The Burning (1981)

Story by Tony Maylam & Brad Grey & Harvey Weinstein
Written by Peter Lawrence & Bob Weinstein
Directed by Tony Maylam

Yeah, you read that writing credit correctly, it's THOSE Weinsteins. The ones that run most of Hollywood currently. This was the film that broke them into the industry, even their mother Miriam (for whom Miramax is partially named) helped them with pre-production. This film is based on the famous Cropsy Maniac legend, that is still told as a campfire story to this very day. Another entry into the early 1980's slasher boom, this film set itself apart with the horrific gore that was just becoming a regularity in horror films, and it is one of the films that built the legend of Tom Savini as the go-to man for anyone looking to fill their film with realistic, horrific gore.

Like Madman (which was originally based on the same legend), this film starts with a flashback showing the making of the monster, which is then told by a camp counselor to scare his campers. Like the other summer camp slashers in the genre, of course the Cropsy legend comes to fruition, making the campfire story into truth, regardless of whether or not the counselor that told it knows it or not.

Cropsy was the evil caretaker of Camp Blackfoot, and one night, the campers decided to get back at him for making their lives harder by playing a prank on him, putting a disgusting skull-like object with worms crawling through it into Cropsy's cabin while he slept. The only problem was it had burning candles in the eyes, and when Cropsy is woken up, he freaks out and stupidly tosses the skull onto his bed, which seems to be covered in some type of fire accelerator because his bed immediately catches fire, and the fire immediately spreads to Cropsy himself, who runs out of the cabin in flames. He eventually falls in a pond that puts the fire out, but only after he is horrifically burned. Five years later, Cropsy is released from the hospital with his horrific disfigurement, and immediately he takes his anger with the world out on a prostitute that picks him up on the streets of New York City.

The rest of the story deals with a summer camp that is booming, and a few of the campers are people that would later become well known actors, including Holly Hunter, Jason Alexander, and Fisher Stevens. After the characters are established, and the requisite jump scares are included, the campers go off on their own only to wake up one morning to find out their only mode of transportation has been done away with, and the campers are stranded far enough from the campsite to be stalked and killed, one by one. Which isn't entirely the case, because one of the most memorable scenes is the raft scene, where Cropsy pops out of nowhere and slaughters everyone aboard in especially grisly fashion.

What sets this film apart from other slashers like it is the gore, of course, which is magnificent, this is documentation of Tom Savini at his peak. The direction is not as good as a film like Madman, the camerawork is a bit weak, and a lot of times the screen direction is faulty, mostly to hide the fact that they couldn't figure out a logical way for Crospy to appear from nowhere. However, these are minor qualms with an otherwise well paced film that has a higher body count than most slashers of its ilk, and hell, even the finale connects the original event of Crospy's disfigurement to one of the characters involved in the current story, which is not typical with these types of films, often the storyline gives no explanation for the killer's motivation, it's just grisly murder for grisly murder's sake. Hey, I have no problem with that, but when they actually do manage to connect the story in the end, it's like a bonus treat for horror fans, a message that not everyone that makes our entertainment thinks we're a bunch of drooling morons.

However, regardless of the story, the special effects are the real show here, from some great throat stabbings and slashings, to the fantastic design of Cropsy's horribly disfigured face. Not to mention it involves some very inventive kills, especially considering that Cropsy's weapon of choice is a pair of garden shears, which of course he used to scare the campers with. If you're looking for the cream of the crop of 80's splatter slashers, this is the film you're looking for.

8.0/10