The Burning (1981)
1981 was a goldmine year for slasher fans. After the success of Halloween and Friday the 13th, studios realized the money that could be made from the gory onscreen slaughter of horny teens and exploited the opportunity by churning out slasher after slasher. Some were great (My Bloody Valentine, The Prowler); many were average (He Knows You're Alone, Night School, The Final Terror), and some were virtually unwatchable (1981's Scream, Don't Go In the Woods). But fortunately English director Tony Maylam's summer camp offering The Burning belongs to the first category and features astonishingly brutal gore effects by master Tom Savini (fresh from Friday the 13th, and who turned down that film's sequel in order to work on this one), better-than-average production values, and a truly unnerving and oppressive forest atmosphere. The unusual score is very creepy and effective when it works, but cheap and cheesy when it doesn't, and I think that of all the various aspects of the film, it's aged the worst. The financial success of the film launched the now ubiquitous Miramax Films and helped to further cement the popularity of the splatter genre.
The Burning is based on an actual New Jersey legend, that of the Cropsy Maniac (which was the film's working title), who we discover is a reviled camp custodian who is savagely burned when a juvenile prank goes horribly awry one warm summer night, leaving the poor guy alive but dreadfully fire-scarred and bent on revenge. He returns years later to the camp where the incident occurred and begins to prowl the woods surrounding the place, determined to decimate the juvenile populace with the aid of some very large and very sharp gardening shears. There's plenty of creepy, Vaseline-smeared POV shots from within the dark forest as Cropsy spies and stalks his young prey before letting them have it, and we soon discover that there's no need for his victims to be alone -- there's no safety in numbers from Cropsy, who in the film's classic multiple kill sequence unexpectedly springs up from within a canoe in the cold waters of the lake and furiously slices apart no less than five ill-fated kids aboard a wooden log raft with his shears. Appropriately referred to as "the raft scene" by slasher fans, it remains one of the all-time best and most brutal murder scenes of any horror film of its day and even now, and it truly showcases Savini's bloody brilliance.
The Burning is also better-acted than most of its gory early '80s brethren, and is notable for being the film debut of a number of talented Hollywood actors like Academy Award winner Holly Hunter (The Piano), who has a bit role as Sophie; Seinfeld's Jason Alexander as wisecracking Dave; TV veterans Larry Joshua as camp bully Glazer and Ned Eisenberg as horny Eddie; and Short Circuit's Fisher Stevens as gangly, good-natured Woodstock. Former soap star Brian Matthews is a solid and attractive lead as camp counselor Todd, who it turns out was one of the kids responsible for Cropsy's firey accident years before, and lovely Leah Ayres is spirited as Todd's sometime lover and co-counselor Michelle. Brian Backer (Fast Times at Ridgemont High) is excellent as Alfred, the camp geek who enjoys spying on Glazer's busty girlfriend Sally (Carrick Glenn) while she showers and serves as her temperamental boyfriend's favorite punching bag.
Director Maylam stuck mostly to making documentaries after helming The Burning, which is unfortunate for horror fans because his claustrophobic direction is well suited to the genre and makes the slasher favorite what it is: Grim, violent, and brooding, with a bit more style than the average deep-in-the-woods slasher. The Burning's death scenes are strong enough to warrant at least one viewing of the film by gorehounds -- in the uncut version, that is -- but it also has a dark, uncomfortable atmosphere and scenic deep woods cinematography by Harvey Harrison, who lensed 1989's American Gothic and several of Nicolas Roeg's films, including The Witches. The editing by Jack Sholder (future director of Alone in the Dark and A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2) is fairly well done and effective in the uncut version, but is quite rough in the butchered R-rated version, which should be avoided.
With some of the catchiest theatrical poster art ever (which depicts two embracing lovers in a daylit lake being stalked by a shadowy figure with garden shears), The Burning lives up to its infamous one-sheet and provides 90 minutes of solid, unsettling entertainment for slasher fans and rates a 7 of 10 from this seasoned slasher lover.
The Burning is based on an actual New Jersey legend, that of the Cropsy Maniac (which was the film's working title), who we discover is a reviled camp custodian who is savagely burned when a juvenile prank goes horribly awry one warm summer night, leaving the poor guy alive but dreadfully fire-scarred and bent on revenge. He returns years later to the camp where the incident occurred and begins to prowl the woods surrounding the place, determined to decimate the juvenile populace with the aid of some very large and very sharp gardening shears. There's plenty of creepy, Vaseline-smeared POV shots from within the dark forest as Cropsy spies and stalks his young prey before letting them have it, and we soon discover that there's no need for his victims to be alone -- there's no safety in numbers from Cropsy, who in the film's classic multiple kill sequence unexpectedly springs up from within a canoe in the cold waters of the lake and furiously slices apart no less than five ill-fated kids aboard a wooden log raft with his shears. Appropriately referred to as "the raft scene" by slasher fans, it remains one of the all-time best and most brutal murder scenes of any horror film of its day and even now, and it truly showcases Savini's bloody brilliance.
The Burning is also better-acted than most of its gory early '80s brethren, and is notable for being the film debut of a number of talented Hollywood actors like Academy Award winner Holly Hunter (The Piano), who has a bit role as Sophie; Seinfeld's Jason Alexander as wisecracking Dave; TV veterans Larry Joshua as camp bully Glazer and Ned Eisenberg as horny Eddie; and Short Circuit's Fisher Stevens as gangly, good-natured Woodstock. Former soap star Brian Matthews is a solid and attractive lead as camp counselor Todd, who it turns out was one of the kids responsible for Cropsy's firey accident years before, and lovely Leah Ayres is spirited as Todd's sometime lover and co-counselor Michelle. Brian Backer (Fast Times at Ridgemont High) is excellent as Alfred, the camp geek who enjoys spying on Glazer's busty girlfriend Sally (Carrick Glenn) while she showers and serves as her temperamental boyfriend's favorite punching bag.
Director Maylam stuck mostly to making documentaries after helming The Burning, which is unfortunate for horror fans because his claustrophobic direction is well suited to the genre and makes the slasher favorite what it is: Grim, violent, and brooding, with a bit more style than the average deep-in-the-woods slasher. The Burning's death scenes are strong enough to warrant at least one viewing of the film by gorehounds -- in the uncut version, that is -- but it also has a dark, uncomfortable atmosphere and scenic deep woods cinematography by Harvey Harrison, who lensed 1989's American Gothic and several of Nicolas Roeg's films, including The Witches. The editing by Jack Sholder (future director of Alone in the Dark and A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2) is fairly well done and effective in the uncut version, but is quite rough in the butchered R-rated version, which should be avoided.
With some of the catchiest theatrical poster art ever (which depicts two embracing lovers in a daylit lake being stalked by a shadowy figure with garden shears), The Burning lives up to its infamous one-sheet and provides 90 minutes of solid, unsettling entertainment for slasher fans and rates a 7 of 10 from this seasoned slasher lover.
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