The Burning (1981)

Purely Joyful Movie!

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

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.

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.

A copycat outing, one of hundreds made in the wake of Friday THE 13TH, which uses the old plot of "horny teenagers get bumped off one by one at a summer camp" as its basis. However, THE BURNING is not bad like you might at first think. Firstly, the movie is exceptionally atmospheric, using a picturesque setting as its background and enhanced by a fine electronic score by Rick Wakeman. Secondly, there are a fair amount of suspenseful stalk-and-slash sequences - especially the drawn-out finale - which are done well, often with clichéd but effective POV shots. Thirdly, the special effects - by genre maestro Tom Savini - are plentiful, top-notch and painfully realistic, especially if the film is seen uncut. They're something to remember.I won't bother going into the plot, other than that it's a clichéd, cardboard cut-out outing which is basically an excuse for the camera to ogle half-naked and totally naked girls bathing and showering, and for the male cast members to engage in plentiful sub-PORKY'S style antics. Sex is on every teenager's mind, whether it's the lust-mad jock or the creepy antics of Alfred, who enjoys spying on girls making out or in the shower, and is a major part of the film. Indeed Cropsy's first outing on his release after 5 years in hospital after the terrible prank that left him horrifically scarred is to try and make out with a prostitute.The acting skills from the fresh-faced cast aren't really up to scratch, although some of them do have fun. However, I did like Brian Matthews' performance as the square-jawed hero who wields a mean axe, and Brian Backer's memorable turn as the slightly pervy Alfred, the object of much ridicule and hate. It's certainly fun to play spot the famous face, with first-time appearances from Jason Alexander, Fisher Stevens, and later Oscar-winner Holly Hunter adding to the fun. But in the end it's the murders - and the villain - that stand-out in this slasher yarn.Tom Savini - the FX maestro - gives us all manner of gory effects work in this movie, whether it be blood literally spraying in arterial fountains from chest wounds, or numerous shots of a snipped throats and flesh! Despite the obvious faults, THE BURNING is a more than efficient slasher film that more than delivers the goods, and is one of the few films made good by the gore effects alone (Peter Jackson's BRAINDEAD is the best example of this). Or maybe I just saw it at an impressionable age...