Connect with us

News

Late To The Party: THE BURNING (1981)

Published

on

Hello again, readers, for another fashionably Late To The Party entry! This week, I’ll be discussing perhaps an underrated, yet quintessential Summer-time slasher movie just in time for the dog days of summer; The Burning! Featuring the most iconic portrayal of the New York boogeyman and urban legend known as Cropsy. I had heard of this one for a long, long time, yet I simply never had the opportunity to watch. Something I’ve been kicking myself over as I have a soft spot for good Summer Camp based terror. Having gone to a sleepaway camp for several years when I was a kid, nothing beat telling ghost stories around the fire, and the adrenaline of being surrounded by the forbidding woods, making The Burning a perfect film for me!

burn2

As the story goes (like so many do) a group of campers at Camp Blackfoot have had enough of the abusive, drunkard caretaker by the name of Cropsy. Deciding to give the boozer the scare of his life involving a rotting skull with burning eyes… things don’t end so swell for Cropsy when he accidentally sets himself on fire. Burned beyond recognition, left for dead, the former caretaker has only one thing on his mind after being let out of the hospital after all these years… vengeance! Hedgeclippers in hand, he simply wishes to murder everyone in sight.

I was fortunate enough to catch this one at a revival screening a couple weeks back, and I am overjoyed that my first brush with The Burning was on a big screen in glorious 35mm! The film still captures a lot of tension that many modern slashers miss. Strengthened by a fantastic cast and sympathetic campsite of characters. I was pleasantly surprised to see Jason Alexander of all people play the comic relief, delivering the kind of quips he’d be more known for. Not to mention debuting Fisher Stevens and Holly Hunter.

The rest genuinely feel like atypical teens and counselors simply wishing to have a fun summertime experience… when the murders happen. Which is key in making a Summer Camp based horror film that many imitators miss. We need a bunch of victims, sure, but we also need them to at least somewhat feel like actual campers. The best even feel more like Summer Camp Comedies like Meatballs with a masked maniac thrown into the mix. I was further surprised by some of the crew involved as well. Harvey and Bob Weinstein, of The Weinstein Brothers Hollywood filmmakers, produced and co-wrote the story, and the melodic soundtrack was composed by Yes member Rick Wakeman. Making for a beautiful and eerie synthesized score that sets the scenes and the kills perfectly.

the-burning-pic-5

Speaking of, Cropsy still stands as a terrifying slasher. Disfigured beyond comprehension by the prank gone wrong, and already a pretty rotten guy, he doesn’t have anything to lose in going after his young quarry. The most interesting thing I found was the heavy Giallo influence of the film. The slasher movie certainly owes a lot to the Giallo genre, even serving as an evolution, and The Burning wears that influence proudly on it’s crispy sleeves. Cropsy covers his disgusting form in a burly trench-coat, black leather gloves, and at one point, hat. Not to mention his signature weapon, a super strong and super sharp pair of hedgeclippers. Which make for some great kills and great visuals, especially for the infamous “Raft Massacre” scene that originally gave the film a notorious “X” rating.

Needless to say, I picked up the special-edition blu-ray from Scream Factory right after seeing The Burning in theaters. Much like in the movie, this is a horror story that will live on by campfire or by the light of a screen forever… Thanks for reading, and join us next week when Landon sees what all the buzz was about with David Cronenberg’s The Fly!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTMkCN7MKh4

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

Published

on

Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

Movies

Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

Published

on

In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

News

Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

Published

on

Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading