- The burning. (1981. Dir. Tony Maylam). A group of teenaged camp attendants seek to prank mean old custodian Cropsy —it goes horribly wrong. Cropsy, released after five years of intense physical therapy, attempts to pick up a prostitute —it ends in the worst way possible. And a new batch of campers take a canoe trip, unaware that they are heading straight into disaster…
One of the movies that best encapsulate 80’s slashers. While the plot has more than a few elements that you could either call “lifted from previous productions” or “clichés” depending how benevolent you feel, it is all pulled off with enough confidence to work. The script has essentially the internal logic of the campfire tale it’s framed as (that is, there are plot elements that don’t quite make sense if you think about them for too long, but which work perfectly in terms of being twists made up on the spot for a scary story); the acting ranges from pasable to surprisingly good and the score is more than a little effective. But as this is a slasher movie, the real highlight is the murder scenes —and they ARE good. The infamous raft sequence alone is as powerful and well-made as you have heard, and definitely worth the price of admission.
All in all, an essential entry for genre fans.
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