The Burning

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The Burning

R,

1981,

1h 31m,

Horror/

Mystery & Thriller

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86%

14 Reviews

Tomatometer

60%

5,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

86%

Tomatometer

14 Reviews

60%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

At summer camp, some teenagers pull a prank on the camp's caretaker, Cropsy (Lou David). But the joke goes terribly wrong, and the teens leave Cropsy for dead after setting him on fire. But no one keeps Cropsy down. A few years later, the burned and disfigured caretaker returns to camp equipped with his trusty shears, ready to unleash his particular brand of vengeance on a whole new group of teens. The murderous Cropsy stalks the campers in the woods, one by one.

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Richard Freedman

Newark Star-Ledger

Jan 6, 2026

It's rather better than the "Friday the 13th" horrors.

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Patrick Cavanaugh

The Wolfman Cometh

Sep 11, 2025

3/5

A perfectly serviceable summer-camp slasher that hits all the expected beats, even if it never really reinvents anything.

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Kevin Carr

Fat Guys at the Movies

Jul 21, 2023

2.5/4

A notable early installment in the campground slasher genre that at times is overwritten and shallow, but it still delivers on all the classic tropes.

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Jorge Loser

Espinof

May 15, 2023

4.5/5

If the kills aren't particularly ingenious, they are abundant, bloody, and effective. [Full review in Spanish]

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Alan Jones

Starburst

Jul 28, 2022

The Burning has some shock value if you are prepared to fall for all the well-worn tricks of the trade and put out of your mind every film you've seen in the last three years.

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Aug 31, 2020

5/10

For every effective brutality there's an equivalently unsuccessful bit of editing, acting, a musical riff, or interchange, which numbs the execution.

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Abraham R

Apr 8, 2019

Awful! If the dialogue doesn't put you off, the acting certainly will. The film gets points for visual effects, which is pretty neat for its time. Oh and I'll add an extra half-star for seeing a young charismatic Jason Alexander (plus we get a 2 second glimpse of his arse.....lol, delicious).

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Harry R

Jan 14, 2019

Got great acting and smells like summer camp slasher nostalgia. Got to love it. Similar style to Friday 13th. Were all the kids this horny in 1981? Haha

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Luke R

Dec 10, 2018

It was a slasher like Friday the 13th, but this came first. The kills weren't unique or innovative, though there were a few scares to be had. The score was great and had an eerie vibe. The most glaring negative was the ending. Justice wasn't served, the weakling weirdo kills him and it was cheesy and rushed. If the ending had been better this could have easily been a 3.5*.

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Luke G

Sep 14, 2018

An under appreciated slasher flick, The Burning has some genuine suspenseful moments, and a god damn gory ass kill scene (won't spoil it), and some other cool kills too. The characters (for once in a slasher) are actually pretty well-developed, and feel some sympathy for them. Overall, The Burning is a good slasher film, definitely one of the best.

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Leia G

Dec 30, 2017

This is a terrible summer camp slasher movie, nothing to like about it at all, its garbage. it was funny to see a young george costanza at summer camp, nothing ever goes right for that guy. and its funny that its a harvey weinstein production that shows some of the techniques harvey tried to use on women. but the endless stories about these idiots and their dumb summer camp wore me out, i never wish to see this again

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Leia S

Nov 29, 2017

1.5/5.0 stars - Grade: D+

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Tony Maylam

Director

Brian Matthews

Todd

Leah Ayres

Michelle

Brian Backer

Alfred

Lou David

Cropsy

Larry Joshua

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Synopsis

At summer camp, some teenagers pull a prank on the camp's caretaker, Cropsy (Lou David). But the joke goes terribly wrong, and the teens leave Cropsy for dead after setting him on fire. But no one keeps Cropsy down. A few years later, the burned and disfigured caretaker returns to camp equipped with his trusty shears, ready to unleash his particular brand of vengeance on a whole new group of teens. The murderous Cropsy stalks the campers in the woods, one by one.

Director: Tony Maylam
Producer: Harvey Weinstein
Screenwriter: Harvey Weinstein, Tony Maylam, Brad Grey, Peter Lawrence, Bob Weinstein
Production Co: Miramax Films
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 6, 2018
Runtime: 1h 31m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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