Customer Reviews

The Burning

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(46)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

In my daily search for lost horror movie gems, I thought to myself that I may have found one in the notorious slasher movie called "The Burning". Indeed, the movie is notorious because it was previously banned in some countries as the gore is considered to be graphic in the extreme. However, upon a viewing of the movie, I came away thinking to myself that it wasn't so much the gore that would offend the average viewer especially horror movie lovers (Tom Savini was terrific as usual), but, if anything, perhaps the sex scenes and nudity were a little strong for younger viewers, certainly not enough to be banned, however.

Anyway, "The Burning" starts off simple enough as the audience is thrown into the middle of Camp Blackstone as an ornery man named Cropsy is being conspired upon by a group of boys who want to "pay" Cropsy back for his sinister ways. The trick goes bad and Cropsy is burned so badly that no skin grafts would take and Cropsy is reduced to an inhuman freak of nature. Still, Cropsy recovers his physical strength and then some it seems as he begins his mission to gain revenge upon those campers that wronged him, including any other girls or adolescent sex-crazed boys that might be in the area.

The plot in "The Burning" is simple and quite effective as it is based upon the age old act of revenge. After he leaves the hospital, Cropsy haunts the woods of another camp where one of his former pranksters/assailants is now a camp counselor. Now, if you have seen "Madman" or any of the "Friday the 13th parts 1-6" movies, you have a basic idea of what it going to happen, or do you? An element of surprise along with some graphic violence brilliantly orchestrated by the legendary, Tom Savini, marks this slasher as a cut above the rest. Interestingly enough, even children, in broad daylight no less (which is certainly not the norm in horror flicks), are not spared in this movie, and I think that makes this movie more realistic, scarier and certainly more horrifying. No one is exempt from the vicious and evil Cropsy. Perhaps, it is this graphic violence where not even the children are safe in the broad daylight that shocks the conscience of the audience and sets this movie apart from the abovementioned horror flicks.

Indeed, "The Burning" is similar to "Madman" and "Friday the 13th" but also different. "The Burning" is constructed differently and, as I mentioned above, the majority of the death scenes occur in the daytime, which as I said is quite unusual for horror flicks, but very effective in creating a sense of realism which only works to magnify the horror of this film.

The infamous "raft scene" (***SPOILER ALERT***) takes place in broad day light as well, and the audience really has no idea about what is about to happen, and that's part of what makes it so great along with the brilliant special effects of Tom Savini and the brutal violence associated with this scene. The setting of the raft scene is rather unorthodox for a horror movie as you have children safe in a raft during broad daylight and having a great time no less. However, a lonely canoe emerges, the contents of which are largely unknown or to say the least surprising. The audience knows that the campers' canoes are missing, that a girl is also missing, therefore, the viewer thinks it could be the body of this girl, but when the kids on the raft come upon what seems to be this lonely canoe, a scene which ranks highly as one of the greatest scenes of pure horror ever filmed in a slasher flick (or any horror movie for that matter) ensues. The "raft scene" is an absolutely brilliant piece of cinematic horror and the movie is worth owning for this scene alone, although the movie is very good overall as well.

Cropsy, as a villain, is quite formidable, sadistic, perverted, strong and evil, and after the burning of his body, it is apparent that Cropsy takes on a rather inhuman form with monstrous characteristics and qualities that only amplify his prowess as a villain. In fact, it's safe to say that Cropsy is an evil, sadistic and perverted freak of nature.

The main things I like about "The Burning" is the unexpected scene the audience gets with the raft, the realistic-type atmosphere and the brilliant job done by Tom Savini on the blood and gore associated with the murders in this movie. The kills are violent, shocking to the conscience, come without warning, vicious and are committed without remorse leaving the audience horrified and paralyzed with fear of Cropsy.

Criticisms of this flick are few but not entirely insignificant. As with many slasher movies, there is some needless dialogue, gratuitous nudity and some scenes that maybe funny in a sense, but have absolutely nothing to do with the movie as far as its merits as a horror movie are concerned. However, there is some constructive character development in these scenes and the camp theme is presented only too well (gives me flashbacks) and quite accurately in the movie. It is unfortunate that some of the scenes do reflect some weak acting at times, and if you are not really into the humor of sexual inuendos and such, you may find yourself bored as the movie tends to drag just a bit in the middle.

Still, "The Burning" heats up into a very nice horror movie and while "The Burning" may be inferior to some of the elite horror movies on certain levels of producing scares and atmospheric "horror" in the sense of inspiring fear in the audience, the movie is still very effective as a horror movie with its graphic violence and shocking death scenes. The theme music with Cropsy is very effective and the audience settles right into Cropsy's dark, morbid and isolated world of evil. The atmosphere in "The Burning" with regard to its support of the movie as a horror flick comes and goes with Cropsy really, but when it's there, it's very effective. In other words, when Cropsy appears to be out of the picture, the movie takes on a kind of comedy-like atmosphere in a sense and it is funny, but this also works to ease the uneasy emotions and tension in the audience stimulated by the horror and fear that "The Burning" produces.

At times, "The Burning" struggles to maintain the pure horror movie spirit and the effect is spurts of virulent horror (albeit very effective spurts of horror), but we do not have in this movie the unrelenting terror and building tension of "Halloween". The acting in "The Burning" is average and the characters are not very likeable which may temper the horror just a bit. With all of that being said, "The Burning" is a must-own horror movie classic in my opinion, and is clearly superior to all of today's trash and sacreligious remakes of horror movie classics. Indeed, "The Burning" is very effective as a horror movie and is one of the greatest slasher flicks ever made while also earning a nice little place on my DVD shelf. "The Burning" is a clear-cut classic in my opinion, although the rating says FOUR STARS, my official HorrorMan rating is 4.5 STARS.

As a side note, look for Jason Alexander who plays a happy-go-lucky type of guy who fosters comedy during the dry scenes as the movie tends to drag a bit in its efforts to inspire a horror-movie like atmosphere...the now famous actor on the hit TV sitcom "Seinfeld" was able to steal a few weak comedy scenes with his buddies. GLAD THEY FINALLY CAME OUT WITH THIS MOVIE ON DVD!! THANKS FOR THE HEADS UP CLINT!!

There are so many slasher-movies with the usual cliches; dumb blondes (no offence) that are running up the stairs instead of running just out the front door to escape from the boogeyman; cars that don't start; everybody being killed one by one, and in the end the bodies suddenly pop up when the only survivor (the dumb blonde) finally starts to suspect there's something wrong etc.
This flick is totally different, 5 people are killed by the maniac at the same time in broad daylight. Their bodies are discovered by a whole group of teens, who are crying for the lost of their friends. This is the first time that such things are shown in a slasher-movie and I had my share.
So this movie has an entertaining story and isn't that predictable as most of the slasker-movies are. The SFX are also very good.
My advise, if you like slasher-movies don't miss out on this one, but also don't expect a -nightmare on Elm street- success.

Not only is the movie one of my favorite hidden slasher gems of the 1980's, the transfer to dvd is absolutely beautiful. While the dvd lacks many special features, it makes up in picture. Even as a standard dvd, it holds up top notch on my LCD television. DEFINITELY recommended for any horror/slasher fan out there with intention of adding to their library. I'm so glad this finally had an official release!

The featurette with Tom Savini and the audio commentary is worth the buy as well. Plus, the low price. Pick this movie up, and contribute to the interest of putting more gems onto dvd format!

"The Burning" is hands down my favorite slasher film of the 80's..
I personally love the killer in the woods slashers the best and this is the perfect premise.This film starts as a flashback "of course"..The kids at a summer camp play a trick that goes terribly wrong on Cropsy the mean spirited grounds keeper and he is burned beyond recognition, Flash to hospital where the horribly burned and disfigured Cropsy is being treated and going through physical therapy then released with a warning that it will take him awhile to adjust to being in the outside in his disfigured state..Flash to the seedy part of Times square he picks up a prostitute and when she reacts in a horrified manner to his appearance he loses it and kills her ,After seeing the first kill I knew it was going to be a great slasher film.
Flash back to the woods "summer camp " Cropsy returns to the scene of the crime to wreak havoc and spill PLENTY of blood .I personally don't see why they didn't make a sequel ,Cropsy and his garden shears are scarier than Jason and his machete anyday as far as I'm concerned.
I have 2 copies of this DVD one still unopened,as you can see it's hard to find and if you find it it's very expensive. This is a MUST HAVE for slasher fans.

THIS IS THAT ONE GOOD HORROR MOVIE THAT NEEDS TO BE ON DVD IVE BEN AFTER THIS MOVIE FOR 3 YEARS NOW WHY IS THIS MOVIE NOT ON DVD I KNOW THAT ALL OF YOU LOVE TO SEE THIS ON DVD

I remember first seeing this movie when I was about 5 and beingso scared it gave me nightmares. Do not take this lightly. I had beenwatching horror films since I was 2 and no horror film had reallyscared me until I saw this one. Anyway, I saw it again recently and itwas still pretty scary. It may be considered a "Friday the13th" rip-off, but I personally thought it was on par with theFriday the 13th series

The killer in "The Burning" wasincredibly creepy because he is never really seen, other than thefirst and last five minutes of the movie. You are left with yourimagination to visualize how horribly disfigured this man has becomefrom the cruel prank played on him. And unlike the murder of almostevery other horror film, Cropsy isn't afraid to take his anger out onanyone, adult or child.

Remembering this film, I am reminded of oneparticular scene which has been mentioned several times. THE RAFTSCENE. No other horror movie (to my memory) has ever had the guts topull off what was done here. This scene is still implanted in my mindand will no doubt go down in horror movie history.

Another attributewhich makes this movie completely frightening is the haunting score. Istill hear those haunting keyboards playing in my occasionalnightmares. Creepy.

Creepy atmosphere, haunting score, and actingjust cheesy enough to work make this a memorable 80s slasher. Totallyunderrated and a must-see for any horror connoisseur. Also try Madman,which was another movie based on the "Cropsy Legends."

Long ago, a janitor named Cropsy was burned horribly by a bad prank that went wrong leaving him disfigured. Five years later, he comes back to the same camp where he worked as now he seeks revenge with a huge pair of shears which he uses to cut his victims in pieces with it but can the campers survive a vacation to hell?

Entertaining and gory to the max slasher movie that is one of the most overlooked slasher movies ever! Tom Savini's make-up effects are mindblowing even by today's standards as i think he is the master of all make-up artists. The film co-stars Holly Hunter and Jason Alexander before their major film careers, there's some incredible graphic violence such as the infamous raft massacre sequence with more of the gore that was cut out and restored on this DVD. The music score is quite chilling as well, it's not for the faint of heart but a must have for fans of "Sleepaway Camp" and "Friday The 13th" alike.

The DVD has some cool extras like two featurettes especially on Tom Savini's make-up effects, photo gallery and a trailer.

Originally released in 1981, The Burning may seem like Friday the 13th redux (the original Friday only came out a year before this did), but make no mistake that this slasher is better than any installment of that long running and tired series. The Burning revolves around a camp terrorized by the deranged Cropsy (Lou David), who five years prior was the victim of a prank gone horribly awry, which has left him horribly burned to the point where no skin grafts of any kind could take. Naturally, a camp full of horny teenagers should sate his homicidal desires. What really makes The Burning memorable are the inventive makeup and gore effects of legendary FX master Tom Savini (coming hot of the success of Dawn of the Dead and Friday the 13th), as well as the super early appearances from future Oscar winner Holly Hunter, as well as funnyman Jason Alexander and Fisher Stevens. It's also worth noting that the film was written and produced by Harvey and Bob Weinstein; before their upstart company Miramax went to runaway success. The DVD doesn't have a plethora of extras, but it does have a commentary track from director Tony Maylam as well as a featurette with Tom Savini who recollects on his work and experiences making the film. All in all, slasher movies rarely get any better than this, and if you've never seen The Burning, you should definitely check it out.

I remember seeing the Australian video cover to this film in a service station many years ago, and it was the now ultra-rare cover with "This movie has contents which may offend" and one of the girls getting her throat slit by the maniac killer. I HAVE this video cover somewhere at home, just want to know how much it's worth. The back of the cover has a deleted scene on it where the remaining survivors are coming out of the woods to go into the helicopter. But on the movie itself, it's an old fashioned slasher film in the same way as Friday The 13th is, just not as effective. But i loved it, the gory death scenes were good, especially where Glazer dies. I bought this for $150 on DVD here ages ago (What a BIG mistake that was, since you can buy it now for $7.98.) All in all, a good, creepy slasher film, with a creepy soundtrack.

The burning is probably one of the best slasher films to be released in the early 80's so why is it not released on dvd yet on Amazon. This is one of those forgoten horror films that should not be ignored, so it might have all your typical horror cliches and this film might look like it was cashing in on the sucess of Friday the 13th only thing is I think that its better than any of the friday the 13th sequals and it was fantastic. A group of teenagers dicide to play a prank on the old caretaker but when the prank goes wrong the caretaker is burned and badly disfigured, a couple of years later when hes released from hospital he decides to have his revenge on the kids in the same camp and he'll kill anyone in his way. Cropsy the killer in this film was quite menacing and his weapon of choice is a garden shear so you can only imagine the damage that is going to happen in this film. The story is simple enough but you'll probably want to watch this for the graphic gore and blood and this film does not dissapoint, the special fx were done by Tom Savini some scenes include a teenager being stabed in the neck and then impaled on a tree and the canoe scene where a bunch of teens get their limbs and fingers hacked of and thats the reason why this film almost got an x rating and was banned in sevral contries. The film also has two famous casts including Jason Alexander and Holly Hunter before they were stars and I'm sure they probably wouldn't mention anything about this film out of embaresment oh well, the film was slightly sleazy what with the execsive nudity blood and gore but thats what makes this film excelent to watch.