The Burning (1981)
MGM / Widescreen (1.85:1) / Color / 1 disc / 91 minutes

We are watching an early-1980s slasher right? Nearly an hour into THE BURNING, and the body count hasn’t even started. (That is unless you count the obligatory prostitute stalking and stabbing — by way of PEEPING TOM — that leads us out of the prologue.

But when the excrement finally hits the oscillating ventilator, it’s well worth the wait, even though the THE BURNING’s overall story is a rather lukewarm adaptation of FRIDAY THE 13TH. It’s an early Miramax production from the ubiquitous Weinstein brothers, Bob and Harvey, who seem to have a hand in dozens of major films these days.

Here’s what you get: A cast featuring a youthful Jason Alexander and a nearly unrecognizable Holly Hunter; gore effects from splatter sultan Tom Savini, copious nudity and a paint-by-numbers story that is strangely endearing. You won’t find any hockey masks or machetes (or the sweater-clad Mrs. Voorhees, thank God), but the antagonist — the horribly disfigured Cropsy — wields a mean pair of hedge clippers.

The peace of an upstate New York youth camp is shattered when a nighttime prank results in the burning and near death of the camp’s caretaker. Five years later, now horribly scarred by the accident, Cropsy the caretaker hits the streets to enact revenge.

The next half hour or more is dull exposition as we are introduced to the newest batch of young campers. There’s the awkward nerd, the jock, the prankster, several nice girls gone bad, a few horny young men and several camp counselors who wouldn’t be fit to house-sit a cat, more less a camp of randy hooligans. In fairly direct fashion, the kids set off on a river excursion, complete with non-diegetic banjo music (An homage to DELIVERANCE perhaps?), obligatory campfire tales and secret meetings in the woods for sex.

One of those evening trysts ends in slaughter and the campers soon discover their canoes have floated away. As the forest becomes an abattoir around them, the campers must turn to their instincts to find a way back to civilization. Creative killings ensue, as does a predictable, yet somewhat unsatisfying ending.

You’ve probably seen this all before, but done better (FRIDAY THE 13TH) and possibly worse (GIRLS NITE OUT). As a slasher, THE BURNING falls somewhere in the middle. It’s worth your time though, for the unexpected gore, frank nudity and relatively likable cast.

Although the film’s soundtrack is fairly standard for early-80s horror — squelchy synth stabs and repetitive atonal arpeggios — it was composed by Rick Wakeman of Yes, and has a Goblin-esque quality to it … sort of a SUSPIRIA meets the Pet Shop Boys vibe. THE BURNING was given a decent visual treatment thanks to cinematographer Harvey Harrison, whose most recent credit is second unit work on 4: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER.

It’s a solid 2.5 star effort from the production company that would eventually become a leader in mainstream independant film with movies such as SEX, LIES, AND VIDEOTAPE and THE CRYING GAME.

Make an effort to seek out this forgotten classic!

Check out a trailer for THE BURNING below: