The Burning

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 ****

"The Burning" showed up on Showtime late one night, as I've noticed many rare films have (one time, I saw a really strange Italian action-adventure movie from the 80s, complete with bad dubbing and all) so I decided to tape it, hoping to finally see the infamous "raft scene," which was probably the only reason I wanted to see this.

Well, let's just say the movie didn't live up to ALL my expectations, but it wasn't terrible. The story is fairly generic, complete with rehashed backstory about Cropsy being burned to near-death by some mischevious campers. After five years in the hospital (!) he's finally released, so what's the first thing he does? Solicits a prostitute, of course, with terribly gory results. Eventually, he makes his way to a summer camp, armed with some gardening shears, to do some dirty work as only a slasher movie villain can.

The real deal doesn't start until some counselors and campers (well-established in the "Meatballs"-like interum of forty minutes) head off on a canoeing trip down the river. Cropsy comes along, and only then manages to do away with some (not enough) of our unlucky characters. So, who are these people? Well, there's Todd (Brian Matthews), the brawny head counselor who only wants everyone to get along; Michelle (Leah Ayres), his likable co-counselor and girlfriend, I suppose; Alfred (Brian Backer), the weird outcast who seems to eternally annoy Glazer (Larry Joshua,) our stock bully character. Rounding out the main characters are Karen (Caroline Houlihan) and her slimy boyfriend Eddy (Ned Eisenberg), kindly prankster Dave (Jason Alexander), Glazer's girlfriend Sally (Carrick Glenn), and Woodstock (Fisher Stevens), who...well, who's just plain weird, and he's got the stupidest laugh ever.

Anyway, most of these people are all killed before the credits roll, and only the ones you really end up liking survive. As far as who survives, well, it's usually a bit more predictable earlier on in the movie. Took me a while to figure out who was playing who. I thought Karen was the "final girl" at first, and Michelle was the slutty friend. In the end, though, there really is no "final girl," at least not in the conventional manner. Sure, there's a female character left standing (I wonder who, take a wild guess) but most of the climactic action is left to two male characters, which while unique to the genre, did not work for me. I mean, I realize that Alfred's character was supposed to be sympathetic and we were supposed to worry about him during that delirious, never-ending run through the woods, but that job is better performed by a token heroine. I guess I'm just old-fashioned. I don't mind a male hero (sort of expected, I guess) but when all the heroine is given is one scene of peril, and then some dull scenes on a boat, the tension all but dies away for me.

Anyway, speaking of all this carnage, the gore in this movie is unbelievable. I definitely winced a few times (particularly with the prostitute's murder) and would expect nothing less from Tom Savini. And that, my friends, leads me to the raft scene. It was, I'm sorry to say, a letdown. I mean, the suspense that builds as you realize what's going to happen in the scene, is really well-established, and I was on the edge of my seat. But then...it's over in a few seconds. The scene is extremely rushed and while somewhat gory, didn't really seem like a whole lot of carnage. Now, I'm not a fan of watching mass killings or anything, but I suppose I was just hoping the scene lived up to its reputation, and it really didn't.

As far as music, there's an excellent score that works well with the movie, and always adds a little edge to things. Acting-wise, everyone does pretty well. Leah Ayres was a little uneven. While at some points she was excellent, and her delivery was right-on, at others, like when she was angry, she got a little melodramatic. Jason Alexander shines, and it's no surprise he went on to be something big. Holly Hunter, the movie's other budding star, is barely in the movie. You see her a few times once they go on the rafting trip, but she has very little dialogue, and not much to do. Oh well. Everyone else is decent, to say the least. There's quite a bit of nudity in this one, more than I expected, and the shot of people mooning someone, a staple of camp slasher films, is here, and is quite hideous, thanks to Fisher Stevens. Probably one of the most hideous butt shots in film history.

Anyway, "The Burning" isn't a bad movie, but it isn't great. There aren't many genuine scares, and towards the end, things seem to inexplicably lose a lot of suspense. I suggest you see it, though. It's probably required viewing for slasher fans.

THE BURNING

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Sound format: Mono

An abusive caretaker at a lonely summer camp is disfigured by fire during a prank which goes horribly wrong. Five years later, he returns to the area to take revenge against one of his former persecutors (now a camp counsellor) and the kids in his charge.

Makeup artist Tom Savini rejected an opportunity to work on "Friday the 13th Part 2" (1981) in order to create effects for Tony Maylam's THE BURNING, yet another in the assembly line of low-budget horror movies which emerged in the wake of HALLOWEEN (1978). Savini warned the film's producers - including a fledgling Harvey Weinstein! - that the script for THE BURNING shared uncomfortable similarities with the "Friday" sequel, though fans may have been too dazzled by the gruesome set-pieces to either notice or care. In truth, THE BURNING shares only a handful of superficial details with "Friday 2", including a late night campfire episode in which the villain is dismissed as an urban legend, culminating in a false 'scare' which today's audiences will probably see coming a mile off. Despite a couple of groan-inducing incidentals ("Oh, I forgot my vitamins - I'll have to go back to my cabin through the dark, creepy woods!"), the narrative develops organically from one scene to the next, and characters react believably to the escalating situation. Unfortunately, the climax - set mostly within an abandoned mineshaft - is staged and executed with little flair or suspense, and amounts to something of a major disappointment.

Of course, the main point of interest - besides seeing some familiar faces in early roles, including Jason Alexander (TV's "Seinfeld"), Fisher Stevens (SHORT CIRCUIT) and an unrecognisable Holly Hunter - is Savini's horrific makeup effects: Victims are slashed, stabbed, punctured and poked in graphic detail, and blood flows copiously from some horribly convincing wounds. Indeed, the film reaches a crescendo of horror during a notorious sequence involving an 'abandoned' canoe (I'll say no more), one of the most vicious set-pieces of the 1980's 'slasher' cycle. Briskly paced, and scored with a series of electronic doodles by no less than Rick Wakeman (!), THE BURNING may seem awfully simplistic to modern viewers, but it delivers the gory goods in no uncertain terms. The movie was censored for an R-rating, but the uncut version has since been released on home video.

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!