Digital Dismemberment: The Burning Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray and DVD Review
Director– Tony Maylam
Producer– Harvey Weinstein, Michael Cohl, Andre Djaoui, Dany and Jean Ubaud
Special FX– Tom Savini
Cast– Brian Matthews (Crime Stopper), Leah Ayres (Bloodsport), Brian Backer (Fast Times At Ridgemont High), Larry Joshua (Dances With Wolves), Fisher Stevens (Short Circuit), Jason Alexander (Seinfeld) and Holly Hunter (Raising Arizona)
Released By– Shout!/Scream Factory
Release Date– 5/21/2013
The Premise: “After a cruel joke goes awry, severely burning him and subjecting him to five years of intensive, unsuccessful skin graft treatments Cropsy (Lou David) is back at camp…and ready to wreak havoc on those who scarred him! With his hedge clippers in hand, he terrorizes the camp and systematically mutilates each victim. Can a few courageous campers save themselves and destroy this demented madman before he kills them all?”
When people talk about legendary films in the genre, somehow this film gets left off of most lists. The Burning (1980) may have been preceded by Friday the 13th, but I feel that it carries the same historical weight because if you look back over the eighties, in particular the deranged killer in the woods sub-genre, you can clearly see how many films took their cue from The Burning. In terms of FX history, The Burning is the middle film in Tom Savini’s run of films that included Friday the 13th (1980), Maniac (1980), The Prowler (1981) and Creepshow (1982). He is on record as stating that he passed on Friday the 13th Part 2 to do The Burning…
A group of kids decide to scare the hell out of Cropsy, the mean spirited caretaker at their summer camp. The intent is to scare him with a severed head that has lit candles in it, but in his drunken stupor and fear, he knocks the head onto the bed and he catches fire. The cabin erupts in flames as gas containers explode, engulfing Cropsy as he bursts through the doors and screaming out in the night. The campers watch in horror as he runs through the woods and eventually extinguishes himself in the lake. The kids run off in terror at what has happened. Cropsy is taken to a hospital for third degree burns all over his body, and even before being seen by the general public, he is made a side show by an orderly and a new doctor before giving them both a taste of fear by his sheer looks as he lies in his bed…
Five years later, as Cropsy is being wheeled to the hospital door for release, we hear a bunch of different doctors telling him that the skin grafts just didn’t take, that he would have a difficult time readjusting to society but that he could do it and not to be angry at the kids that caused the accident. Walking his way down the street, he encounters a hooker who is the first to catch his wrath. After seeing him in the light of her room, she implores him to leave. Instead, Cropsy plunges a set of sewing shears into her stomach, spraying blood everywhere until he pushed her head through the bedroom window…
Once Cropsy makes it to the camp, we meet several of the campers and the staff. Cropsy stalks around the camp, finally seizing his moments to strike when a group goes out on a three day canoe trip. Cropsy’s weapon of choice has now become a pair of long handled gardening shears, which he uses with great delight and brutal precision, with multiple neck stabs, slashes and an incredible raft scene massacre that must be seen to be believed. One of the campers is separated from the rest of the group, and one of the counselors runs off to the woods to save him. The resulting chase and reveal scene are tense and graphic, with Savini’s make-up magic ending the film on a particularly bloody note. Is Cropsy dead? Who survived? You are going to have to watch the film to find out…
Bonus Features:
Audio Commentary: Audio 1: Director Tony Maylam and International Film Journalist Alan Jones (Same audio from MGM/UA’s 2007 DVD Release)
Audio 2: Stars Shelley Bruce and Bonnie Deroski (New for this release!)
Blood ‘n’ Fire Memories – (Run time of 18 minutes) A detailed look at the creation of the film’s make-up effects with Special Effects Artist Tom Savini (Same video from MGM/UA 2007 DVD Release)
Slash & Cut – (Run time of 12 minutes) An interview with editor Jack Sholder (New for this release!)
Cropsy Speaks – (Run time of 11 minutes) An interview with actor Lou David (New for this release!)
Summer Camp Nightmare – (Run time of 7 minutes) An interview with actress Leah Ayres (New for this release!)
Behind-the-Scenes Footage
Theatrical Trailer
Make-Up Effects Still Gallery
Poster & Still Gallery
Discs: 2
Format: NTSC
Color: Color
Rating: R
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Language: English
Shout!/Scream Factory should be commended not only for bringing such a genre classic to DVD, but also for the careful attention to detail they paid to the transfer. While the film looked good on the 2007 MGM/UA release, the color and sound on this edition blows it away. While they also transferred over the audio commentary by Director Tony Maylam and International Film Journalist Alan Jones, as well as the Blood ‘N’ Fire interview with Tom Savini from the 2007 release, the inclusion of the new audio commentary with stars Shelley Bruce and Bonnie Deroski and the interviews with editor Jack Sholder, actor Lou David and actress Leah Ayres show that they were not interested in giving fans a simple retread on DVD. With the inclusion of Behind-the-Scenes Footage (provided by Tom Savini), the Theatrical Trailer, a Make-Up Effects Still Gallery and the Poster & Still Gallery, Shout!/Scream Factory is showing why it is becoming the standard bearer for Blu-Ray horror releases!
Movie Rating: 4.5 out of 5
DVD Rating: 10 out of 10
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