The Burning

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Apart from early appearances by Jason Alexander and Holly Hunter, an interesting score by Rick Wakeman, and some typically effective work by effects icon Tom Savini, this slasher film is also among the more frightening of its kind. The plot concerns a summer-camp caretaker named Cropsy (Lou David) who is horribly burned by mischievous teen campers during a botched practical joke. Years later, he leaves the hospital as a disfigured gloppy mess with an axe (actually, hedgeclippers) to grind. After dispatching a local prostitute, Cropsy heads out to the wilderness to terrorize a group of campers. They're the usual bunch of horny, obnoxious teenagers, but there are some interesting performances by Larry Joshua as a mean-spirited bully and Brian Backer (of Fast Times at Ridgemont High) as a put-upon nerd. The campers visit an island and, in a scene heavily cut by the ratings board prior to release, several of them die in a horrifying mass slaughter aboard a boat. The remaining teens are brutally picked off one by one until Cropsy is finally defeated. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Features:
  • Commentary by Director Tony Maylam and International Film Journalist Alan Jones
  • Blood 'N' Fire Memories

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Brian Matthews - Todd
       Leah Ayres - Michelle
       Brian Backer - Alfred
       Larry Joshua - Glazer
       Jason Alexander - Dave
       Ned Eisenberg - Eddy
       Carrick Glenn - Sally
       Carolyn Houlihan - Karen
       Fisher Stevens - Woodstock
       Lou David - Cropsy
       Holly Hunter - Sophie
       Mansoor Najeeullah - Orderly
       Bonnie Deroski - Marnie
       Jerry McGee - Intern
       Bruce Kluger - Rod

• Director:

  Tony Maylam

• Producer:

  Harvey Weinstein

• Screenwriter:

  Peter Lawrence

• Screen Story:

  Tony Maylam

• Screenwriter:

  David Rabe, Bob Weinstein

• Screen Story:

  Harvey Weinstein, Brad Grey

• Cinematographer:

  Harvey Harrison

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Alan Brewer

• Composer (Music Score):

  Rick Wakeman

• Editor:

  Jack Sholder, John Sholder

• Associate Producer:

  Dany Ubaud

• Executive Producer:

  Michael Cohl, André Djaoui, Jean Ubaud

• First Assistant Director:

  Carl Clifford

• Additional Music:

  Alan Brewer

• Makeup Special Effects:

  Tom Savini

REVIEW:

• A seminal early slasher in the history of horror, The Burning is a bloody, sex-filled summer-camp romp that dishes out the kills and the scares in healthy doses. One of the first films to carry the Miramax brand with story, screenplay, and produced-by credits going to the Weinstein brothers, the film has become not only a cult film for the genre crowd, but also a bastard piece of cinema history. Thanks to a disagreement with the producers of Friday the 13th, Part 2, makeup effects maestro Tom Savini also jumped onboard and created some of his most masterful effects on the project. With deliberant pacing and shocking scenes of full-on gore, The Burning delivers on the creep-out levels and would probably be better regarded if not for the boom of familiar flicks that came out after this release. Keep your eyes out for Jason Alexander (with hair) as one of the main horny camp counselors and a very young Holly Hunter as a camper with one line of dialogue. Infamous for its raft massacre scene, the film was severely cut for its domestic distribution and has yet to see an uncut release here in the States. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi