Flicks of Shame: what's a nice actor like you doing in a movie like this?

The Burning (1981)

Let’s see. We’ve got a boyish prank that goes tragically wrong, we’ve got a mutilated psycho with revenge on his mind, we’ve got a summer camp full of horny young folk and we’ve got some sharp garden tools that are about to be used in ways the manufacturers did not intend. Yep, we’re firmly in the realms of the slasher movie for this entry, a notorious splatter flick that was among the “video nasties” removed from British shelves lest the youth of the nation be corrupted by the sight of severed rubber limbs.

Camp Blackfoot is where the story begins, with a gang of young lads plotting to put the frighteners on the camp’s tyrannical caretaker, Cropsy. Their masterplan involves putting a rotting skull with candles in the eye sockets next to his bed while he sleeps, and then banging on the windows to wake him up. The joke works – Cropsy gets quite a shock. Such a shock that he knocks the skull onto his bed sheets and transforms himself into a human inferno. He staggers out of his squalid hut and tumbles into the lake.

Five years later, and the disfigured Cropsy is dumped back into society with one thing on his mind – to get even with those pesky kids. But first he heads into New York and stabs a prostitute in the stomach with a pair of scissors. What, you thought you get to be a slasher movie villain without a little practice?

Camp Blackfoot has long since closed down, but a new camp has conveniently opened up right across the lake, and the lead counsellor, Todd, just happens to be one of the kids who plotted Cropsy’s flaming mishap. Background checks were obviously not a priority for camp staff back in the Eighties. Also present and correct are the expected array of thrusting young teens whose flagrant sexual encounters will enrage the chargrilled killer in the woods.

Among their ranks are a number of familiar faces, not least of which is a 23-year-old Holly Hunter making her film debut as Sophie. Also along for the gory ride is future Seinfeld star Jason Alexander (playing the tubby joker in the pack, naturally) and Fisher Stevens, who most will remember as the not-really-Indian guy from Short Circuit (see: Ally Sheedy).

After the obligatory set-up scenes, during which we learn who wants to sleep with who and endure a barrage of fake scares in which ominous figures turn out to be best friends inexplicably lurking in the shadows, the core group of older kids set off on a three day canoe trip – and Cropsy begins his rampage in earnest. While the boys try their best to date rape as many girls as possible, the frazzled psycho gets to work with his weapon of choice – a pair of garden shears.

The special effects come courtesy of Tom Savini, who upped the gore ante the year before in Friday the 13th (see: Kevin Bacon), and he does his utmost here to top even that display of crimson slaughter. One sequence in particular, in which some of the kids try to escape on a makeshift raft only to be massacred midstream by Cropsy, remains one of the most startling and memorable in slasher history. Lunging out of a canoe, the killer dices his way through the teens with admirable efficiency, lopping off extremities and sinking his blades into throats with real enthusiasm. Sudden and shocking, the scene has been the focus of many censorious snips over the years.

By the time the trembling survivors have been ferried back to camp (Holly Hunter and Jason Alexander among them) only counsellor Todd and shy nerd Alfred remain to confront Cropsy in the ruins of his old hut. Between them they manage to impale the killer with his own shears, sink an axe into his face and then set him on fire, again, just for good measure.

It’s actually quite hard to pick out Holly Hunter in this movie. Unlike Jason Alexander and Fisher Stevens, who both have sizable speaking roles, Hunter’s character spends most of the movie in the background and only gets to utter a few lines, one of which just involves shouting “Todd!” Of course, by 1984 she was working with the Coen brothers, and four years later she was nominated for an Academy Award for Broadcast News, so maybe there’s something to be said for staying clear of the slasher limelight after all.

Need to know: The Burning was produced by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, their first venture into filmmaking under the Miramax banner. They would, of course, go on to become two of the most powerful and notorious men in Hollywood, producing flicks as varied as Clerks, Pulp Fiction, Scream, Cold Mountain and Chicago.

The Burning was directed by Tony Maylam, who would also bring us the Rutger Hauer clunker Split Second (see: Pete Postlethwaite), while the editor on the project was Jack Sholder, whose own directorial career includes such staples of Eighties horror as Nightmare on Elm Street 2 and The Hidden. Fisher Stevens can also be found in Super Mario Bros (see: Bob Hoskins).

The soundtrack for The Burning was composed by bonkers prog rock demi-god Rick Wakeman, and his epic electronic soundscapes make for an unusual – and surprisingly effective – backdrop to the queasy bloodshed on screen.

Availability: The Burning is available uncut on DVD on the Vipco label.

		The Burning (1981) Let’s see. We’ve got a boyish prank that goes tragically wrong, we’ve got a mutilated psycho with revenge on his mind, we’ve got a summer camp full of horny young folk and we’ve got some sharp garden tools that are about to be used in ways the manufacturers did not intend. Yep, we’re firmly in the realms of the slasher movie for this entry, a notorious splatter flick that was among the “video nasties” removed from British shelves lest the youth of the nation be corrupted by the sight of severed rubber limbs. Camp Blackfoot is where the story begins, with a gang of young lads plotting to put the frighteners on the camp’s tyrannical caretaker, Cropsy. Their masterplan involves putting a rotting skull with candles in the eye sockets next to his bed while he sleeps, and then banging on the windows to wake him up. The joke works – Cropsy gets quite a shock. Such a shock that he knocks the skull onto his bed sheets and transforms himself into a human inferno. He staggers out of his squalid hut and tumbles into the lake. Five years later, and the disfigured Cropsy is dumped back into society with one thing on his mind – to get even with those pesky kids. But first he heads into New York and stabs a prostitute in the stomach with a pair of scissors. What, you thought you get to be a slasher movie villain without a little practice? Camp Blackfoot has long since closed down, but a new camp has conveniently opened up right across the lake, and the lead counsellor, Todd, just happens to be one of the kids who plotted Cropsy’s flaming mishap. Background checks were obviously not a priority for camp staff back in the Eighties. Also present and correct are the expected array of thrusting young teens whose flagrant sexual encounters will enrage the chargrilled killer in the woods. Among their ranks are a number of familiar faces, not least of which is a 23-year-old Holly Hunter making her film debut as Sophie. Also along for the gory ride is future Seinfeld star Jason Alexander (playing the tubby joker in the pack, naturally) and Fisher Stevens, who most will remember as the not-really-Indian guy from Short Circuit (see: Ally Sheedy). After the obligatory set-up scenes, during which we learn who wants to sleep with who and endure a barrage of fake scares in which ominous figures turn out to be best friends inexplicably lurking in the shadows, the core group of older kids set off on a three day canoe trip – and Cropsy begins his rampage in earnest. While the boys try their best to date rape as many girls as possible, the frazzled psycho gets to work with his weapon of choice – a pair of garden shears. The special effects come courtesy of Tom Savini, who upped the gore ante the year before in Friday the 13th (see: Kevin Bacon), and he does his utmost here to top even that display of crimson slaughter. One sequence in particular, in which some of the kids try to escape on a makeshift raft only to be massacred midstream by Cropsy, remains one of the most startling and memorable in slasher history. Lunging out of a canoe, the killer dices his way through the teens with admirable efficiency, lopping off extremities and sinking his blades into throats with real enthusiasm. Sudden and shocking, the scene has been the focus of many censorious snips over the years. By the time the trembling survivors have been ferried back to camp (Holly Hunter and Jason Alexander among them) only counsellor Todd and shy nerd Alfred remain to confront Cropsy in the ruins of his old hut. Between them they manage to impale the killer with his own shears, sink an axe into his face and then set him on fire, again, just for good measure. It’s actually quite hard to pick out Holly Hunter in this movie. Unlike Jason Alexander and Fisher Stevens, who both have sizable speaking roles, Hunter’s character spends most of the movie in the background and only gets to utter a few lines, one of which just involves shouting “Todd!” Of course, by 1984 she was working with the Coen brothers, and four years later she was nominated for an Academy Award for Broadcast News, so maybe there’s something to be said for staying clear of the slasher limelight after all. Need to know: The Burning was produced by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, their first venture into filmmaking under the Miramax banner. They would, of course, go on to become two of the most powerful and notorious men in Hollywood, producing flicks as varied as Clerks, Pulp Fiction, Scream, Cold Mountain and Chicago. The Burning was directed by Tony Maylam, who would also bring us the Rutger Hauer clunker Split Second (see: Pete Postlethwaite), while the editor on the project was Jack Sholder, whose own directorial career includes such staples of Eighties horror as Nightmare on Elm Street 2 and The Hidden. Fisher Stevens can also be found in Super Mario Bros (see: Bob Hoskins). The soundtrack for The Burning was composed by bonkers prog rock demi-god Rick Wakeman, and his epic electronic soundscapes make for an unusual – and surprisingly effective – backdrop to the queasy bloodshed on screen. Availability: The Burning is available uncut on DVD on the Vipco label.
Text © 2008 Dan Whitehead. No cut and paste, y'hear? All images remain the property of the offending studios and their reproduction is covered by Fair Use law.