The Burning

Plot synopsis:
At Camp Blackfoot, five boy campers decide to frighten the caretaker, Cropsy (Lou David). The group heads over to his cabin with a box, and one boy goes inside, puts the box down, lights something and walks out. They rap on the window until Cropsy wakes up, and sees a wormy skull with lit candles in the eye sockets. He screams and inadverntany knocks over the skull, setting the bed afire and burning a nearby gasoline can which explodes, spreading flames all over the cabin. Cropsy runs out, engulfed in flames, and falls down a small incline into the nearby lake. One week later, at St. Catherine's hospital, an orderly takes a nebbish intern to see a man, badly burnt, who was lucky to survive. As the orderly stands by the curtain to an oxygen tent, Cropsy's charred hand grabs the orderly, who screams in terror.Five years later, Cropsy is released from the hospital, apparently very disfigured from the scorching episode. Cropsy walks the streets at night, dressed in all black clothing with a hat and hiding in the shadows so no one will get a clear look at his face. A prostitute standing by the entrance to a seedy apartment building offers to take him inside. Cropsy enters the prostitute's apartment (being careful to turn out the lights before he enters). As she is preparing, Cropsy gets close and the terrified hooker tells him to leave after seeing his (still unseen) disfigured face. Cropsy struggles with the prostitute, grabs a pair of scissors, and stabs the hooker to death.Several days later at Camp Stonewater, several of the campers are playing baseball, Cropsy is glimpsed crouching in the bushes armed with a pair of garden sheers, but he does not intervene. That evening in the cafeteria, one of the campers, Karen (Carolyn Houlihan) tells the councelor Michelle (Leah Ayres) that she likes the camper Eddy, but she is a little frightened of him because of his macho nature.The next morning, another camper named Sally (Carrick Glenn) wakes up and goes to shower. While showering, she hears a noise and screams "who's there?" She throws back the shower curtain and screams. Michelle, Karen, and the rest of the girls from her cabin run in and they see Alfred (Brian Backer) running away. Coucelor Todd (Brian Matthews) stops Alfred and has a serious talk with him in his office. Alfred says that he just wanted to scare Sally and that people are always picking on him. Todd says that he knows how Alfred feels because, five years ago, when Todd was a camper at a nearby summer camp, he and several of his friends were sent home from camp for a practical joke that went wrong. A little later, Glazer (Larry Joshua), Sally's brutish boyfriend, warns Alfred to stay away from his girl.Later, the campers are swimming in the lake when Glazer pushes Alfred off the dock and into the water. One of Alfred's friends, Dave (Jason Alexander) jumps in and helps Alfred out because he cannot swim. Dave, Woodstock (Fisher Stevens), Eddy (Ned Eisenberg) and Fish (J.R. McKechnie) help Alfred get revenge against Glazer. Woodstock shoots Glazer in the butt with an air pistol while he is on a raft trying to woo Sally.In the cabin that night, Cropsy is hanging around and spying on the campers when Alfred reacts when he sees Cropsy's at the window. But the other campers don't see anything. Glazer asks Fish to buy some condoms from him for his upcoming intimate time with Sally, while Dave and Woodstock play cards. In the cafeteria, the head councelor talks to Michelle, Todd, and the rest of the campers about a three-day canoe trip to Devil's Creek, several miles downriver from the camp.The next day, a large group of campers are out canoeing. At night, around a campfire, Todd tells the story of Cropsy the caretaker. He mentions the prank and that Cropsy survives in the woods, killing animals and eating them raw. Eddy jumps out in a mask and scares everyone. Later, after everyone has gone to sleep for the night, Eddy and Karen take a walk to a nearby small lake where they begin kissing. Karen seems doubtful about wanting to have sex with Eddy, and he decides to skinny dip in the lake. When Karen joins him and remains unsure about his true intentions, Eddy grows angry, and Karen leaves. She finds her clothes scattered around the trees. While looking for them, Karen is attacked and killed by Cropsy who slashes her throat with a pair of garden shears.The next morning, Todd and Michelle ask Eddy where Karen is and he says that he does not know. Soon, they learn that all the canoes are missing, and Todd finally decides that the group needs to construct a makeshift raft to get back to their camp. After helping cutting down some small trees, the group manages to finish the raft. Glazer goes off with Sally to make out with her while Alfred spies on them.Eddy, Woodstock, Fish, and two of the female campers Marnie (Bonnie Deroski) and Rhoda (Ame Segull) leave on the raft to row back to camp. After paddling up river for a few miles, they see one of their canoes and row towards it. But when they reach their canoe (in the movie's most shocking and violently horrific scene) Cropsy, crouched inside waiting, leaps out onto the raft and, in a matter of seconds, slashes, chops, and dismembers all five campers to death.That evening, unaware of the massacre on the raft, Todd and the others wait for help to arrive. Glazer and Sally go off in a sleeping bag for a remote part of the woods for sex. Despite the unsatisfying moments of intimacy, they decide to stay for another. Glazer goes back to the main campsite to get matches to light a fire. While he is gone, Cropsy attacks Sally. Glazer gets the matches, and Alfred gets out of his sleeping bag to follow Glazer to watch him and Sally have sex. Glazer returns to the sleeping bag to find Sally dead, and he is killed by Cropsy who impales him by his neck onto a tree with the shears. Alfred runs back to the campsite to tell Todd that Glazer is dead and the "man with the horrible face" did it. Todd reluctantly follows Alfred back to the site where they find the dead and bloody Glazer and Sally. Cropsy jumps out from behind a tree and swipes at Todd with the shears, nicking him in his forehead. Alfred screams and runs away into the woods with Cropsy in pursuit. Todd wakes up and stumbles off into the woods.The next day, the campers see the raft return as it floats down towards them. Michelle swims out to the raft and finds various parts of the campers on the raft, including the dead and mutilated Woodstock. Todd returns to the camp and tells Michelle and the six remaining campers, Barbara, Tiger, Sophie, Diane, Alan, and Dave, to row back to the camp to get help while he goes off to find Alfred who may still be alive. Todd grabs a felling axe and goes looking for Alfred who is hiding in the woods from Cropsy still hounding him.The campers on the raft return to Camp Stonewater and Michelle warns the supervisor, Jeff, to rescue Todd and Alfred still out there. Jeff and Michelle jump in a motorboat and head down river towards Devil's Creek.Meanwhile, Alfred is grabbed by Cropsy and bound and gagged inside a building which looks like an old copper mine. Todd, having heard Alfred's screams, gets to the mine shaft and goes inside (after finding a dead Karen). Cropsy pins Alfred's left arm to a wall with the shears and goes after Todd with an old blowtorch which is a crudely modified flame-thrower. Todd enters the area near a workshop and stable area and sees Cropsy (whose horribly burned face is finally seen) holding the flamethrower. A flashback shows that Todd was one of the five campers who was responsible for the prank. Cropsy turns off the flamethrower, and Todd hears Alfred scream again. Cropsy reappears again in the shed and turns back on the flamethrower and tries to set Todd on fire while he swings at the manic with the axe. As Cropsy is swinging the flames around, Alfred frees himself and stabs Cropsy in the back with the garden shears. At the same time, Michelle and Jeff arrive at the campsite where she waves down a police helicopter that arrives and disembarks a few policemen who advance into the woods. Back at the mine, Todd and Alfred begin to walk out of the mine when Cropsy revives and attacks Alfred. Alfred moves out of the way as Todd swings the axe, hitting Cropsy in the face and pinning him to a support pillar. Alfred grabs Cropsy's modified flamethrower and sets him afire. Now relieved that Cropsy is finally dead, Alfred and Todd walk out of the mine shaft while the standing-up body of Cropsy continues to burn.In the final scene, the story of Cropsy and his legend is being told around a campfire.

Tags: revenge, cult, murder, violence, prank

Review:
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.
The effects are above average (though quite heavily cut in the British version) thanks to gore-king, Tom Savini and Rick Wakeman's electronic music score is far more effective than Harry Manfredini's psycho-like strings in Friday the 13th.
One of the first (and best) horror films to follow in the massive success of Friday the 13th (1980) is this terrifically bloody slasher film.Prank leaves camp caretaker horribly disfigured and ready for some harsh vengeance.
Enter a band of teenagers and a sharp pair of garden shears...While admittedly The Burning isn't the most well-written horror movie of the period, it's definitely one that delivers great atmosphere and suspense.
Five years later, he returns to the area to take revenge against one of his former persecutors (now a camp counsellor) and the kids in his charge.Makeup artist Tom Savini rejected an opportunity to work on "Friday the 13th Part 2" (1981) in order to create effects for Tony Maylam's THE BURNING, yet another in the assembly line of low-budget horror movies which emerged in the wake of HALLOWEEN (1978).
Unfortunately, the climax - set mostly within an abandoned mineshaft - is staged and executed with little flair or suspense, and amounts to something of a major disappointment.Of course, the main point of interest - besides seeing some familiar faces in early roles, including Jason Alexander (TV's "Seinfeld"), Fisher Stevens (SHORT CIRCUIT) and an unrecognisable Holly Hunter - is Savini's horrific makeup effects: Victims are slashed, stabbed, punctured and poked in graphic detail, and blood flows copiously from some horribly convincing wounds.
Hedge clippers in hand, the caretaker begins his reign of terror on the counselors and attendees."The Burning" has the raunchy toilet humor of "Meatballs" mixed with everything you came to expect from slasher films like "Friday the 13th" and "Sleepaway Camp." You have nice girls making bad decisions by hooking up with bad guys.
Special Make-up Artist Tom Savini returns to camp for a second time after his classic work on "Friday the 13th." His handiwork keeps the blood flowing efficiently.Brian Backer plays a character more annoying than the one he did in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." Jason Alexander (yes, George Costanza) portrays a sporty and popular high schooler.
She looks like she was maybe 13 years old."The Burning" is another one of those cult classics many people forget about in the shadow of "Friday the 13th." If you're a fan of 1980s slasher movies, it's a must-own..
The thing that really makes this outstanding isn't the handful of actors in the cast of unknowns that went on to bigger and better things (Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter,etc.), but Tom Savini's realistic and gruesome effects, some of his best work.
"The Burning" showed up on Showtime late one night, as I've noticed many rare films have (one time, I saw a really strange Italian action-adventure movie from the 80s, complete with bad dubbing and all) so I decided to tape it, hoping to finally see the infamous "raft scene," which was probably the only reason I wanted to see this.
Future Miramax honchos Bob and Harvey Weinstein made their big break into filmmaking with this movie based on the real-life round-the-campfire scary story of the Kropsy Maniac, filmed in upstate New York around the same time as the thematically similar "Madman".Here, the psychotic killer is actually named Cropsy, and was a drunken, abusive caretaker at a summer camp before accidentally burning himself - badly - after a prank concocted by vindictive campers goes bad.
Five years later, poor Cropsy (Lou David), now deformed and loosed upon the world after a long hospital stay punctuated by unsuccessful skin graft operations, returns to the area he knows so well to exact extremely brutal vengeance with a pair of garden shears.That weapon alone is enough to make Cropsy iconic, and, although this movie is very standard stuff story wise, it's executed with skill by a crew headed by director Tony Maylam.
The cool and creepy electronic music score is the work of Rick Wakeman.Brian Matthews as male lead Todd and Leah Ayres as female lead Michelle are okay but over shadowed by the supporting cast including some very familiar faces who went on to great fame in the years to come - Jason Alexander, who's a hoot as smug life-of-the-party type guy Dave, Fisher Stevens, as the amiable Woodstock, Brian Backer ("Rat" in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High") as nerdy outcast Alfred, Ned Eisenberg as obnoxious, aggressive Eddy, and Larry Joshua, who's a riot as domineering bully Glazer.
Yes, the raft scene is ultimately violent and looks very realistic in most aspects but that's about the extent of its violence (except for maybe the hooker scene) and doesn't do much from other slashers considering all other scenes involved.There are a few young actors in "The Burning" who rose to fame many years later after this film had been released but contributed nothing to their popularity.
Tom Savini does a nice job on the gore effects here which don't seem to be all that different from his works on "Friday the 13th" which this film is strangely similar to in style (as is most 80's slashers).The Cropsy character is an interesting character though gives no evidence of being a mean person before his accident.
The Burning showcases some of Tom Savini's best work (originally cut to ribbons in the original theatrical and VHS releases) , a moody synth score by Rick Wakeman, and an amusing cast of characters (many of whom have very recognizable faces).There's atmosphere, suspense, brutal kills, some likable characters...what more could one want from a slasher flick?
You get "The Burning," the best 80's slasher movie since "Friday the 13th!" After a prank goes wrong, Cropsy, the sadistic drunk caretaker, is horribly disfigured after being burned alive.
Well, too bad for the campers of Camp Stonewater, because they're very close to the old remains of Camp Blackfoot, and Cropsy is watching them, ready to tear them apart with his large garden shears.Tom Savini has said that "The Burning" is not a "Friday the 13th" ripoff, even though it has those elements.
First, there's the excellent effects of Tom Savini, who creates some of the most perfect kills of the 80's slasher trend, including the infamous "raft massacre" sequence.Next, there's an awesome cast of young, talented teens.
Brian Matthews and Leah Ayres are very good as Todd and Michelle, Larry Joshua is so lovably hateful as Glazer, Brian Backer of "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" fame makes a very good outcast as Alfred, Jason Alexander(George of "Seinfeld") is awesome as Dave, and so is a young Fisher Stevens("Short Circuit") as Woodstock, and if you look close enough, Holly Hunter is in there as Sophie.
The cast is gigantic, so I don't want to drag this paragraph out.Also, there's the great direction of Tony Maylam, who never made another horror movie after "The Burning." He actually has some style, filming wonderful POV shots, those amazing kills, and he chose the right place to film the movie.And finally, "The Burning" has a very creative, techno, vintage score by Rick Wakeman, who is popular for being in the hit rock band YES!.
Coming from "The Burning," he shows a lot of talent.Although the script is a little bit thin, Tony Maylam's 1981 gore-ific slasher flick is one of the most awesome movies to come out of the genre.
The first movie produced by Miramax's Bob and Harvey Weinstein, and one of the earliest solo flights by makeup marvel Tom Savini, THE BURNING fell victim to the "Video Nasties" controversy that raged in London during the Eighties, and as a result a lot of the horrifying set pieces here were neutered down to a late-night shock show edit.
:o) It all builds up nicely and there's some excellent gore scenes in the 2nd half of the movie when Cropsy the janitor returns to kill off kids from the summer camp and get revenge for his burning!!
I give The Burning 8.7/10, very entertaining slasher, very good pacing, very good characters, loads of impressive gore from the master Tom Savini and a creepy ending, i advise all horror movie fans to SEE THIS NOW!!!.
After spending five years in hospital Cropsy, now a disfigured monster, is released back into society and eventually heads back to the campsite with murderous revenge in mind!The Burning' was one of a spate of campsite slashers made to capitalise on the success of the previous years Friday the 13th' and is quite possibly the sub-genre's most enduring film.
The actors are more believeble than in the Friday 13th-series, and the killings are excellent done by the master of horror-effects, Tom Savini.Also, very funny to see Jason Alexander (George from Seinfeld) in his first ever screen-apperance - and doing a fine job too!.
And it's good to see this mayhem occurring in starkest daylight.The storyline is typical, but the unusual (for a slasher) Rick Wakeman score adds a little "class" to the proceedings.The late Brit director Tony Maylam, who never made another horror pic in his life, directs THE BURNING with solid efficiency and squeezes decent performances from the young cast.Cropsy's tragic backstory -- that he was a mean-spirited asshole who got teased a lot -- doesn't do much for our sympathies.
The special effects (by Tom Savini of Friday the 13th) are the only saving grace of this uninteresting, badly-acted and sloppily-scripted piece of junk.One scene in particular stands out in my mind: the counselors (yes, this movie takes place at a summer camp; original isn't it?) are discussing the legend of the movie's killer.
There is a nice score but it's repeated so often you're tired of it by the end of the movie.This also has a young Jason Alexander (with hair!) and is the film debut of Holly Hunter (good luck trying to spot her).
'The Burning' Is A surprisingly good early eighties's Slasher Flick, the film was an early production by the now world famous 'Miramax' studio, it also has the debut's of well known's such as Oscar winner Holly Hunter, And Seinfield's Jason Alexander, Film's plot has a childish prank by summer camp councilors's goes horribly wrong when they accidentally burn an obnoxious caretaker beyond recognition, skip to five year's later the Caretaker is out of care from the hospital, and out for revenge, which has superb special make up effect's from make up maestro Tom Savini,But be warned some of the slashing's are definitely not the faint of heart,.
Gory, excellent, scary and very i Cool totally a horror classic, this is what you look for in a slasher film, a creepy killer, great gore, suspense, and hilarious actor's this movie was so fun and totally worth it, today this is what horror needs., now lets get on to the real stuff, the burning would get a 9.5/10 for me because it basically is a enjoyable film and is a visual masterpiece to slasher collection and will always be one of my favorites.
But still, 'Friday the 13th' is the film that, through being a financial success, really established the slasher genre in all its cliché glory and it is clearly this that 'The Burning' was hoping to cash in on.The plot hardly needs detailing: a large group of children, some older and some younger, spend the holidays in a summer camp where a deranged former caretaker, Cropsey, enacts his brutal and gory revenge for the prank-gone-wrong which left him horrendously burned some years before.
So far, so predicable slasherand yet, the film retains a high watch-ability factor from clearly being done by people who knew what they were doing as the film was the first to be written and produced by the Weinsteins, the gory kills are courtesy of maestro Tom Savini (who had actually worked on 'Friday the 13th), the soundtrack was done my prog-rock king Rick Wakeman, and the cast includes good performances from a young Jason Alexander (George from 'Seinfeld') and Fisher Stevens (the Indian guy from 'Short Circuit').
Cropsy's back, and he's got a score to settle.Barely a year following the release of the smash-hit slasher 'Friday The 13th', the clones began to fill up the assembly line, and in tune with the genre's trademark lack of subtlety, 'The Burning' makes little attempt to disguise its roots.
Produced and written by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, who later went on to become major movie producers and the owners of the major company Miramax Films, this bloody little camp-set slasher film is sure to please nearly any horror fan.
forget that pile of crap scream and i know what you did last summer and watch the burning a real slasher and not a preppy slasher like the two i mentioned.they will never make slasher movies like the burning ever again unfortunately.besides high tension and toolbox murders remake nothing has come out besides wannabe slasher garbage.if you want to see very gory murders created by the god of gore effects tom savini then i suggest you get a copy and make sure it is uncut.this has a classic killer with a burned face picking off teenagers with his big pair of gardening shears.this is a Friday the 13th clone that has never had a sequel and i don't know why it is way better than most of the Friday sequels.
This came out a week after "Friday the 13th Part 2" in 1981 and contains all the staples of that blossoming franchise: disfigured killer, iconic weapon (in this case, garden shears), summer camp, camp counselors, a prank gone wrong, swimming antics, deep woods sexual frolics, death during (or after) sex, a secret hideout for the killer, semi-nekkid or fully nekkid teen girls, etc."The Burning" is held in high esteem mostly for its infamous raft sequence, but that only involves about 30 seconds and it's not THAT phenomenal.
Before they were huge producers, the Weinstein brothers released a little known slasher picture entitled "The Burning", which featured in small roles modern day stars Jason Alexander, Fisher Stevens, and Holly Hunter.
The film features the right amount of suspense to keep you on the edge, a compelling story, likable and unique characters, and of course a pool full of blood."The Burning" is basically about a cruel camp caretaker named Cropsy who gets horribly burned in a prank-gone-wrong by some of the kids.
The killer wields a large pair of hedge shears and uses them to good effect, slashing throats, impaling and, in one particularly grisly scene, chopping off a young man's fingers and causing them to fly into the air.One of the great video nasties of the early eighties, 'The Burning' is pretty cool.
Look closely and you'll also spot a young Jason Alexander, who succeeds in giving the best performance!Of course, the real reason that any one would want to see the full version of this all but forgotten slasher is for Tom Savini's great gore effects unrestricted.
That films like "The Prowler" (directed by Joseph Zito, who also did the third "Friday" sequel) and Tony Maylam's "The Burning" are remembered as such "standouts" today owes more to their timing and the expertise of FX go-to-guy Tom Savini than any sort of creativity.
It starts with a pretty good burning man, but after a stupid bit in a hospital and an out-of-place city scene featuring an ugly hooker, we're left with an outstandingly average summer camp killer movie in the "Friday the 13th"/"Sleepaway Camp" vein.
Now the former creepy caretaker decides to stalk a group of summer camp pranksters for one bloody unforgettable revenge, they won't forgot.Directed by Tony Maylam (Split Second) made an effective, brutal, slasher film in the wake of "Friday the 13th".
One by one unsuspecting campers get cut up by Cropsys Hedge clippers as he prowls the dark woods.The Burning is clearly one of the many Friday the 13th ripp-offs that plagued the 80s cinema screens, however this one is probably one of the best in the genre.The Burning have everything that makes a slasher great, gory kills created by the genius Tom Savini, realistic and lovable characters, excellent music, great mood and lots of suspense.
Many Famous faces such as Jason Alexander (George in Seinfield!) and Holly Hunter are seen in the movie, this makes it even more fun to watch.As a fan of the slasher genre i love The Burning and have seen it repeated times on VHS, however i saw it on DVD last night.MGMs DVD release of the Burning is close to flawless and totally uncut.
The killing scenes in this film were under direction of its makeup artist Tom Savini, who worked on horror classics such as Friday The 13th, Maniac, Dawn Of The Dead, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and many more.
Luckily the version I have is the uncut Australian release.Overall, "The Burning" is an underrated and exceptional slasher film which all horror fans should get alot out of, particularly fans of Friday The 13th, Sleepaway Camp, etc.
The special effects by Tom Savini are great and the general entertainment for a slasher type horror film is excellent.
Not only does it feature a recognizable cast of up and coming soon-to-be-stars, but it has career-best work by makeup artist Tom Savini, a wicked score by Rick Wakeman, and an impressive series of set pieces.The plot is your usual summer camp slash 'n dash stuff - a camp caretaker is left horribly burned after a prank goes wrong and, years later, he returns to make sure all the kids at Camp Blackfoot have as bad a time as he did.Let's face it, that's not exactly reinventing the wheel, but there's a lot to recommend her.