The Burning

5/8/19811h 31m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ A legend of terror isn't a campfire story anymore! ~

Overview:

A caretaker at a summer camp is burned when a prank goes tragically wrong. After several years of intensive treatment at hospital, he is released back into society, albeit missing some social skills. What follows is a bloody killing spree with the caretaker making his way back to his old stomping ground to confront one of the youths that accidentally burned him.

Director:

Tony Maylam

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$1,500,000.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

summer camp
woods
revenge
burned alive
murder
camp
slasher
maniac
death
campfire
psycho killer
campfire story
voyeurism
video nasty
prank gone wrong

Cast

Brian Matthews

~ as ~

Todd

Leah Ayres

~ as ~

Michelle

Brian Backer

~ as ~

Alfred

Larry Joshua

~ as ~

Glazer

Jason Alexander

~ as ~

Dave

Ned Eisenberg

~ as ~

Eddy

Carrick Glenn

~ as ~

Sally

Carolyn Houlihan

~ as ~

Karen

Fisher Stevens

~ as ~

Woodstock

Lou David

~ as ~

Cropsy

View full cast & crew

Reviews (2)

Wuchak
Written 6 year(s) ago
6
Decent “Friday the 13th” knockoff

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. At best, the movie might be as good as some of the “Friday” sequels, although the girls are subpar by comparison, albeit okay. Nonetheless, “Burning” has its points of interest, like Brian Backer from “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and, especially, a young Jason Alexander from Seinfeld with a full-head of hair. Production-wise, it’s low-budget but superior to, say, “Sleepaway Camp.”

The film was shot in and around existing summer camps outside Buffalo in Western New York, as well as North Tonawanda.

GRADE: B-/C+
CinemaSerf
Written 1 year(s) ago
5
MGM, the Weinstein brothers and none other than Corky Burger have joined forces to bring us this rather weak and derivative attempt at fraternity-horror. "Cropsy", the pretty unpleasant caretaker at a lakeside holiday camp is the victim of a rather cruel prank perpetrated by some spoilt, immature, youth. Scoot on a few years and this now heavily scarred and somewhat narked individual is out for revenge on those who have turned him into a walking walnut. Meantime, there is a new generation of sex-obsessed teenagers frequenting a nearby camp where "Todd" (Brian Matthews) tries to keep them from killing, bullying and/or shagging each other before he, and the others, begin to realise that shower snoopers and mischief makers are most definitely not all they have to worry about. To be fair, it's not a terrible film - it's just really poorly written with some banal dialogue and some stereotypical characters that frankly deserved all they could get from crispy "Cropsy". The wooded scenario lends itself well in creating just the merest hint of menace and the hand-held camera work is quite effective at times as these rather vacuous American beauties face their ultimate challenge. It looked OK when I saw this recently on a big screen, but a few drinks and a storm outside would probably help it just as well on the television in October.