In 1980, "Friday the 13th" streamlined the slasher formula begun by 1978's "Halloween" (itself a disciple of Alfred Hitchock's "Psycho"), adding to the mix buckets of fake blood spilling out of bodies impaled by axes, arrows, and knives; in the successive decade (and beyond), filmmakers would run this commercial template into the ground (with varying degrees of success). That films like "The Prowler" (directed by Joseph Zito, who also did the third "Friday" sequel) and Tony Maylam's "The Burning" are remembered as such "standouts" today owes more to their timing and the expertise of FX go-to-guy Tom Savini than any sort of creativity. While "The Burning" comes out a more worthwhile rip-off than "The Prowler," it still pales in comparison to the first "Friday," which also possessed a technical competence and craft in creating suspense, no matter how derivative. Here, we have a horrible camp groundskeeper named Cropsy, who is horribly burned during a prank gone wrong and lives to wreak havoc on about two dozen horny, rock-stupid teens (including a pre-"Seinfeld" Jason Alexander) who can't even die convincingly. While the early POV shots are executed with some skill, and a notorious setpiece on a raft provides a sudden rush of inspiration, the best effects come during the conclusion (which hinges on a twist that everyone should see coming from frame one), even leaving the door open for a sequel (which, not surprisingly, never materialized). "The Burning" may be the best of the "Friday the 13th" rip-offs, but that really isn't saying much.
Review of The Burning
