good back-story, and good acting

A lot of fun.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This came out a week after "Friday the 13th Part 2" in 1981 and contains all the staples of that blossoming franchise: disfigured killer, iconic weapon (in this case, garden shears), summer camp, camp counselors, a prank gone wrong, swimming antics, deep woods sexual frolics, death during (or after) sex, a secret hideout for the killer, semi-nekkid or fully nekkid teen girls, etc."The Burning" is held in high esteem mostly for its infamous raft sequence, but that only involves about 30 seconds and it's not THAT phenomenal. At best, the movie might be as good as some of the "Friday" sequels, although the girls are subpar by comparison, albeit okay. Nonetheless, "Burning" has its points of interest, like Brian Backer from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and, especially, a young Jason Alexander from Seinfeld with a full-head of hair. Production-wise, it's low-budget but superior to, say, "Sleepaway Camp."The film was shot in and around existing summer camps outside Buffalo in Western New York, as well as North Tonawanda.GRADE: B-/C+

I don't understand why people like this movie. The only good part is the music done by the keyboardist Rick Wakeman from the 1970's English rock band Yes. It's a complete rip off of Friday the 13th. If you watch this movie, you'll see a lot more talking than actual slashing. I saw this movie on youtube and had to keep fast forwarding it to the good parts. There are hardly any good parts. I even know horror movie lovers who don't like this film. Such a disappointment.

The Burning is one the most well made and scariest slasher film to be made. This is a pure classic gem that stands out from the countless other 80's slasher movies. And I would even say it can compete with Friday the 13th. Now I know F13 became more popular, but I think if this movie came out before, it probably would of been just as popular. Unfortunately it came out in the middle of the slasher boom, and didn't get recognized at first, although that is changing now a days. What made the movie stand out from so many other slasher films of the time was a few things. First the mood of the movie was very scary, and always made you feel unsafe. Second was the pace of the movie. The movie is very well paced, unlike many other slasher films of the time that are either rushed into or dreadfully slow. The acting was also very good for a horror movie. You actually get attached to these characters, their not just a bunch of dumb teens. Then there's the very good gore effects, which really gives this movie its flavor. Tom Savini did a fantastic job in this movie with the make up. And then of coarse is the score, which is super creepy and makes your heart race. Overall, this is a very suspenseful and awesome movie. It has a realistic feel to it, and keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. I would recommend to any horror fan!

This movie begins at a place in upstate New York called "Camp Blackfoot" where a few teenagers are about to play a prank on the camp caretaker who goes by the name of "Cropsy" (Lou David). Unfortunately, something goes dreadfully wrong and Cropsy is engulfed in flames and barely manages to make it to a nearby lake in time to save himself. He then spends years in a hospital and eventually comes out horribly disfigured and consumed with hate. To that end, his first act upon being released is to kill a prostitute who expresses shock at his appearance. He then travels to a place called "Camp Stonewater" which is near the place where he was set on fire five years earlier. As it so happens, Camp Stonewater has a number of young teenagers in attendance with one of the camp counselors named "Todd" (Brian Matthews) being present during the prank on Cropsy years earlier. Whether Cropsy is aware of this or not is unknown but regardless of that fact he is determined to kill as many people as he can one way or another. Now as far as this movie is concerned I must admit that it has quite a few similarities to "Friday the 13th" and as such suffers to a certain degree by comparison. One thing in particular I didn't care for was the age of some of the victims who were a bit too young in my opinion. I mean, it's okay to kill off the camp counselors because that's what they are there for. But not teenage kids. Hmmm. On the other hand, I must also admit that some of them were quite annoying so perhaps it wasn't necessarily that bad after all. In any case, this movie had its moments here and there and the presence of some attractive young ladies like former Miss Ohio beauty queen Carolyn Houlihan (as "Karen"), Carrick Glenn ("Sally") and Leah Ayres ("Michelle") certainly didn't hurt either. All things considered then I suppose this wasn't a bad "80's slasher film" overall and I have rated it accordingly. Average.