The Burning is based on the Cropsy urban legend that has haunted summer camps in New York and New Jersey for decades. In this film, a group of campers play a mean-spirited trick on Cropsy, the caretaker, that results in a fire that leaves Cropsy terribly burned (and really pissed off). After his release from the hospital several years later (they were never able to repair the horrific burn damage done to his face), Cropsy heads back to camp to seek his revenge (well, first he heads into the city to kill a hooker, because, come on - isn’t that what you would do?)
So we pick up at a camp not far from the one that was closed down after the Cropsy incident. Summer is in full swing, as the campers prepare for a multiple night excursion that will see them taking a canoe trip into the woods. Lost in the standard summer camp activities (joking, fighting and sleeping with each other), the campers and counselors are unaware that an uninvited guest is on their trail.
I really don’t know why, but one of my favorite things about this movie is that you can’t really separate the campers from the counselors. You have a group of camp-aged kids just sort of filling in the background, but everyone that we follow is like 22. The first time I watched The Burning, I really couldn’t figure out which ones were the campers and which ones were the counselors until over half-way through the flick. This isn’t really a strike - I consider it to be one of the strange charms of The Burning.
Another (and more legitimate) charm is the make-up and FX work from Tom Savini. He reportedly turned down Friday the 13th, Part II to work on this project, and his contribution is really what makes it stand out (though he does re-use the Kevin Bacon death gimmick, but I imagine it was at the absolute insistence of the Weinsteins. Either way, it still worked). But rest assured, a crap-load of blood, limbs and sharp objects went into the making of this flick. It’s slasher-tastic.
The Burning features an interesting cross-section of major Hollywood players before they were major Hollywood players. It was created by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, with Bob co-writing the script. Brad Grey, who would later head Paramount, was also given a story credit. And it was one of the first films that Miramax released. Plus, it sees the film debuts of Jason Alexander, Fisher Stevens and Holly Hunter (which is just sort of fun to watch).
This film was the source of a great deal of controversy upon its release, due to a particularly graphic death scene (this scene is actually instrumental in helping The Burning stand out among the thralls of Summer Camp slashers. In addition to being gory, Cropsy takes down half of his victims en masse). The subsequent outrage was particularly intense in Britain, where it landed on the Video Nasties list. It is my understanding that the versions available today include all of the original footage (though, please correct me if that is wrong).
Sure, The Burning is one of a long line of slasher films that came through during the early ‘80’s, but it absolutely earned its place in horror history. If you have never seen it, it’s a good option for Halloween, and even though it’s not one of the major players, it is worthy of your time.
I should rewatch this!
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