The Burning: Friday the 13th Ripoff or 80’s Slasher Classic? The Burning: Friday the 13th Ripoff or 80’s Slasher Classic? Let’s face it. As much as Halloween really began the slasher craze, the EIGHTIES slasher craze was actually pushed into full force by a little movie called Friday the 13th in 1980. This is where the blood, the gore, and the sex became a popular staple of what 80’s slashers would be defined by. Don’t forget that Friday the 13th was also the inception of many other summer camp movies to come down the pike as well. So we get to The Burning which was released in 1981. This was one year after the release of Friday the 13th. Jason Voorhees was not yet the slasher icon that he would later become. In fact, this was the first year that he himself would draw first blood as his mother, Mrs. Voorhees, was the original killer at Crystal Lake. Friday the 13th Part 2 of course spawned Jason’s massive killing spree. Many people may pop in The Burning and feel that they’re watching one in another long line of Friday the 13th ripoffs. Is that a fair assessment of this movie? Well, Harvey Weinstein (who would later become an acclaimed producer) claims that he actually wrote this film before the release of Friday the 13th in 1980. In fact, the concept of the film is based on a campfire story told at summer camps in and around New Jersey and upstate New York. Supposedly that story is still in circulation to this very day. Despite the evidence to the contrary, critics of the movie still claim this movie to be nothing but another Friday the 13th copycat. Is it? It’s really hard to say, objectively. One might compare the setting, kill style, and effects (Tom Savini did the effects on Friday the 13th AND The Burning, afterall) from The Burning to Friday the 13th, it’s hard to say that Cropsy himself could be based on Jason Voorhees when Voorhees had not yet gained notoriety when this movie was released. In many ways, Cropsy was more similar to Freddy Krueger than he was Jason Voorhees (burnt serial killer who had a grudge against children). Also, it’s interesting to note that Tom Savini passed up a chance to do the effects on Friday the 13th Part 2 for the opportunity to work on Cropsy in The Burning. This led to the creation of one of the most horrific murder scenes in the history of film (“The Raft Scene”) where an entire group of campers were butchered by the garden sheer-wielding Cropsy. If the sole basis of the criticism of this movie is that it takes the camp atmosphere from Friday the 13th and uses it as its own, then Sleepaway Camp and many others would have to be given the same exact critical eye. The Burning may never shake the comparisons to Friday the 13th because of the iconic position that Friday the 13th has among fans and the general public alike. To answer the question posed by this article…is The Burning an 80’s slasher classic or is it a Friday the 13th ripoff? It’s likely somewhere in the middle as most things are when put to the test of being one thing or another. Time will tell if this movie will continue on as a quality product of its time or a forgotten gem in the archives of 80’s slashers. I give the movie 3 Machetes out of 4. |
80's classic slasher. Prefer this to the original Friday everytime. |
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I agree, Savini is the main selling point in the Burning, but I also agree with Reaps and prefer it to the original F13 :nod: I certainly watch it more often anyway |
I'm not a massive fan of either, but prefer The Burning over F13th. |
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Just curious... |
Slasher classic or Friday 13th rip-off? It can be both, surely. Most slasher films, classic or not, were rip-offs of other slashers. It was, and is, the most generic of sub-genres. I don't see that as a problem, particularly. I prefer 'Friday 13th', on account of that creepy atmosphere you mentioned. It has a doom-laden feel to it, and is somehow a bit more sordid. 'The Burning' just drags too much mid-section. |
I agree with Frankie here. The Burning does drag in places. However i've seen it way more times than Friday the 13th. Oddly i don't really see Friday the 13th as a Friday film. It's just a generic slasher. I've seen the rest of the series dozens more times than the original movie and shall be going back to them again soon for some October / Halloween thrills. |
Ironically, when I first saw Friday (in the cinema) I thought it was a great post Halloween slasher, but on further viewings I find it's lost out a bit in the fullness of time, the " I'm off to walk alone into the dark" cliche is now quite annoying, as for The Burning, no doubt a Friday clone but... what a scene on the raft, a simply outstanding bit of mayhem, tho unlike others I've probably seen Friday more times ( the VHS was very popular back in the day, and was the one mates would take off the shelf to put on in the wind down after a get together) I would now prefer to sit down and watch The Burning, so I would say both have a place in anyones 80s horror collection of slasher classics |
It's the only time I've liked anything by Rick Wakeman.:rockon: Didn't Halloween 2 "kick start" the slasher cycle?? :rolleyes: Sleepaway Camp better than both anyhow... |
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It always seems less bloody than other slashers, less exploitative all round, poorer acting too. and the big reveal is hardly mind altering. In fact it almost seems cliched. I actually prefer the two sequels to the original. |
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I also really like the first two SC sequels (again more so than The Burning or F13th). As hinted at above, my favourite slasher films tend to be the more 'off-the-wall' kind, and this is probably the reason I don't really like many of the franchise slasher films too much (F13th, Elm Street, Child's Play). Maybe if I grew up with them and watched them as and when they were released it may have been a different story, but give me stuff like Stagefright, Pieces and Maniac over any of the heralded slasher franchises any day. :) |
We both agree on Elm St, it's one of the few things we've sided on in the past. :nod: I still haven't seen any of the original Childs Play films. The first one i saw was the excellent Bride of Chucky then the fairly abysmal Seed of Chucky. I adored the recent Curse of Chucky though. A brilliant modern Gothic slasher. |
I like both F13 and The Burning -- mainly because of the FX work of Tom Savini. Cropsey is the better slasher villain of the two movies IMO. I do remember the ending of F13 gave me quite a jolt on my first viewing of it on video, years ago. :) |
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Would 'The Burning' have existed if 'Friday 13th' hadn't been made? |
I do recall finding the old "You're all doomed" bloke on the bicycle quite comical back when I first watched F13. :lol: |
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Cropsy,rarely seen is a much more menacing mutha ****er!:nod: |
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