When Harvey Weinstein decided to make the move from rock concert promoter to movie mogul in the early 1980s, it was a wise decision to start in the horror genre. Horror pictures are after all notoriously cheap and often see a return in their initial investment. The "stalk and slash” genre was a particular smart investment for the then fledgling Miramax company, as several producers where already gearing up similar features after the success of Sean S. Cunningham's FRIDAY THE 13TH. Love them or hate them, Harvey and his brother Bob were not only able to continue in the movie business, but they have thrived. No stranger to controversy, they have garnered several Oscar nominations and wins, and have since moved on to form a new distribution group, The Weinstein Company, all from a little low budget, formulaic slasher film.

Five years after a late night prank went horribly awry, Camp Blackfoot’s grounds keeper, Cropsy (Lou David), finds himself hideously scarred and disfigured. When repeated skin graft treatments fail to take, the hospital decides that it's best to let him back out into the world and hope that he can make the most with the hand dealt him. After leaving the hospital, Cropsy picks up a prostitute, only to moments later kill her when her reaction to his deformed face repulses her so. Unbeknownst to the teenagers at Camp Stonewater, Cropsy returns to his old stomping grounds to stalk the young visitors he used to clean up after. As the summer is about to come to an end, a small group of campers, lead by counselor Todd (Brian Matthews) decide to head down river by canoe for a three-day field trip. After a full day of canoeing and other hi-jinks, the group docks and makes camp, just as the sun begins to set. That night they gather around the campfire to listen to Todd spin a yarn about the old camp just across the river. All that remain are ruins, as the camp burned to the ground several years ago with the campground’s bastard of a caretaker trapped inside. All the while, the group is unaware that said custodian is lurking in the trees, just out of sight, waiting to enact his revenge on the young group.

THE BURNING has gained notoriety more so for its public battle with the censors, both in America and in the Untied Kingdom, than for its actual content. In the U.S., several scenes of blood and gore had to be trimmed in order for the MPAA to label it with an R rating. These alterations left most of make-up wizard Tom Savini’s best work on the cutting room floor, taking away the full brutal impact of most of the film's kills, including a raft sequence in which five campers are slaughtered in a matter of minutes. In the U.K., the film was to undergo several cuts before the BBFC would allow distributor Thorn EMI to release it. However, a mix up would lead to the uncut print being inadvertently mass produced and distributed. This would result in a raid of the Thorn EMI offices, where both the master tapes and all copies were confiscated, pushing the title into the news and to the forefront of the ongoing “Video Nasty” list. A year later, the company would be cleared of obscenity charges and recalled the uncut tapes, offering to replace them with the shorter certified version. It would take two decades before the British censors would agree to release the uncut version.

Perhaps the only difference between THE BURNING and every other slasher film of the early 1980s, such as FRIDAY THE 13TH or THE PROWLER (all three of which featured make-up effects by Tom Savini), is that from the very beginning of the film, you know who the killer is. There is no waiting until the end for the big reveal of the maniac’s identity; you know from the onset. Otherwise it’s a virtual paint-by-numbers of slasher film clichés (disfigured loner returns to the scene of his embarrassing and tragic mutilation to systematically kill teenagers). The killer, whose point of view is shot handheld with an ample amount of Vaseline smeared around the edges of the lens, stalks his victims just out of sight and waits for them to isolate themselves from the group. Which in this case is a three-day raft trip to Devil’s Creek (sounds safe). I have never fully understood the logic behind leaving the comfort of your base or central location to venture out to a destination with such foreboding names as Devil’s Creek, Suicide Hill or Blood Lake. All I’m saying is that I’ve never heard of a group of hitch-hikers being brutally stabbed to death while on a three-mile trek up Mt. Puppy Breath.

The Weinstein brothers were not the only ones who would use THE BURNING as a jumping off point into the entertainment industry. A number of the film's young actors would move on to find successful film and television careers. A year after its release, Brian Backer, who plays the camps “peeping tom” Alfred, was cast as Mark in FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, probably the actor's most noteworthy screen role. A very young and very skinny Fisher Stevens (SHORT CIRCUIT, MY SCIENCE PROJECT), plays marksman Woodstock, whose fingers are snipped off by Cropsy in the film's infamous “raft sequence”, which would become a focal point of the censors. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of THE BURNING, even overshadowing the impressive and bloody effects work, is seeing Jason Alexander with a full head of hair! The comedian plays camp cut-up Dave with the same comedic timing and thick sarcasm that are synonymous with his “Seinfeld” character, George Costanza. Holly Hunter (RAISING ARIZONA) would also mark her debut with THE BURNING, but as quick as you can say “Hey, that looks like Holly Hunter,” her screen time is up.

Previous to this release, the only way to watch THE BURING on DVD in the U.S. was to own a region free player. Vipco released the film uncut in the U.K., as did Dragon (although full screen) in Germany, both of which are currently out of print. An uncut print was also briefly available on VHS from Amazon.com, but with this release, MGM has made all others obsolete. Presented uncut (ignore the back of the box stating the film as rated R) and anamorphic widescreen in the film’s original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the picture quality comes through clean and clear. Colors are bright and lucid, with the lush greens of the camps surrounding forest coming through duly. The English mono audio is sharp with no noticeable distortion. Subtitles are provided in English, Spanish and French.