The Burning (1981)

This came out a week after "Friday the 13th Part 2" in 1981 and contains all the staples of that blossoming franchise: disfigured killer, iconic weapon (in this case, garden shears), summer camp, camp counselors, a prank gone wrong, swimming antics, deep woods sexual frolics, death during (or after) sex, a secret hideout for the killer, semi-nekkid or fully nekkid teen girls, etc."The Burning" is held in high esteem mostly for its infamous raft sequence, but that only involves about 30 seconds and it's not THAT phenomenal. At best, the movie might be as good as some of the "Friday" sequels, although the girls are subpar by comparison, albeit okay. Nonetheless, "Burning" has its points of interest, like Brian Backer from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and, especially, a young Jason Alexander from Seinfeld with a full-head of hair. Production-wise, it's low-budget but superior to, say, "Sleepaway Camp."The film was shot in and around existing summer camps outside Buffalo in Western New York, as well as North Tonawanda.GRADE: B-/C+

The Burning (1981) is an instant classic slasher horror flick, puts most of horror movies today to shame. This movie come out the same year as did Friday the 13th Part 2 my favorite horror film. They are so many horror films in 1981 I haven't hear, see or they are forgotten. This movie however surprised me. "It ripped off Friday the 13th" no it didn't! This movie was different, it was a revenge film but it was different than Friday the 13th. It is an original story not a copycat of other slasher films. Honestly I think this movie is much way better horror movie than Friday the 13th Part 2. This movie has a different story, it is not that bad and it is a good slasher movie and it just become my favorite horror film.The story follows campers from summer camp goes with canoe trip to Devil's Creek once there they become targets, from a former summer camp caretaker, horribly burned from a prank gone wrong, with a pair of hedge clippers to take revenge on the campers. Once there they are trapped while assailant is stalking them and kills them one by one. I enjoy this film it is not a bad slasher horror film it is instant classic and really puts most of horror films to shame. It has a lot of nudity with girls been naked and sexy. This days I don't see any naked girls in any slasher horror films today. They don't make horror movies like this one in the woods today. Back in the 80's was more work than today. Tom Savini from Dawn of the Dead makes special effect for more gory blood and they work. Just like he did special effects for Friday the 13th, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter and Dawn of the Dead he makes effects for this movie and the gory kills really works. There is a lot of scares and twists in here that keeps getting you interested and intense. It doesn't allowed you to stop watching it. Friday the 13th part 2, My Bloody Valentine, The Burning, The Howling and American Werewolf in London are really in my top five favorite films from 1981 in horror genre. Why can't we get movies like this?Directed and original story by Tony Maylam who directed the film really good. I miss movies like this today and I think it is a really good movie. Brian Matthews, Brian Backer, Carrick Glenn and Carolyn Houlihan were believable at acting and they were really good. 8/10 this movie is an instant classic in the horror genre from the 80's for me.

Time travel exists! This took me right back to my youth when Friday night was video night and you'd trek around the stores to find the best deals and movies. You had to work for your entertainment then, there was no pay-per-view or the internet. Me and my mates would walk miles to get the right films. Friday night was horror. Though I never did see this one until now it's so reminiscent of the trash we used to watch that I felt as though I had been transported back in time.This is the "Death" camp story that so many movie companies released after the success of Friday 13th. Though this doesn't come anywhere near it does have one hell of a cast, including Jason Alexander, Fisher Stevens, Holly Hunter, Ned Eisenberg, Brian Backer, and Leah Ayers. It even has a soundtrack by The Wizard of the Keyboards Rick Wakeman. The special effects are designed and created by Tom Savini.Shame that with all this talent that the story lets them down; and who names a psychotic killer "Cropsy" didn't the writers see "Crapsy" just waiting to be shouted by the critics? Even though the story isn't a direct rip-off of Friday 13th it's along the same lines, enough so that comparisons can be drawn. However, it's the inconsistencies that made it irksome to me. Especially the scene where the canoes have gone so they decide to take a lot of time to find wood and build a raft. If it takes that much time then how did Crapsy, sorry, Cropsy get there before them... on foot? Give the audience a little respect.There are also quite a few dubious directional contretemps. Such as the obvious doctored still in the end "Mine" sequence. More so with the raft and canoe scene where the actions, reactions, and the outcome is totally unbelievable; though I shook my head is dismay and laughed, I did like the idea of it.Even with these niggling elements, it's still entertaining. I believe this is because of the lightness that permeates most of the film. It's seventy percent good-natured romp with ten percent seriousness and twenty percent tensity. It's because of this I would recommend this as a starter for a horrorfest, it'll set you up nicely for a more fulfilling main course.

however, it should be noted that the "original" referred to is 'Friday the 13th' from the year before and the word should be used reluctantly as it too recycled the finer parts of many (better) films that came before it (not least Mario Bava's 'Bay of Blood' from 1971). But still, 'Friday the 13th' is the film that, through being a financial success, really established the slasher genre in all its cliché glory and it is clearly this that 'The Burning' was hoping to cash in on.The plot hardly needs detailing: a large group of children, some older and some younger, spend the holidays in a summer camp where a deranged former caretaker, Cropsey, enacts his brutal and gory revenge for the prank-gone-wrong which left him horrendously burned some years before. So far, so predicable slasher…and yet, the film retains a high watch-ability factor from clearly being done by people who knew what they were doing as the film was the first to be written and produced by the Weinsteins, the gory kills are courtesy of maestro Tom Savini (who had actually worked on 'Friday the 13th), the soundtrack was done my prog-rock king Rick Wakeman, and the cast includes good performances from a young Jason Alexander (George from 'Seinfeld') and Fisher Stevens (the Indian guy from 'Short Circuit'). To top this off, Tony Maylam's direction (although he wouldn't go onto to produce anything else of real note) is self-assured and effortlessly builds tension as the kills come in and the horror of the situation dawns on the unwitting children and staff.Comparing 'The Burning' to 'Friday the 13th' (a film which I actually don't rate highly at all), I think that a key difference is that the group of children in 'The Burning' is larger. As a result, the film takes its time at the beginning establishing the personalities of some of the key characters by playing them off against each other in the form of the cliques and bullying that typify these kinds of groups. This makes the characters three-dimensional and means that we care much more about the characters as they die…unlike in 'Friday the 13th' where people are just fodder for imaginative kills. The result? All the gore…but a more engaging film.Unfortunately, because the film was basically self-consciously imitating 'Friday the 13th', it can never escape the comparisons and anyone that hasn't seen it would be forgiven for not wanting to because of that. But those that have seen it can vouch for the fact that, imitation it may be, but the quality of the movie more than stands up for itself and is a must-see for genuine horror fans.