Last week I reviewed Sleepaway Camp, the 1983 summer camp slasher that’s perfect for people who want to get into horror. This week I wanted to do something different, but I couldn’t get a certain movie out of my head. That movie is The Burning. It would take one no more than a quick Google search for one to ask, “Is he really going to review another camp slasher from the 80s?” Yes. Yes I am.
The Burning was released in 1981 and directed by Tony Maylam. The budget was significant for 1981 — around 1.5 million dollars — however, the movie was overshadowed by the release of the blockbuster Friday The 13th, a year earlier, and Friday The 13th: Part 2 released the same year as The Burning. This timing absolutely mucked the movie’s chances at the box office, and it earned only around a measly $708,000, making absolutely no profit. Despite this poor box office performance, The Burning is a solid stand alone slasher that brutally missed out on the limelight, and thus remains a hidden gem to horror movie fans.
The movie revolves around Cropsy and his blood filled revenge. Cropsy was once a caretaker for the camp , but a prank by some punk kids left Cropsy horribly disfigured and stuck in the burn unit for a while. When Cropsey escapes, he seeks revenge on the campby killing off both campers and counselors with an array of weapons he finds on the spot. More timid viewers might use the “sympathising with the killer” tactic with Cropsy to avoid becoming too scared — at least until you see how bad Cropsy’s burns really are. You don’t see Crospys face until the final showdown in the movie, but when you do, it might become clear why 1981 horror fans chose Jason and his mother to be their favorite movie killers at the time.
The movie has Tom Savini (The Michelangelo of horror special effects) working practical effects in this movie, so needless to say the film is pretty bloody and relatively realistic. Savini has an insane talent to make injuries to humans look repulsively real. This movie may be his best work, even better than his famous work on Friday The 13th as well as smaller movies such as The Prowler. The way Savini makes blood spurt out of a fake body part can send shivers down your spine while at the same time making you grow in respect for his work.
This flick also features a young cast of future stars, such as Jason Alexander (who went on to become George Costanza in the hit sit-com Seinfeld) and Holly Hunter (who went on to starin pictures such as Raising Arizona, The Piano, and the voice of Elastigirl in The Incredibles). These two accomplished actors as well as the rest of the cast all die for their roles… pun intended.