years ago

I wouldn't go so far as to call it a ripoff, though there are alot of similarities. The family dynamic, the influence the house has on the father.

I am the eggman, they are the eggmen
I am the walrus, googoo goo joob goo goo goo goo joob-J Lennon

[–] !!!deleted!!! (49761343) 9 years ago

I wouldn't go so far as to call it a ripoff, though there are alot of similarities.

Why not? The story is exactly the same-- a family overlooking a house are "taken over" by the ghosts who live there. The only difference is that the "home" is a small, quaint summer house (instead of a gigantic lodge in the mountains); the mother turns out to be the villain (instead of the father); there's an extra member of the family; and everyone dies (as opposed to The Shining, where the mom and son live).

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[–] Poopsey1 (897) a year ago

...............I am the eggman, they are the eggmen
I am the walrus, googoo goo joob goo goo goo goo joob-J Lennon

Your footnote more than proves that The Beatles were/are an overrated pile iof shite.

[–] ElectricWarlock 10 years ago

Yes, I agree that both films are similar but they are both excellent. I prefer Burnt Offerings strongly, but The Shining is still good.

[–] lazarillo 10 years ago

I'm pretty sure "The Shining" was WRITTEN before this movie. There are similarities, but they're MOST LIKELY a coincidence.

Now the thing with the pictures at the end of the Kubrick movie is similar. But the pictures in this case are of the "offerings" that revitalized the house and replaced the mother, where the picture at the end of "The Shining" is of Jack Torrance and indicates that "he had always been there". It's kind of scary idea that ghosts not only remain in a place forever, but their existence actually stretches BACKWARDS in time as well.

They're both very effective, but what's going on in Kubrick's "The Shining" I think goes a lot deeper. I found this movie pretty straightforward.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] Danimal_77 9 years ago

Wrong. How hard is it to do the research? Burnt Offerings was a novel before it was made into a movie. The novel Burnt Offerings was written years before King wrote the Shining.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] atd8vii (592) 6 years ago

No, The Shining was published in 1977 and this film came out in 1976. The novel written by Robert Marasco was published in 1973.

[–] chet19 9 years ago

The acting was way better in Burnt Offerings.

[–] Harold_Robbins 9 years ago

Robert Marasco's novel BURNT OFFERINGS was published in 1973. THE SHINING was published in 1977 - it's possible that King read it.

In my case, self-absorption is completely justified.

[–] truth18 8 years ago

Yes, Stephen King read it. He admitted that he was influenced by Marasco's novel.

[–] ms-zanadu 8 years ago

Yes, Stephen King read it. He admitted that he was influenced by Marasco's novel.

I wonder if " Rose Red " was also another
Stephen King inspiration of this film too ? 

Thanks truth18 for your reply  .

[–] !!!deleted!!! (49761343) 9 years ago

It may not have been a ripoff of this movie, but of the novel, which had come out years before. The two stories are virtually identical; the only major difference is that it's the mother who turns out to be the evil one who becomes "absorbed" by the house; there's an additional member of the family, aside from the mom, dad, and son; and the house is a small summer home, not a huge hotel in the mountains.

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