The Burning (1981)

In the wake of Halloween (1978) and Friday the 13th (1980), the market was flooded with slasher movies, 1981, in particular, seeing a  glut of them, including The Burning (1981).  I well recall its UK release - for a film that originally didn't do that well at the box office, it certainly created a furore on this side of the Atlantic, having the misfortune to get mixed up in the whole 'video nasties' business.  Indeed, had it not been for the controversy surrounding its VHS release, I doubt that it would be that well remembered over here.  Certainly, it is the man reason that I remember it.  While the BBFC had passed The Burning for an X certificate after several cuts had been made, when it came to a video release, EMI inadvertently put out an uncut version.  When this was discovered, seeking to avoid prosecution, EMI promptly withdrew the video, (thereby making them collector's items which change hands for high prices).  I remember the whole fiasco well as, at the time, my father worked for Radio Rentals, making us an early adopter of VHS technology.  Radio Rentals belonged to EMI and their video catalogue was available to staff members.  While we never saw the uncut video - it was withdrawn very quickly - I recall it being in the EMI video catalogue.  These were the very early days of home video, with only a few titles available, so it was a big deal for EMI to have such a relatively recent release available for home viewing.  

The film wasn't submitted to the BBFC for video release again until the early nineties, when it suffered further cuts in order to gain certification.  By 2002, however, the original uncut version was released for home viewing, the whole 'video nasty' nonsense having been largely forgotten.  Indeed, nowadays The Burning turns up regularly on streaming services in the UK and elsewhere, where it is treated as simply another eighties slasher movie.  Watching it now, it is hard to understand just why this film in particular became the focus of such an outcry back in the day.  It is surprisingly formulaic, complete with the summer camp setting, the horrendous events being the consequence of an incident years earlier and, as ever, anyone who has sex dies gorily.  One might argue that the most offensive thing about it is the stigmatisation of severe burns victims, depicting them crazy, repulsive monsters. Despite its adherence to most of the conventional tropes of the nascent slasher genre, The Burning does feel somewhat superior to many of its progenitors and competitors.  For one thing, Tony Maylam's direction is a cut above the average for a low budget horror film: stylish, well photographed and suspenseful, it moves the film along at a decent pace and throes in some good shock sequences.  Moreover, the script is a lot better than average, featuring not just better dialogue, but also a somewhat more logical plot - characters generally don't meet their demise as a result of doing something stupid and illogical.  For a lot of the time the plot ensures that the potential victims have no reason to think there is a homicidal maniac on the loose, so it is entirely reasonable that they walk around and behave as normal  In fact, once they do realise that they are under threat, the camp counsellors for once do the right thing by getting their surviving charges back to safety and calling the cops.

The Burning also benefits immeasurably from Tom Savini's make up effects in its gore scenes.  But, despite being a superior example of the genre, The Burning lost out at the box office, having the misfortune to find itself up against Friday the 13th Part Two (1981).  Perhaps part of its problem was that its killer was pretty anonymous - he's simply a badly burned guy with a pair of shears, with most minimal of back stories and motivation.  His character is never developed, even before he gets horribly burned, so he never seems anything more than a plot device, a (literally) faceless threat existing only to menace a bunch of horny teenagers.  His choice of signature weapon doesn't help - not only are garden shears hardly menacing but, beyond he fact that he was a caretaker, have no real connection to his demise.  Late in the film he produces a flame thrower which, bearing in mind that his disfigurement was the result of being set on fire, would surely have been a more logical choice of weapon from the outset?  Ultimately, though, none of this really detracts from the viewing experience - The Burning remains an above average, if derivative, eighties slasher.  It also launched the careers of Fisher Stevens, Jason Alexander and Holly Hunter, all of whom made their film debuts in The Burning - in fact, part of the fun of watching it lies in seeing a young George Costanza from Seinfeld looking slim and sporting a full head of hair.