It was interesting to read your thoughts on "Burnt Offerings," ProfStokes. Perhaps if I had read the book prior to seeing the movie, my views might have been closer to yours. To take the music, while I understand your point, I don't fully agree. I can think of only two "scary" movies that used music (or the lack thereof) in the manner you suggest. One is "The Birds," for which Alfred Hitchcock decided against having any musical score altogether. An interesting experiment, and an effectively scary movie even without any music. The second I can think of is "The Other," which opens with idyllic country scenes and a lush, melodic score, little hinting at the horrors to come. Yet even in the opening credits, there are some discordant notes in this score, suggesting that all is not as lovely and perfect as the scenery suggests.
Now I'm sure there are other examples where the score has been restrained in a frightening movie. But if you compare Cobert's music in "Burnt Offerings" with something more recent like "Sleepy Hollow," which is typical of the bombastic - sledgehammer effect of a lot of today's scores, Cobert's is downright subtle. I found it was noticeable but complemented the screen events well. It would be interesting to re-watch "Psycho" and "Jaws" with their terrifying music and see how early in those movies the scary music begins.
I don't have a problem with the ominous music themes starting early on in "Burnt Offerings." After all, the audience already knows that this is going to be a scary movie. And I found it an interesting counterpoint to the early shots of the beautiful house; it signals an ominous undercurrent to the innocuous appearance of things.
Regarding the music box theme for "Burnt Offerings," which plays in the closing credits - no, it was not used in "Dark Shadows."
Speaking of "Sleepy Hollow," which was on my mind since I just saw that for the first time ... I can't think of a director less suited to direct "Dark Shadows." I mean, Burton is very good at what he does, but his style and form are worlds away from DS.
P.S. to Gerard ... not sure what you meant about the ending possibly leaving you puzzled. What I didn't like was [spoiler]the much too obvious "Psycho" homage to the little old lady sitting in the rocking chair. Although, Karen Black's subsequent embodiment of the old lady wasn't bad.[/spoiler]
Arashi - re: the gore at the end. Yes, that was truly shocking. I don't know which came first, this or "The Omen," but the innovative ways of killing people was rather similar.
MB - interesting to hear about the professional reviews. Guess I'd disagree. I didn't find it trite at all. And considering how often some of the ideas have since been re-worked (The Shining and Rose Red, to name two), triteness has gotten a lot of mileage since "Burnt Offerings." I wonder what some of those critics would say today if they sat down and re-watched "Burnt Offerings," and compared it with more recent "horror" movies.