The Burning [Collector's Edition] [2 Discs] [DVD/Blu-ray]

Director: Tony Maylam Tony Maylam

Overview

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.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/21/2013
UPC:	0826663140279
Original Release:	1981
Rating:	R
Source:	Shout Factory
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:31:00
Sales rank:	13,398

Special Features

Audio Commentary by Director Tony Maylam and International Journalist Alan Jones; Blood 'n' Fire Memories; Theatrical Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Lou David	Cropsy
Shelley Bruce	Tiger
Brian Matthews	Todd
Leah Ayres	Michelle
Brian Backer	Alfred
Larry Joshua	Glazer
Jason Alexander	Dave
Ned Eisenberg	Eddie
Carrick Glenn	Sally
Carolyn Houlihan	Karen
Fisher Stevens	Woodstock
Bonnie Deroski	Marnie
Kevi Kendall	Diane
George Parry	Alan
Bruce Kluger	Rod
Jerry McGee	Intern
Willie Reale	Paul
John Roach	Snoop
K.C. Townsend	Hooker
Timothy Klein	Camp Counselor
Holly Hunter	Sophie
Mansoor Najeeullah	Orderly
Leah Ayers	Actor
Rick Wakeman	Composer

Technical Credits

Harvey Weinstein

David Rabe

Peter Lawrence

Michael Cohl	Executive Producer
Tony Maylam	Director
Jean Ubaud	Executive Producer
Harvey Weinstein	Producer,Screenwriter
André Djaoui	Executive Producer
David Rabe	Screenwriter
Peter Lawrence	Screenwriter
Tom Savini	Special Effects

Editorial Reviews

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.