The Burning (1981) Review
The Burning (1981) Review
When an ill-advised prank misfires, summer camp caretaker Cropsy is committed to hospital with hideous burns. Released after five years, hospital officials warn him not to blame the young campers who caused his disfigurement. But no sooner is Cropsy back on the streets than he’s headed back to camp with a rusty pair of shears in hand, determined to exact his bloody revenge.
Back in my early teens, and before THE BURNING got sliced and diced and deemed to be a ‘video nasty’ in the UK, I managed to rent the uncut version (Thorn EMI had initially accidentally released the film uncut on video) and I watched it with my childhood friend Brendan and his family one Saturday night. The following week we rented out FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 and more than surprised to see how identical certain scenes from both were to each other scenes, especially the campfire story scene which was near on identical.
Producer Harvey Weinstein – yes THAT Harvey Weinstein – based his otherwise original story on the New York urban legend of the maniac ‘Cropsey’ entitled ‘The Cropsy Maniac’. He saw low-budget horror as the best way to break into the movie industry with this serving as his entry card. His five-page treatment was written and registered in 1979, which was not only before the very similar FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 but also predated the original FRIDAY THE 13TH, so any similarities between the two weren’t on the part of any copying by the makers of THE BURNING.
Aside from launching Weinstein’s film career THE BURNING is also notable for having big screen debuts from the likes of Holly Hunter, Jason Alexander and Fisher Stevens. Even the film’s editor – Jack Sholder went on to have a solid career in the industry by directing A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY’S REVENGE (1985) amongst others.
Director Tony Maylam’s campsite-based horror flick is grubbier than your average American slasher, sleazier too and a whole lot better for it. Unlike most of the other slashers that were doing the rounds in the early Eighties THE BURNING feels more assured, better acted and more solid as a production. And whilst Tom Savini’s terrific gore effects hit the spot, especially during the notorious canoe sequence, the film unfortunately doesn’t hit the mark when it comes to delivering its climactic face-off.
During filming there was talk about making a sequel however as THE BURNING bombed at the box-office this idea was quickly shelved. Nowadays THE BURNING is rightly seen as one of the better Eighties slasher flicks with retrospective reviews praising it in place of the harsher reviews that it landed at the time of its theatrical release. From Rick Wakeman, from rock band Yes, providing a pulsating minimalistic score to Savini’s killer make-up effects wrapped around a cast that can act, THE BURNING may not have hit the box-office jackpot at the time but as Eighties slasher flicks go, this one is very close to being one of the best.
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