Carnage

I first saw this in the late 80s. Revisited it recently on a DVD. Weinstein brothers made their debut with this poor man's Friday the 13th done right. The special effects were done by Tom Savini n he nailed it. The raft scene is the best highlight. Lots of stabbings via the gardening shears, slashings, severed fingers, etc. It's definitely worth a view for fans of slasher movies. There is sufficient violence n nudity but the sex scene is one of the lamest. The plot- a group of kids decides to play a prank on the caretaker of a camp. The joke goes bad n the victim sets himself on fire. He is released after five years from the hospital but his face has been deformed n he seeks vengeance. The cast included future well-known actors. The movie is full of slasher clichés, wandering away from everyone for a nude pond dip, having sex in the woods, going down to the basement alone, not defending oneself but rather running helter-skelter, not making an effort to make sure that the killer is dead once its down. The movie has one very different aspect, there was no waiting until the end for the big reveal of the killer's identity, its fully revealed from the onset. The cinematography is decent with the lush greens of the camps surrounding forest n the images of flowing water.

How many times in film history has it occurred that a rip-off is better than its source material? Well, in horror films, it happens a lot and THE BURNING is a fine example. The first film churned out by modern powerhouse Miramax, THE BURNING delivers the goods and that's that.

The storyline: a janitor at a summer camp is the victim of a fiery prank and returns years later to exact revenge on teens at a summer camp across the lake from his old stomping grounds. OK, not so original...in fact, you might say that it reminds you of FRIDAY THE 13TH, right? Duh, by now, you should know that this is an F13 rip-off. But here's the great part: this movie is not only gorier than F13, it is better acted, better paced, and has better characters. Three of them are played by future stars Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter (with no lines! Ha!), and Fisher Stevens! Alexander even has hair, but he plays the typical fat guy jokester. He doesn't get butchered, though.

Tom Savini supposedly turned down F13 PART 2 to do the special effects for this film. It's pretty good that he did this since the effects are part of the appeal of THE BURNING. The highlight of the film: the dispatching of an entire group of kids on a raft using giant shears! Truly amazing!

THE BURNING was severely cut by the MPAA and international censors as well. It has yet to turn up legally uncut in the US (other than a brief uncut video release) and it is aching for a DVD release by Anchor Bay! Until then, try to find a copy at your mom-and-pop store. You will not be disappointed!

One of the first (and best) horror films to follow in the massive success of Friday the 13th (1980) is this terrifically bloody slasher film.

Prank leaves camp caretaker horribly disfigured and ready for some harsh vengeance. Enter a band of teenagers and a sharp pair of garden shears...

While admittedly The Burning isn't the most well-written horror movie of the period, it's definitely one that delivers great atmosphere and suspense. Even better for genre fans, it boasts the spectacular gore FX from master makeup artist Tom Savini. The FX in this film are highly bloody, especially during the infamous 'raft' scene. This, along with a spirited cast, nice wilderness locations, and a tension-filled electronic music score makes this film a pretty well done slasher flick. Oh, also there's a good bit of nudity which helps to make it even more of a guilty pleasure for slasher fans.

Cast-wise the movie holds its own too. Brian Matthews makes for an OK leading man, but it's really the supporting cast that highlights here. Young Jason Alexander and Fisher Stevens both make their film debuts here (along with a passing Holly Hunter) and prove to be likable goofs. Also good is Larry Joshua as the beefy camp bully.

So slasher fans, The Burning is one flick that's not to be missed. Be sure to find an uncut version of it though.

*** out of ****

There's no disguising the fact that 'The Burning' is a rip off of 'Friday the 13th' so I won't bother arguing about it. The most important thing is that 'The Burning' has more likeable characters and they are killed off in gorier and more flamboyant ways. This makes it one of the few knock offs that I can think of that surpasses the original. The thing that really makes this outstanding isn't the handful of actors in the cast of unknowns that went on to bigger and better things (Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter,etc.), but Tom Savini's realistic and gruesome effects, some of his best work. I don't think you really watch a slasher movie for much more than some shocks and some gore, and this has both in spades, making it one of the very best slasher movies of the 80s. This genre isn't my favourite kind of horror, but I enjoyed 'The Burning' a great deal, and the uncut version is worth tracking down for the raft sequence alone, which is unforgettable and very, very cool. Recommended, but not for the squeamish.

Summer camp caretaker Cropsy is fire roasted when some pranksters try to scare him with a flaming skull. Five years later, after numerous failed skin grafts, Cropsy is released back into society with a horribly scarred face and even more scarred psychological make-up. Now he's got a bone to pick and returns to the same camp of his accident (after gutting a hooker in the stomach with a pair of scissors) to get revenge on the new campers populating the camp. Armed with a pair of hedge clippers he doesn't hesitate to hack into a dozen or so foul-mouthed, oversexed teens, setting aside special interest in counselor Todd (Brian Matthews), who was one of the kids responsible for his burning. Even though it's saddled with a tired, predictable plot, this is still one of the best of the Friday the 13th rip-offs, and that has a a lot to do with Tom Savini's gory special effects. The music score is also excellent and there are fun appearances by Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter, the guy who played Ratner in Fast Times at Ridgemont High and some other recognizable faces before they were famous. The original VHS of this film was heavily trimmed to remove the gore, but that footage has since been restored. I saw the uncut version on Showtime actually.