The Burning (1981)

Last night was Friday, so as per routine it was "Horror Movie Friday" because I watch horror movies every friday night.
Last night's selection was The Burning. A teen slasher movie from the golden age of the genre (the 80s). It has a lot in common with the first Friday the 13th. Some counselors pull a prank on a guy who works at a summer camp and end up burning him very badly. Protip: Do not keep a gas can on the nightstand next to your bed, nothing good can come from that.Five years later the guy, horribly disfigured, gets out of the hospital, and goes looking for revenge against camp counselors (not the same ones who burned him, but close enough).
One funny thing I noticed about this movie was that there appeared to be no kids at the camp. It was always just counselors doing activities together. Like when they go on the big overnight canoe trip, it is only like 10 counselors who go, no kids. The only time they show any kids is during scenes in the dining hall. There are benefits to having no kids in most of the movie though, like random skinny dipping scenes, so I am not complaining. They use the same trick too many times in this movie. They make you think the killer is about to attack, but then it turns out to be just one of the person's friends walking up to them. Doing that once is neat, do it 4 times, and it gets kind of tiring. My main complaint about this movie is the effects were kind of crappy. Which is surprising because the effects (and the killers hands) were done by horror effects mastermind Tom Savini. The effects weren't totally horrible, but movies from the same time frame did them much better. The make up for the burned guy wasn't too bad. It reminded me of Nemesis from the Resident Evil series, if that means anything to you. Another highlight is the movie features Jason Alexander (George Costanza) when he still had a full head of hair.
Overall this was a fun slasher movie. Some good scares, funny parts, naked teens and a very creepy villain. If you want something similar to Friday the 13th but are tired of Jason Voorhees, check it out.

3 out of 5 Stars

Random Movie Fact: This was the first movie ever released by Miramax and the Weinstein brothers. Who of course are now major players in Hollywood.