The Burning (1981)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1980
Running Times: 91 mins
Length: 8188 ft / 2496 metres
Format: colour
Ratio:
Sound:

PRODUCTION
Production Companies: Filmways Pictures / The Cropsy Venture
Executive in Charge of Production: Corky Burger
Executive Producers: John Ubaud, Michael Cohl, Andre Djaoui
Producer: Harvey Weinstein
Associate Producer: Dany Ubaud

SCRIPT
Script: Peter Lawrence, Bob Weinstein
Story: Harvey Weinstein, Tony Maylam, Brad Gray

DIRECTION
Director: Tony Maylam
1st Assistant Director: Carl Clifford

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Harvey Harrison

EDITING AND POST PRODUCTION
Editor: Jack Sholder

MUSIC
Music: Rick Wakeman
Music Director / Additional Music: Alan Brewer

SOUND
Supervising Sound Editor: Anthony J. Ciccolini III

SPECIAL MAKE UP EFFECTS
Horror Sequence Designer / Special Make Up Effects: Tom Savini

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: Peter Politanoff

LOCATIONS
Buffalo, New York, USA

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)
Shelley Bruce (Tiger)
Sarah Chodoff (Barbara)
Bonnie Deroski (Marnie)
Holly Hunter (Sophie)
Kevi Kendall (Diane)
J.R. McKechnie (Fish)
George Parry (Alan)
Ame Segull (Rhoda)
Jeff De Hart (supervisor)
Bruce Kluger (Rod)
Keith Mandell (young Todd)
Jerry McGee (intern)
Mansoor Najeeullah (orderly)
Willie Reale (Paul)
John Roach (Snoop)
K.C. Townsend (hooker)
John Tripp (camp counselor)
James Van Verth (Jamie)
Robert O'Neill (camper - uncredited)

Summer camp janitor Cropsy is horribly burned when a moronic prank goes tragically wrong. Some years later, an understandably traumatised Cropsy is released from the psychiatric hospital where he's been treated and he immediately heads back to the summer camp where a new batch of campers - and one of his tormentors - are in residence for the summer...

The Burning undeniably achieves what it set out to do (which is really no more than one could ask of it), but then it's ambitions were never terribly high. A Friday the 13th clone full of irritating and stereotypical characters, it boasts some fine make up effects and one or two great scare moments, but is so wholly mechanical that it's entirely and tiresomely predictable. Some decent photography helps, but overall it doesn't really deserve the reputation it seems to enjoy.

Australia
Video Distributor: Thorn-EMI

Canada
Theatrical Distributor: Ambassador Film Distributors

UK
Theatrical Distributor: Handmade Films Ltd
Video Distributor: Thorn-EMI

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Filmways Pictures
Video Distributors: Thorn-EMI; HBO Video; Amazon

Australia
Rating: R
The distributors trimmed the film prior to its being submitted to the notoriously strict Australian censorship board. The video version surprised many by slipping through unscathed, though it is now apparently hard to find.

Finland
Rating: banned

France
Rating: -16

Germany
Rating: banned

Norway
Rating: banned

UK
Rating: 18
The original Thorn-EMI release was uncut, including the few 19 seconds of Tom Savini gore effects snipped by the BBFC. The tape was quickly withdrawn and replaced by a cut version that also fell fould of some over-zealous police forces.

USA
Rating: R
The MPAA demanded 45 seconds of cuts before it would award the film an R rating. For nearly two decades the full length print was not legally available in the States as the video versions were this same, emasculated cut. In 2001, Amazon.com released the film on their own label as an Internet only release.

1980
August
21: USA - production begins

September
29: USA - production ends

1981
May
8: USA - theatrical release

1982
April
28: France - theatrical release

2002
January
7: USA - television broadcast (on Showtime 2)
25: USA - television broadcast (on Showtime 2)

A legend of terror isn't a campfire story anymore!

Don't look, he'll see you. Don't breathe, he'll hear you. Don't move... you're dead!

A brutal horrific act made him kill and kill and kill

Today is not Friday the 13th. But if you see this movie alone... you'll never be the same again!

Come Face To Face With The Creation of Evil!

Brennende Rache - German title

SEE ALSO
The Final Terror (1983)
Ecologia del delitto (1971)
Friday the 13th (1980)
Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Halloween (1978)
Madman (1981)

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
Scream Greats Volume 1: Tom Savini Master of Horror Make-up (1986)

MAGAZINES

Broadcast no.1222 (22 August 1983) p.29 (UK)
article

Cinefantastique vol.11 no.2 (Autumn 1981) p.52 (USA)
review

DVD Review no.20 (2000) p.9 (UK)
illustrated note (World News: Open the Vault!)

Halls of Horror no.27 p.17 (UK)
note

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.48 no.575 (December 1981) p.241 (UK)
credits, synopsis, review

Screen International no.300 (11 July 1981) p.6 (UK)
note

Starburst no.42 (1982) p.13 (UK)
illustrated review

Variety 6 May 1981 p.46 (USA)
credits, review

Video Business vol.4 no.32 (1 October 1984) p.12 (UK)
review

Video Business vol.4 no.46 (21 January 1985) p.1 (UK)
article

Video Trade Weekly no.140 (24 August 1984) p.21 (UK)
review

Video Week 5 January 1987 p.8 (UK)
note

BOOKS

Grande Illusions by Tom Savini
illustrated article

Hoffman's Guide to SF, Horror and Fantasy Movies 1991 - 1992 p.59
credits, review

Horror and Science Fiction Films II pp.44-49
credits

The Seduction of the Gullible (2nd edition) pp.35-37
credits, review (by John Martin)

OTHER SOURCES

screen
credits

body count, summer camps, teenagers, serial killers, revenge, slasher, garden shears, mutilation, throat slitting, splatter, video nasty, lakes

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009