The Burning (1981) Revisited – Horror Movie Review

1981 was a huge year for slasher movies. Not only did we get Friday the 13th Part 2 and Halloween II that year, but we also got a ton of others like My Bloody Valentine, The Prowler, Madman, Just Before Dawn, The Funhouse, Night School, Hell Night, Happy Birthday to Me, Bloody Birthday, Graduation Day, the list goes on… and includes The Burning (watch it HERE), the movie we’re looking back at with the latest episode in our video series The Best Horror Movie You Never Saw. Check it out in the embed above!

Directed by Tony Maylam, who also crafted the story with Bob Weinstein, Peter Lawrence, Brad Grey, and, unfortunately, Harvey Weinstein, The Burning has the following synopsis:

At summer camp, some teenagers pull a prank on the camp’s caretaker, Cropsy. But the joke goes terribly wrong, and the teens leave Cropsy for dead after setting him on fire. But no one keeps Cropsy down. A few years later, the burned and disfigured caretaker returns to camp equipped with his trusty shears, ready to unleash his particular brand of vengeance on a whole new group of teens. The murderous Cropsy stalks the campers in the woods, one by one.

The film stars Brian Matthews, Leah Ayres, Brian Backer, Larry Joshua, Lou David, Jason Alexander, Ned Eisenberg, Carrick Glenn, Carolyn Houlihan, Fisher Stevens, Shelley Bruce, Sarah Chodoff, Bonnie Deroski, Holly Hunter, and the special effects of Tom Savini.

Our Best Horror Movie You Never Saw series is

dedicated to highlighting horror films that, for one reason or another, don’t get as much love as we think they should. We know plenty of you horror hounds out there will have seen many of the movies we pick, but there will be plenty of you who have not.

The The Burning episode of Best Horror Movie You Never Saw was Written by Eric Walkuski, Narrated by Shawn Knippelberg, Edited by Paul Bookstaber, Produced by John Fallon and Tyler Nichols, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

Have you already seen The Burning, and if so, are you a fan of the movie? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

A couple previous episodes of the Best Horror Movie You Never Saw series can be seen below. To see more, and to check out some of our other shows, head over to the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!