The Burning 1980

Imagine how Cropsy feels out there in that summer heat at Camp Blackfoot. The guy's smoldering anyway - ever since being the victim of a kids prank that left him charred from head to toe.

Old Cropsy can't seem to let things die, and his temper is hot. He's got a burning desire to get back at the kids who turned him into a roasted duck.(Not to be confused with Fulci's quacking duck) The skin grafts at the hospital didn't take. No. No luck there. A proto-Freddy Kruger? Maybe?

C'mon, Cropsy! It's been five years since your accident. This group of kids had absolutely nothing to do with your little 'explosion' all those years back. Just leave 'em alone! I see there's no talking Cropsy out of sharpening his garden shears and stalking the camp once again. He knows Jason usually does the camp stalking, but he feels it necessary to prove a point.

Anyway, Cropsy kills. He does a little thing called the raft massacre - Which is one of the most brutal scenes is slasher movie history. Tom Savini flaunts his stuff and catches another STD behind the scenes. There's George Costanza with hair, alongside the Fast Times At Ridgemont High nerd. There's a couple pairs of tits and a few asses. Yeah, we're doing good aren't we?

Great gore. Great score. Great atmosphere. Wonderful setting. Everything that makes a slasher movie a slasher movie. It has a very upbeat feeling that's lacking in a lot of slashers. Most slasher movies have this depressing vibe about them, but once in a while you'll get one that strives for a higher mood. Sometimes that depressing vibe helps out in regards to atmosphere as a whole, but sometimes films can become too depressing for their own good.

A rarity in the low budget slasher genre is decent acting. We get some above par acting from a young Jason Alexander and Fisher Stevens. Holly Hunter is also in there somewhere, but doesn't get much screen time. The slasher fan always seems to have this one high on their list of favorites. It's become sort of a staple to have this one in the collection. Mandatory? I'd say so. Grab that newly released The Burning dvd and have some fun.