Relase your life (or in this case, unburnt skin) and take your place inside the fire...

DVDs:

	• The Burning Brian Matthews MGM (Video & DVD), 2007 average customer review:based on 114 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

3.5 Stars: A Very Under-rated Slasher Flick!

As I finally broke down and watched The Burning for the very first time just recently, I asked myself these questions "How the hell didn't this film catch on?! How didn't it get popular?! How didn't Crospy become a household name like Jason, Freddy, or Michael?" I feel that this film is one of the best the 80s slasher genre has to offer. Though the plot is similar to Friday the 13th, its not a complete carbon-copy as a lot of other slasher were. The acting is surprisingly good, (with the likes of Holly Hunter and Jason Alexander), and of course, the effects by the master Tom Savini, are superb! And perhaps most of all, it has a memorable villain as its centerpiece. So I just don't get how this one didn't become a big hit. Perhaps it was lack of exposure, or the fact that the infamous raft scene cause a bit of controversy. Now I'm not saying that this film is a masterpiece, but nonetheless, this film should be right up there with all the other famous slashers. If you're a fan of the horror genre, especially slasher, you can't miss out on this one!

for more information click here

It Tastes Like Burning.

As part of Sid's October Horrorgreatsuccess, we came upon The Burning Ondemand. Hmm, a horror film from 1981 raised an eyebrow and we were on the fence until we saw Jason Alexander listed as one of the stars. A young possibly thin, possibly unbald Costanza? We were in. And its a good thing we jumped into this one because the would have only been one thing to say about the World's Foremost B Reviewers missing a B horror classic: "Ma, it's a sin."

The Burning is a straight early 80's slasher flick. Its killer is Cropsy(give them a mulligan on that one, it was 1981), a former summer camp groundskeeper who is the victim of a prank gone wrong. He gets badly burned and disfigured. Five years later he gets out of the hospital. So of course, he heads back to the summer camp to pick off some campers. There were some future stars in this group including Costanza and Van Damme's woman in the incomparable Bloodsport. In the heart of the flick, there was the perfect ammount of unintentional comedy to make this one B as well as great horror. There was Cropsy's weapon of choice, hedgeclippers. Just funny for some reason. Then there was Costanza. We have no idea if he came off as cool in 81 but watching this now was awesome. He was a wisecracking little dork who thought he was cool, tough, and all-knowing about the ladies. It was all hilarious and frankly, pushed the film to another level.

If you're a horror fan and more specifically a fan of slasher flicks, this one is an absolute must. We can't heap enough praise on this one. We would have absolutely loved it as a young Elf as we did today.In fact how's this for praise?

4 fingers lopped off by Cropsy's hedge clippers

1 iconic scene. "The Raft Scene." Horror at its best.

48 Costanza jokes

5 grizzly killings

2 occurances of someone walking around on fire

5 breasts

and 1 ax in the head.

for more information click here

Relase your life (or in this case, unburnt skin) and take your place inside the fire...

Honestly, I was quite impressed with this movie. After the terrible sleaze-fest known as "Sleepaway Camp", I was wondering if another "at camp" slasher was a bad idea. Also having seen the raft massacre scene before viewing this movie, a scene I saw coming ten miles away, I was a little suspicious.

PHEW! Was I ever wrong! "The Burning" is a suspenseful but entertaining, gory but exciting, shocking but fun movie. It has everything you could probably think of in an '80s slasher movie. Great special effects, buckets of gore, gratuitous amounts of nudity, exciting chase scenes and a happy ending. It's also got quite a realistic atmosphere, save the whole concept of a guy getting a body burn and then becoming inhumanly threatening.

There's also a good deal of character development and humor to boot. The comedy doesn't necessarily speed along the plot, but it DOES add to the entertainment. Believe it or not, we have a younger Jason Alexander (George Costanza on the wonderful "Seinfeld") as one of the camp counselors. Everything about this movie is great!

So if you want another classic slasher film for a night of thrills, chills and female body parts exposed in the shower, strike a match for this one! Thanks for the time, and peace.

for more information click here

A Cut above the rest

The Burning is a cut above horror movies that followed in the wake of Halloween and Friday The 13th. ANY horror movie with Tom Savini's name attached was a cut above the rest. His effects in this movie are stellar. (Highly recommended; The Prowler, Maniac, Day of the Dead) Rick Wakeman's score settles into a comfortable cheezy category. The score is NOT Halloween nor Friday The 13th...however, it holds up well. The characters have heart. The story borrows from the Friday the 13th template but the writer(s) added a little spin for creativity. Grab some popcorn and go camping. Watch out for Jas-...uh, I mean Cropsy.

for more information click here

Fine showcase for Tom Savini's makeup effects

THE BURNING

(USA - 1981)

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Theatrical soundtrack: Mono

An abusive caretaker at a lonely summer camp is disfigured by fire during a prank which goes horribly wrong. Five years later, he returns to the area to take revenge against one of his former persecutors (now a camp counsellor) and the kids in his charge.

Makeup artist Tom Savini rejected an opportunity to work on FRIDAY THE 13th PART 2 (1981) in order to create effects for Tony Maylam's THE BURNING, yet another in the assembly line of low-budget horror movies which emerged in the wake of HALLOWEEN (1978). Savini warned the film's producers - including a fledgling Harvey Weinstein! - that the script for THE BURNING shared uncomfortable similarities with the "Friday" sequel, though fans may have been too dazzled by the gruesome set-pieces to either notice or care.

In truth, THE BURNING shares only a handful of superficial details with "Friday 2", including a late night campfire episode in which the villain is dismissed as an urban legend, culminating in a false 'scare' which today's audiences will probably see coming a mile off. Despite a couple of groan-inducing incidentals ("Oh, I forgot my vitamins - I'll have to go back to my cabin through the dark, creepy woods!"), the narrative develops organically from one scene to the next, and characters react believably to the escalating situation. Unfortunately, the climax - set mostly within an abandoned mineshaft - is staged and executed with little flair or suspense, and amounts to something of a major disappointment.

Of course, the main point of interest - besides seeing some familiar faces in early roles, including Jason Alexander (TV's "Seinfeld"), Fisher Stevens (SHORT CIRCUIT) and an unrecognisable Holly Hunter - is Savini's horrific makeup effects: Victims are slashed, stabbed, punctured and poked in graphic detail, and blood flows copiously from some horribly convincing wounds. Indeed, the film reaches a crescendo of horror during a notorious sequence involving an 'abandoned' canoe (I'll say no more), one of the most vicious set-pieces of the 1980's 'slasher' cycle. Briskly paced, and scored with a series of electronic doodles by no less than Rick Wakeman (!), THE BURNING may seem awfully simplistic to modern viewers, but it delivers the gory goods in no uncertain terms.

for more information click here

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

No Description Available.
Genre: Horror
Rating: NR
Release Date: 11-SEP-2007
Media Type: DVD

hot

not?

What's your opinion?

Write a review and share your thoughts!

recommendations

Slasher Movies that are Worth Watching
Cara's NYE 2009 Psychedeligorefest
Best Slasher Films of the 80's
My Favorite Human Monsters!...
2009 Woody Award

burning

Jillian Michaels: No More Trouble Zones
The Biggest Loser Workout: Cardio Max
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Special Edition)
Weight Loss Cardio Kick
Leslie Sansone: Walk at Home - 5 Mile Fat Burning Walk

search for DVDs
burning

Impressum / about us