by Tony Carroll "I actually turned down Friday the 13th part 2 to do The Burning because Jason was running around in Friday the 13th part 2 and as you know, there is no Jason. There shouldn't be a Jason," states special effects king Tom Savini in the documentary 'Blood 'n' Fire Memories' as featured on the DVD release of 80's slasher flick 'The Burning'. While a lot of fans would disagree with Mr. Savini in his 'There shouldn't be a Jason' comment, mainly due to our fondness of the Jason character and the memories we have in viewing the Friday the 13th series; it could probably be argued that these memories ,as well as fondness of the Jason character, could very well be acredited as one of the key reasonings behind why hidden gems of the slasher subgenre such at 'The Burning' often go by seemingly unnoticed.

The Burning is a traditional campfire story brought to life by director Tony Maylam. It's the story of a man named Cropsy. Cropsy is the caretaker of Camp Blackfoot. When a group of campers decide to play a prank on Cropsy, something goes terribly wrong and Cropsy is set ablaze. Five years removed and countless skin grafts later, the doctors decide that there is nothing more they can do to help the hideously disfigured Crospy, so they unfortunately set him free into the world. This triggers a ticking time bomb inside of Cropsy which results in him getting a thirst for blood and heading back to his old stomping grounds to gain a measure of self satisfaction and do harm unto others as they have done to him. With a pair of hedge clippers in hand, Cropsy makes his way to nearby Camp Stonewater to practice his new killing craft.

While called a 'Friday the 13th' clone ,and probably rightfully so, the burning has a lot to offer to the slasher subgenre that only a select group of slashers offer. It goes about things in a slightly different way. The killer is silent, and moves about in the traditional sense for the most part, but he doesn't hesitate to strike in the broad daylight. In fact, a big majority of this film takes place during the day.

Cropsy goes up in flames!

This guy has "sheer" bad luck.

This is something you don't see so often in this type. Props should also be given in thought put into the camp. This camp isn't full of 20-30 something counselors. This camp is full of kids of all ages. Real kids of various age groups that you would actually see in camp. It really makes the movie seem 'real' in a sense and this is something that these movies that we love rarely managed. Another film that did this with it's campers of course was 'Sleepaway Camp'. The Friday the 13th series didn't accomplish the idea of having young campers involved until the sixth entry in the series in 1986. The characters are all likeable for the most part. And you really start to feel a sense of dread for them as Cropsy starts taking them out. Interestingly, you may recognize many of these cast members today such as a young Jason Alexander (Seinfeld) with a headful of hair, Fisher Stevens (Lost), and Holly Hunter. (Saving Grace)

Cropsy's weapon of choice in this film made it quite interesting. The massive sheers come across as quite creepy. Especially in the raft scene ,which was a pretty ingenious scene. What makes the raft scene so special, is in the execution. There have been many slashers in which we've seen a similar set up. A seemingly empty boat or an empty room, someone approaches, cue up the slow scary music, everything is quiet and we get a jump scare. The Burning went about it a bit different. The boat floats silently on the water and the entire raft full of kids spots it. They approach it. We get no 'music of dread'. We simply get a silent soundtrack and kids laughing, joking, and chattering as they approach their unknown doom. This is whey Cropsy springs from the boat unexpectedly, raises his sheers high above his head in a somewhat iconic scene, and turns the laughter into screams in one of the bloodiest, most well done massacres of the slasher subgenre.

THE BURNING's most famous creepy image.

Inflicting some Burning revenge!

I can't remember exactly when exactly I discovered this film personally. I was young, but I do have fond memories of renting it from the local mom and pop video store back in my hometown. I can still envision the dusty old VHS box sitting there on the shelf featuring two teenagers with a silhouette of Cropsy rising over top of them holding his sheers high above his head. What I was treated to then, and what I am still treated to to this day thanks to the DVD release, is a very well rounded slasher flick. The Burning has a good set up, a good delivery and an ending that is satisfying enough to close the film. I got the feeling that the Weinsteins wanted to set this one up to have a sequel since this was just the begining of the time period when sequels became as fashionable to that time period as remakes are for todays time period. It never happened. And while I am a sucker for a slasher sequel, perhaps that is one of the major elements that makes 'The Burning' stand on it's own.