The Burning (1981)


Although The Burning is usually thought to be a knockoff of Friday the 13th like most of the slashers that came after it, this movie was written and in production long before Sean S. Cunningham's movie hit the theater.  They were also two different types of movies.  Friday the 13th was Cunningham's attempt to make money off the fame of Halloween, just bloodier and sexier.  The Burning, on the other hand, was an attempt by a young producer named Harvey Weinstein to break into the film business with his brother Bob and the first film from their new company, Miramax.  

Based on the Cropsey legend that was told as a campfire story in the New York and New Jersey area, the only thing The Burning has in common with Friday the 13th is the summer camp setting and that there is a killer about.  It has more in common with Madman, released the same year and based on the same legend.  Both movies were also in simultaneous production, though it was merely a coincidence, and both have different tones. 

Cropsy (Lou David) is a caretaker at Camp Blackfoot.  Because he is often drunk and plays mean tricks on the campers a group of boys decide to get back at him.  This has the unfortunate effect of scaring him to where he accidentally sets his cabin on fire.  Still, he lives, though he is permanently disfigured and driven mad with rage against those who did them wrong.  The camp is closed, but his legend lives on among the neighboring sites.

One of those is in full swing, with counselors Todd (Brian Matthews) and Michelle (Leah Ayres) trying to keep the campers, ranging from middle school on up, in line.  One of those is Glazer (Larry Joshua), a young tough who has a beef with strange boy named Alfred (Brian Backer) who has an unhealthy obsession with Glazer's girlfriend Sally (Carrick Glen).  Todd does what he can to keep violence from erupting, but unfortunately it is Cropsy that pops up during a three-day canoe trip, stranding Todd, Michelle and the older kids in the wilderness where he can easily pick them off. 

I always appreciate a slow build, and The Burning is that.  Even though there are some violent scenes at the beginning, Cropsy is lurking around the fringes for a good portion of the film.  It is still within a proper runtime for a movie like this, but the story takes time to acquaint us with several of the kids, including Jason Alexander in his first film role as "the guy who can get it for you" named Dave, and Fisher Stevens as Woodstock.  There is even a young Holly Hunter in there as well.  When it gets going it has all the nudity and gore that a proper horror film should have, but when Tom Savini's effects get into full gear one actually cares about the people getting killed.

This was also early on before slashers became a repetitive genre, so the virgin girl surviving and people being punished for having sex isn't a part of it.  Cropsy is out for revenge, plain and simple, and early on figures out he just enjoys killing people.  From Todd's description when telling the story around a campfire the caretaker was always sadistic, which is why the kids wanted to get back at him in the first place.  

Savini's effects, particularly in the raft scene, are on full display, even though the Cropsy makeup wasn't his best.  He even says so, since he only had a few days to get it done, and it looks a bit like a Halloween mask.  It's not seen for long as typically the killer is lurking about or filmed with the sun behind him to obscure the features.  I'm not a big fan of the day-for-night filming that fills up this movie, but it isn't as distracting as in others of its type. 

Since this came out before slashers became a major genre it is nastier and it also has more of the feel of an actual movie.  It is a fine horror film and, if comparing it to Friday the 13th and even Madman, this is head and shoulders above.  I just wish it didn't have the taint of a real-life villain in Harvey Weinstein, who started his decades-long history of sexual harassment while making this movie.  

The Burning (1981)
Time: 91 minutes
Starring: Brian Matthews, Leah Ayres, Brian Backer, Larry Joshua, Jason Alexander, Carrick Glenn, Lou David
Director: Tony Maylam

 

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