Ouch, what a burn

Today we're doing things differently, we're talking about:

The Burning (1981)

But with SPOILERS!

The reason for the spoilers is simple, without them, all I can say about The Burning is “campers are stalked by a madman” which wouldn't be very satisfying. Besides, if you've ever watched a horror movie, especially a slasher, then you can predict 90%+ of The Burning.

The movie opens at Camp Blackfoot, where a group of older kids are planning their revenge against the cruel and sadistic camp caretaker, Cropsy. This goes wrong and Cropsy is severely, almost fatally burned. He is released from hospital five years later, kills a prostitute for some reason, and goes to Camp Stonewater to stalk and kill the kids there, even though they had nothing to do with his burns. We meet all the campers and their counselors, and see Cropsy lurking in the background. A big event, the overnight canoe trip is coming up and soon enough the kids are off and so is Cropsy and his trusty pruning shears. Cropsy kills some kids and we get to the finale.

If you get some Friday the 13^th vibes, it is apparently a coincidence. The Cropsy legend is a genuine campfire story told in real life. It was turned into a script before Friday the 13^th was shot, according to effects maestro Tom Savini who does the effects for The Burning. Miramax clearly wanted to turn Cropsy into a franchise, but the movie didn't sell well enough outside Japan, where it became a huge hit.

The Burning is a very mixed bag for me. The actors are overall very good and stars some famous names in their first movie roles like, Jason Alexander, Fisher Stevens and Holly Hunter. The effects are good, they are Savini effects after all, even though he was extremely rushed, and the cinematography is simple but decent.

The script is sadly weak and the dialogue is pretty awful. If you're feeling generous you can see it as “that's how teens talked back then” and maybe they did, but there are no good lines in The Burning.

Seeing as this movie was released in 1981, and it is one of the original slashers, we can forgive the fairly lackluster setup of “disfigured madman massacres teens” as it wasn't overused back then. What I'm having a hard time with is Cropsy's apparently supernatural ability to travel large distances instantly and to hide in plain sight. It is one of those things you're not supposed to think too much about, but they explain and show so much of Cropsy's backstory that you know exactly what he is, there is no mystery like in Halloween and Friday the 13^th. He is just a disfigured man with murder in his heart, yet he possesses borderline supernatural abilities.

So, do I recommend this movie? Depends really. Dedicated horror fans shouldn't miss The Burning as it is basically a classic, but others can probably find something better to watch. The Burning isn't a bad movie, but it really isn't that good either. It beats out many of the sequels in the more famous franchises but can't compete with their originals.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!