In the early Eighties, there was a glut of slasher flicks that came out, spawning from the success of the likes of Halloween and Friday the 13th. One of the more notable, or dare I say notorious, of these films was 1981's The Burning. Notable not just for make-up maestro Tom Savini's shockingly realistic gore effects, but also for having a staggering number of future Hollywood notables both in front of and behind the camera. Since we're having a bit of Indian Summer here in Minnesota, I felt inspired to take another look at this little piece of vintage 80's horror.
One summer night at an upstate New York summer camp, a prank several teens play on the mean caretaker of the camp, Cropsey (played by Lou David), goes horribly wrong as Cropsey winds up being accidentally set on fire and horribly burned. A year later, driven insane from the excruciating pain, Cropsey returns to the camp seeking vengeance against those responsible. He sets his sights on a group of campers heading out for an overnight campout led by counselors Todd (played by Brian Matthews) and Michelle (played by Leah Ayres). Among the campers are such rapscallions as misfit Alfred (played by Brian Backer), Woodstock (played by Fisher Stevens), horndog Dave (played by Jason Alexander) among others. Soon it becomes a fight for survival between the campers and the deranged Cropsey.
There are a few things that in retrospect make The Burning stand out among the other slasher films of the era. For starters, it had an unusually strong cast that includes the screen debuts of Jason Alexander, Fisher Stevens, and Holly Hunter. The film was also the first film produced by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, who also helped develop the story along with his brother Bob Weinstein, with assistance from other writers that include Brad Grey, who has been the President of Paramount Pictures for the last ten years.
Also, the film is notable for the content of the film itself. From the showpiece raft massacre scene the film is famous for, and is just as shocking if you know it's coming, to the overall effects from make-up maestro Tom Savini, who manages to create some of the most startling and realistic effects I've seen in a film of this type. The film also breaks from convention in how movies like this usually play out. I won't spoil it but the characters in the film are allowed to be intelligent and make intelligent decisions, like if you should get the hell out of a place, they do that. It's a refreshing change of pace for a genre that got very stale very quickly. The film itself has not aged well and is clear it takes place in the eighties with the gloriously funky early eighties score by Rick Wakeman filling the speakers. But yet, despite it's age, the film still works as an effective scary movie and fans of horror movies of the era should find much to enjoy here.
Overall, The Burning is an above average, if slightly obscure entry in the 80's slasher movie era. With it's better than average cast, the film is a bit more bearable than the average horror film of the era as the actors actually create characters you care about. Well, for the most part. There are still the odd few jerks you don't mind seeing go down. For fans of the genre, there is plenty here to recommend the film.
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