Tubi Thursday: The Burning (1981)

 After watching the Original Friday the 13th on Svengoolie last weekend, I realized that this other '80s Camp Slasher was on here.

Fate has led me to finally give a proper review to...

In a prolonged flashback, a man named Cropsey is pranked by attendees of the Summer Camp he works at.

Said prank goes awry and, well, you can see what happens!

5 years later, we meet the residents of a different Camp.

Unlike the original Friday, this Camp is actually open and full of campers.

Amongst the group are Fisher Stevens and Jason Alexander!

We get Killer POV for a good half hour before the guy really gets into it.

He kills a girl after she leaves the river and somehow takes SIX Canoes away in a few hours.

The group make a raft and send a few Campers off to get help.

Said Campers- including long-time Law & Order Actor Ned Eisenberg (front left)- do just that until they see one of their canoes.

In the most famous bit, he pops up and hacks the group to bits with his garden shears!

He- apparently- goes back to shore and kills a few more the next night.

The next day, the raft comes back and the bodies are discovered!

Oh, and that is apparently Holly Hunter in the blue blouse there.

It all leads to a finale where Alfred- who was creeping on the couple killed that night- flees from Cropsey and is eventually capture (but not killed).

We find out that Todd- the Lead Male Counselor- was one of the group that accidentally burned Cropsey as he fights off the disfigured killer.

After being POV for about 90 minutes, he goes down to a shears and hatchet to the head combo in a few minutes.

The End.

A Film that is good at gore and somewhat good at suspense.

This one is an odd duck, as it comes very early in the Slasher Craze.  As such, the rules aren't fully set and not everyone can follow them.

For example, this Film has a Final Guy- how odd is that?!?
Especially when you consider that he should be a victim- maybe who dies saving someone else- given his Character History.

So much of this Film is build-up.
They hired Tom Savini and he only got a brief time to show off Cropsey in all of his burnt-up glory.
What a waste.

Speaking of waste, this was Produced by H. Weinstein.  F**k that guy.

The Burning has a few famous moments, but is mostly just set-up and somewhat underwhelming payoff. 
That said, it did help us get the oddly specific White Guys in Blue Shirts Holding Axes Trend of 1981...

Ash is slightly more iconic than Todd, of course.

I hope you're doing well, Bruce!

A Film that is more of a historical footnote to most people.  That said, it has some good moments and a creepy killer (for a few minutes, at least).