The Burning DVD: Review By Bryan Yentz

Tired and restless, a young band of teenagers row through the murky water in hopes of reaching camp before nightfall. Suddenly, drifting before them is a small canoe. Could this be the canoe of the missing person? Could they still be alright? As the survivors move ever closer, they soon learn the terrible truth...

Yep... That raft sequence was quite surprising I have to say... A little brief, but surprising nonetheless.

The Burning is basically like so many horror movies made before and after it. The story is a little something like this: after a man named Cropsy is horribly burned due to a childish prank, he returns years later to exact his revenge on teenagers that weren't responsible. Wow, with that one sentence I nearly defined every horror flick of the eighties. Anyways, after twenty years, the Burning has finally been remastered and released as the cult hit that so many have already deemed it.

As far as horror fims go, the Burning is pretty standard in a lot of ways. All of the cliched characters are here (look for a young Jason Alexander), you have the gratuitous nudity, and last but certainly not least: the violence. But the biggest and best difference: it's a stand-alone... Meaning the creators decided to leave it as is and not throw out sequel after sequel; which I believe allows it to hold its classis appeal all the more. Even still, watching the Burning you can't help but get the "been here, done that" vibe. The movie also takes its time building up towards its conclusion without throwing in a whole lot of memorable scenes. Honestly, the best moment is definitely the raft sequence. Here, Savini proves that he was and still is one of the best special effects artists out there. Not only does this scene have the best gore, but it also is one of the only scenes that actually surprises; an element which the rest of the film sadly lacks.

Despite the fact that the Burning is like every other slasher film out there, it's still worth checking out just for nostalgia sake... Oh, and the cool raft scene too.

Commentary with Director Tony Maylam and International Film Journalist Alan Jones-- Although neither of the commentators seem that enthusiastic, they still do a good job of discussing the film's effects (Maylam having to pump the blood for one specific scene), as well as how its content stacks up against more recent films like Hostel and Saw.

Blood 'n' Fire Memories-- Tom Savini takes us back to the days of yore when he was working on the film. For the most part, this isn't a walk down memory lane as much as it is an in-depth look at the special effects Savini concocted. While I wish they would have gathered more of the staple people involved for this segment, Tom Savini proves that he doesn't need anyone else around to be entertaining.

Trailers for the Burning, Horror and Jeepers Creepers 1/2.

The movie does look eighties, but even some shots look a bit grainier than they should. It is presented in a 1.85:1 widescreen format.

The Burning sounds just as you'd expect: lots of screaming teenagers and cliched horror music. It's presented in an English mono audio format with English, French and Spanish subtitles.

Actually kind of cool, if not a little bland. The use of fire atop a black and white background is pretty nice. The only downside being the tagline for the movie, "Gather around the campfire to die!"

A pretty good horror classic that doesn't surprise much beyond some of its gore effects.