The Burning: A Slasher To Remember!

Put together the genius effects of gore-master Tom Savini, a creepy killer, gratuitous nudity, and a likable cast, including the debuts of very popular actors, and what do you get? You get "The Burning," a slasher movie no fan can resist.

After a prank goes wrong, Cropsy, the sadistic drunk caretaker, is horribly disfigured after being burned alive. Five years go by, and since skin grafts aren't working out for the caretaker of Camp Blackfoot, the hospital has to let Cropsy go. As Cropsy goes back out into the world, his feelings for revenge are more wild than ever. He heads to a new summer camp, Camp Stonewater, where it's all about having fun, making friends, and doing all the no-nos in the slasher book. A group of fresh-faced teens(including Todd, Michelle, Glazer, Sally, Eddie, Karen, and Alfred) are taking a trip to Devil's Creek, which is on the other side of the camp. As expected, kids have sex, smoke some pot, you get it. 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. He says that the Weinstein brothers("The Burning" was their first movie) already had the script for this movie before "F13." That really surprised me, since everybody knows "F13" for being one of the biggest slasher movies ever.

There are so many things that make "The Burning" stand on its own as a great slasher movie. 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. And Lou David is very creepy as Cropsy. 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!. His music creates a remarkable sense of dread and tension. God, this guy should do more stuff in horror movies. 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. As much as I love "Friday the 13th", I'm considering that "The Burning" might be better than its predecessor. They're both equal, so I'm not going to compare them. If you're a true fan, you must have "The Burning" in your collection. This is slasher movie gold!