THE HIDDEN (1987) (Warner Archive Blu-ray Review)

THE HIDDEN (1987)

Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region Free

Rating: R

Duration: 97 Minutes

Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 1080P HD Widescreen (1.78:1)

Director: Jack Sholder

Cast: Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Nouri, 

Directed by Jack Sholder (Alone in the Dark) and written by Jack Koulf (The Boogens) 80's sci-fi action gem The Hidden (1987) opens with a real zinger, with static black and white security camera footage of Jack DeVries (Chris Mulkey, Twin Peaks) robbing a Wells Fargo bank in L.A., blasting three security guards with shotgun before staring straight into the security camera and shooting it. He takes off with a bag full of money in a sweet Ferrari, what follows is an an amped up car chase through the street of 80's Los Angeles where no one is safe, he even runs down a man in a wheelchair! The bank robber is finally stopped when his car plows through a blockade of cop cars and is gunned down in rain of bullets, smiling all through it, then his car blows up and he is knocked to the ground. The culprit is not expected to survive his injuries and is sent to the hospital where he is hooked up to life support. Surprisingly he wakes up and walks over to the bed next to his, where a man named Jonathan P. Miller (William Boyett, Blood Birthday) lays comatose with a bad heart. DeVries leans over the man and opens his mouth, a slimy black, tentacled slug crawls out his mouth into Miller, while DeVries body drops to the floor lifeless, Miller wakes up, and walks out of the hospital. That's right, this guy is some sort of of alien parasite that takes over a human host.

Investigating the case is hardened L.A.P.D. detective Thomas Beck (Michael Nouri, Flashdance) whom after speaking with neighbors of the normally mild-mannered DeVries' is more than a little confused as to why an ordinary citizen would one day just wake-up and set about robbing banks and murdering people. Beck is none to pleased when Seattle-based F.B.I. Agent Lloyd Gallagher (Kyle MacLachlan, Blue Velvet) shows up and takes the lead on the investigation, when informed that DeVries is dying in the hospital Gallagher quickly heads there where he discovers the strange set of circumstances regarding DeVries and Miller. From there Gallagher and Beck track down Miller, whom Gallagher says was an accomplice of DeVries, which further confuses Beck, there seems to be no correlation between the two men. Moments later Miller arrives at a local record store and beats the clerk to death, making off with the money from the register and a sweet 80s boombox.

I could not help but think of Agent Dale Cooper from Twin Peaks when I saw Kyle MacLachlan onscreen, though this predates his turn in the series by a few years. He's an aloof guy, way more naive than you would expect of an agent, he literally takes everything at face value, and there's a reason for that. The alliance with Beck is an uneasy partnership, but Beck invites him home for dinner, and after drinking some beer Gallagher tells Beck and his wife that the killer he is tracking murdered his former partner, wife and daughter, and you can see the L.A. detective coming around to the weird FBI agent. An example of Lloyd's weirdness is when Beck offers him an Alka-Seltzer and he tries to eat the tablet instead of dissolving in water, the joke is called back a few minutes later when he was given an aspirin, for the same reason, and he drops into the water expecting it to dissolve. The humor is not unlike the spaceman-on-the-wrong-planet stuff we saw in John Carpenter's Starman (1984) a few years earlier.  

While we as viewers know it almost from the beginning Gallagher tries to tell Beck that the string of strange murders is actually the same alien-parasite inhabiting different human hosts, and we also ind out that - SPOILER - Gallagher himself is alien being who has been tracking the alien criminal for the last nine years, Of course Beck scoffs at the very idea, but eventually he comes around to it when there's little other explanation for why so many ordinary citizen are turning into 80's super-villains.

The long-list of human hosts are fun, the alien-criminal causing all sorts of trouble with each new embodiment until he has abused and used each host, abandoning them for a new one, beginning with DeVries, then into Miller, then the parasite chooses a comely stripper named Brenda (Claudia Christian, Maniac Cop 2) who after admiring it's new found titties, literally fucks a man to death before being forced to vacate that bodacious body for that of a dog! Sadly, this stripper has some nice moves but never fully undresses, so points must be detracted for that oversight, but you do see a lot of her rear. The parasite continues to work its way up the food chain of human hosts, from an L.A.P.D. Lieutenant to a prominent  politician with presidential leanings. The actors do quite nice job of making you feel like they are the same parasite, just inhabiting a different host. They all have a behavioral tick were they lick their lips, they each stare at themselves in the mirror, crave fast  cars, loud music and money. Though Brenda is easy on the eyes my favorite host is Miller, I love the way he lurches as he struggles with his hosts failing health, and the scene of him sitting at a booth in a diner with the boombox blasting Concrete Blonde at max volume - to the ire of diners and waitresses, clearly giving no fucks. Then he goes to a Ferrari dealership, repeatedly asking for the key for a sweet cherry-red Ferrari, before shooting the coke-addled buyer and dealer, and driving off. He also funnily attempts to pick-up a woman on the side of the street with behaviors he's observed, nearly pulling out his gun to kill her when she tells him to "fuck off". 

The flick is a lot of fun, fast-paced and high-energy, a hybrid genre film combing science-fiction, body horror, and buddy-cop action movie elements, it's a fun mash-up from start to finish. The special effects are also quite good, in measured doses we get the disgusting slug transference - which is all sort of sick with awful squishy sound effects and vomitous visuals, there's also lots of bloody squib action, and a great fire-stunt of a man being immolated by a flamethrower, with the slug emerging from the charred corpse before blowing up like the Death Star! Great stuff, and the high-speed car stunts are pretty great too, some of the opening car pursuit scenes feel par with The French Connection (1971) and To Live and Die in L.A. (1985).   

Not all the special effects hold up to the high-def image, some of the latex-origins betray themselves, and the space-gun Gallagher uses to combat the slug-creature is sort of laughable, but they're never not entertaining. This one has a little bit of everything for everyone, loads of actions, some sweet special effects, buddy-cop stuff, and sci-fi, body- horror elements are bundled together for one heck of a fun watch. 

Audio/Video: The Hidden (1987) arrives on Blu-ray from the genre film lovers over at Warner Archive, dusting off this gem from the Dimension Films vault. The 1.78:1 framed HD image is strong with good color reproduction, this one has a nice otherworldly green hue about it, not in a problematic sort of way, but the greens are really infused here, looking better to my eye than the overly bright DVD image, which leaned towards blue. The grain is well-managed, the image has a nice clarity to it, and skin tones look good. It also appears to show more edge detail around the frame. The images in this review are from www.caps-a-holic.com, the site has a great comparison of the DVD versus Blu-ray for those interested. I'm not sure if this is a 2017 HD Master, the original announcement on the WAC Facebook page advertised it as such, but that delineation seems to be removed later, regardless, the new HD image looks fantastic to my eyes, a very significant upgrade from the now ancient looking snapper-case DVD release.

Audio on the disc includes both English DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 which is the original mix, and a DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround Mix. I preferred the original mono mix, dialogue and effects are crisp and clean and delivered with some nice precision and oomph, the soundtrack featuring a score by Michael Convertino (Wake Wood) and choice song selections from Shok Paris, Concrete Blonde and The Lords of the New Church sound great, optional English subtitles are provided. 

The extras are carried over from the DVD release, we get an audio commentary by Director Jack Sholder and Tim Hunter, plus 8-minutes of SFX Footage with commentary by Jack Sholder and a theatrical trailer. The commentary is great, Sholder gives good commentary, very honest and blunt, taking a few shots here and again regarding Nouri, who seems like he was difficult to work. 

WAC aren't known for having the budget to furnish new extras for their releases, but this is a title that would have been even better with some new Scream Factory or Arrow Video-styled interviews with director Sholder, actors Kyle McacLachlan and Michael Nouri, and the special effects team which included such notable names as Howard Berger, Kevin Yagher,  Gino Crognale, Robert Kurtzman, and Kevin Yagher. A new Red Short Pictures making-of doc could have been something huge for this release. I'd be okay spending $10 more for these WAC titles with some new extras and interviews, just saying - hint hint.

This single-disc release comes in a standard Blu-ray keepcase, this one sporting the original movie poster artwork. The spine features the title of the film in a turquoise colored font, which is interesting, all of the other WAC titles I own have the same bronze/gold colored lettering on the spine, so that's sort of cool.

Special Features:

- Commentary by Director Jack Sholder and Tim Hunter

- SFX Footage with commentary by Jack Sholder (8 min) 

- Theatrical Trailer (2 min) HD

The Hidden (1987) is a sorely underrated 80's sci-fi horror entry, it has a solid cult-following but it remains a bit of a hidden gem. Those who love it, LOVE IT, myself included, and I hope this gorgeous new Blu-ray from WAC throws a spotlight on this overlooked 80's sci-fi action classic, it deserves more love. 

SUPERNOVA (2000)

SUPERNOVA (2000) 

Label: Scream Factory 

Release Date: January 13th 2015

Region Code: A

Rating: R

Duration: 91 Minutes

Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080p Widescreen (2:35:1)) 

Director: Walter Hill

Cast: Angela Bassett, James Spader, Lou Diamond Philips, Peter Facinelli, Robin Tunney, Robert Forster, Wilson Cruz

Walter Hill directed a science fiction space thriller, damn this sounds like it might be a blast, but before you get your panties damp just keep in mind that Walter Hill abandoned the film after the initial filming when the studio would could not keep their hands off the project. When the studio demanded screen tests and re shoots the director left the project and the film went through he hands of two more directors before being dumped into the cinema at the turn of the century where it died a painful death, a ninety million dollar science fiction flop. Keeping in mind that good taste has never been my strong suite there just might be some fun to be had with this one, I do love a trashy b-movie if we cannot squeeze some enjoyment out of this one. 

Sometime in the 22nd century we have the medical vessel Nightingale patrolling the galaxy when they receive a distress transmission from an abandoned mining colony on the far side of the galaxy on a moon known as Titan 37. They make a hyperspace dimension jump to the location of the beacon only to be unexpectedly caught in the gravitational pull of a dying star. On top of that the captain of the ship (Robert Forster) dies a gristly death when his pod malfunction mid jump, his body fused to the inside of his pod. 

 On top of that they are caught in the gravitational pull of a dying blue sun and just barely escape. The co-pilot (Spader) manages to stabilizes the Nightingale and prevent it from being pulled into the sun but the ship is damaged and the fuel is lost. Their only way out is to make another hyperspace dimension jump but the ship needs fuel, and time to reset the hyper drive and it's only a matter of hours before things are going to get pretty hot on the ship, it's a race against time. 

The film has a decent cast, we have Captain Marley (Robert Forster) for about a minute, co-pilot Nick Vanzant (James Spader), medical officer Kaela (Angela Bassett), medical technician Yerzy (Lou Diamond Phillips), rescue paramedic Danika (Robin Tunney), and computer technician Benjamin (Wilson Cruz) plus a survivor from the mining colony, played with some menace by Peter Facinelli.

The plot is pretty threadbare and the script doesn't offer a lot of meat for the actors to chew on, both Spader and Basset do what they can with the material but there's just not much to it. They both come across as intense and brooding but there's not much substance to any of the characters. The survivor from the mining colony is douche nozzle from the beginning and as he transforms he only gets worse. The survivor has brought with him an alien relic composed of ninth dimensional matter which not only has made him stronger but threatens to potentially destroy the entire damn galaxy as it turns out. 

Now the race is on to reset the hyperspace drive and recover fuel from the Titan 37 before the entire ship in is pulled into the giant blue sun, but the crew must also contend  with a killer on board who is killing them off one by one. Not the most original plot but this one should be pretty decent on paper - there's a lot of potential here and for the most part it's just pissed away. 

That ninth dimension thingamajig is affecting some of the crew, too. Mostly Lou Diamond Philips, who is becoming both obsessed and possessed by it's ambiguous sinister power. And let me just say that when Wilson Cruz is supposed to be a bad ass you know something ain't right in Denmark.  When he has to toughen up I just could not buy it on any level, a poor casting choice. Additionally Cruz's character is having a romantic courtship of sorts with the ships on board computer system, affectionately named Sweetie. The A.I, is not the only love interest, we also have an often nude Robin Tunney to distract with the occasional  anti-gravity sex scene, which is appreciated but even her gorgeous naked form cannot save this formless sci-fi flop from it's mediocre fate.

The effects are not too shabby for 2000, some nice use of miniatures and digital artistry make for a few decent shots of spacecraft but the cosmic backdrop is given short shrift in my opinion, this is not the most attractive space odyssey, you just never get a feel for the wonder of space and space travel. 

The film went through all sorts of development weirdness and director Walter Hill removed himself from the project when the studio demanded test screenings and re cuts, afterwards both Jack Sholder was brought in to do re shoots and Francis Ford Coppola was brought in to re-cut it, with so many cook in the kitchen it's no wonder this is a muddled mess. 

On the plus side James Spader proves to be a pretty decent hero in the film with some quiet intensity and there are a few decent action sequences, but much like Tunney's welcome and pointless nude scenes these few moments of fun don't add up to a very good film at the end of the day.

Blu-ray: The Blu-ray from Scream Factory features the extended R-rated cut and not the PG-13 theatrical version. The image is expectantly sharper and more detailed than the previous standard definition DVD with strong color saturation and a nice layer of fine film grain but it just doesn't have the depth and clarity of a big budget, modern science fiction film in my opinion.  

The audio offers up a choice of DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo and a 5.1 surround option. Dialogue, score and effects are nicely balanced with some good atmospheric use of the surrounds. 

Onto the bonus content we have a making-of doc featuring interviews with producer Daniel Chuba, co-director Jack Sholder, and stars Robert Forster and Lou Diamond Phillips who all speak quite honestly of their experience making the film. Chuba explains the the film was originally intended as a low budget scrappy sci-fi thriller but that once it fell into the hands of the studio it became a big budget nightmare plagued by daily re writes and studio interference. Director Walter Hill eventually walking off the project, at which time Jack Sholder - director of THE HIDDEN -  was brought in to do re-shoots and re-edit the film. Apparently he didn't fare too well and just a few days into his re edits none other than Francis Ford Coppola (THE GODFATHER) was brought into finish the film. A pretty textbook example of too many cooks in the kitchen, and let me tell you this sci-fi bouillabaisse is just bland as can be. I only wish they could have got the participation of Walter Hill and Francis Ford Coppola to comment on their experiences, that would have been quite a watch. 

Perhaps providing some insight into the original intentions of director Walter Hill we are provided with fifteen minutes of deleted scenes that hint a darker film.  We have a tiny bit more of Robert Forster, an autopsy scene of a crew member, an extended sequences with Spader on the Titan where he encounters another survivor, and more of the final showdown on the Nightingale, nothing too fantastic. There is also alternate ending that is feverishly awful featuring a bit more of our villain and a slightly different outcome for our protagonists and a darker finish. 

Lastly we have a strange trailer that pitches the film as a sort comedy sci-fi thriller with a soundtrack featuring Sugar Ray and Three Dog Night, clearly the studio had no idea how to market this mess of a movie. 

Special Features
-The Making Of Supernova - New Interviews With Actors Lou Diamond Phillips And Robert Forster, Producer Daniel Chuba And Filmmaker Jack Sholder HD (25 Minutes)
- Deleted Scenes HD (15 Minutes)
- Alternate Ending HD
- Theatrical Trailer HD (2 Minutes) 

Verdict: Not an awful film but a very bland viewing experience and not one I would look forward to re visiting again anytime soon. I might re watch the making-of documentary again because the story behind the film is far superior to what ended up on the screen, not a film I can recommend. It's a bit of head scratcher why this was chosen to receive the coveted Scream Factory treatment over so many others. I think I would have preferred to see this released as a double feature disc paired with something else, on it's own it just doesn't do a lot for me. 

DVD Review: Arachnid (2001)

Arachnid (2001)

Label: Arrow Video
Release Date: June 6th 2011
Region Code: 0 PAL
Rating: 15 Certificate
Duration: 92 mins
Video: 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
Director: Jack Sholder
Cast: Chris Potter, Alex Reid, José Sancho
Tagline: Prepare to be eaten inside out!

Synopsis: Alien spiders threaten the very existence of man in Arachnid, only a team of scientists and mercenaries stand in the way of eight-legged doom for humanity. Trapped on an island with a nest of hungry enemies, time is running out before the eggs were laid in every last one of them...


Film: Who doesn't love a giant spider creature feature? This one has the added bonus of being from director Jack Sholder, a man with a few films worth mentioning beginning with Alone in the Dark (1982) which is
a pretty fantastic siege-slasher, the underrated science-fiction actioner The Hidden (1987) and the film he's probably best known for A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Dead (1985) with it's wonderfully homo-erotic subtext, it's much maligned but it just ain't that bad a film in my opinion. He's done a ton of other stuff I've haven't seen so there goes my credibility but the point is he's done some mighty fine genre pictures and I was fairly excited to check out Arrow Video's treatment of Arachnid.

The film opens in the South Pacific as a Naval jet fighter is in pursuit of a
UFOwhich goes into stealthy cloak mode. The pilot encounters mechanical failure forcing him to eject just as before the fighter collides with the cloaked craft. The pilot parachutes to safety landing on a tropical island where he discovers the wreckage of the alien craft and it's pilot who seems to be trying to warn him of something when a only briefly glimpsed alien arachnid kills both the alien and naval pilot. Let me just say these sequences contained some of the worst CGI special effects I've seen in awhile. Granted the film is a decade old which must be about a century in CGI years, but it was distracting to say the least. This is the kind of stuff we were seeing in Roger Corman produced Syfy originals five years ago, oh yeah it was bad.

Next thing we know we're in Guam and meet the totally smokin' hot charter pilot Loren Mercer (Alex Reid, The Descent) whom arrives at a hospital to meet Dr. Leon (Jose Sancho) and his assistant Susana (Neus Aseni) from the World Health Organization. Dr. Leon is there to treat a tribesman suffering from necrotic paralysis stemming from an insect bite of unknown origin. The WHO require Mercer's services to fly them and  a trio of well-armed jarheads to the island where the man was bit to discover the source of the bite. The Marines are lead by Valentine (Chris Potter of TV's Kung Fu: The Legend Continues) and the muscle bound grunts Bear and Reyes. Also joining the expedition is a native tracker named Toe Boy, entomologist Dr. Henry Capri (Ravil Isyanoc) who was a total Ted Raimi clone and several unnamed islanders who kinda like the red-shirted ensigns in Star Trek are
total spider-bait, y'know? En route to the island the prop engine plane loses power and Mercer makes an emergency crash landing on the beach. It's a fairly unsatisfying "crash landing", pretty laughable in fact.The crew rocking back and forth in the cockpit, a brief shot of the landing gear skimming the water and someone obviously throwing sand at the plane from off screen. So far the effects are rather unimpressive but I promise you they get better once the team arrive on the island and the alien-arachnid action begins.

Wouldn't you know it the same interference that inexplicably downed the plane also prohibits radio communication. With no communications and no plane the group press forward with the expedition forging their way through the thick jungle where they encounter smaller and mostly harmless insect mutations. Things really begin to go awry when jarhead Reyes is attacked by larger than normal ticks which burrow beneath his skin. Shots of parasites crawling just beneath the skin always give me the creeps it's no different here. As the ticks burrow deeper Reyes is overwrought with pain and begins to vomit blood and then parasites and then the fun really begins when they erupt
from his neck and chest and his eye socket, which was very reminiscent of what we've seen in many Lucio Fulci films but not as stylish as all that, good stuff. Bear ends up putting Reyes outta his misery with a shot to the head. Great effects works that looked to be mostly practical with some digital enhancements.

That night the expedition reach Toe Boy's village which they find deserted, seems the spider has been mighty busy. A mutated serpentine creature that appears 1/2 python and 1/2 centipede attacks the camp killing a one of the red-shirts. Valentine realizing that the expedition is clusterfucked calls off the mission and decides to head back to the plane come first light. The next morning as the group head for the plane Dr. Capri strays from the expedition and discovers the remains of the creature that attacked them the night before but he falls victim to the alien-arachnid. The arachnid webs him into a cocoon and injects him with neurotoxin and spider eggs. The group find him but it's far too late for the doctor who actually seems morbidly intrigued by what's happening to him as he describes what is happening to him with a scientific curiosity. As the eggs within him start to hatch Susana injects the entomologist with a lethal dose of poison ending his suffering but theirs is just beginning.

Up till now the main arachnid has been only briefly glimpsed but now it
is finally revealed and we see the
awesomely realized alien-arachnid in it's full grotesque glory. The practical creature design and effects in the film were done by a talented guy named Steve Johnson who's done a ton of great work. Watch the special features, there's fantastic interview with him, he's quite a character. Aside from the lame CGI effects at the top of the film most of the rest of the film is crammed with old school practical effects and animatronics and are pretty
awesome. Our remaining member find shelter in an WW2-era Japanese bunker while the giant alien-arachnid lays siege, I don't wanna spoil the whole damned film so that's all you get from me.

The cast is quite good for a silly b-movie creature feature. All were pretty one-dimensional stereotypes but not bad for what it is. The worst acting comes from the beefy jarheads Bear and Reyes, oh Christ they were bad. Our two main protagonists were fine if generic. Alex Reid's Mercer seems like a cookie cutter Lara Croft caricature and Chris Potter as the Valentine was also pretty solid with good comic timing with a Nathan Fillion vibe about him. Isyanoc's portrayal of the bookish entomologist Capri was my favorite character, perfectly cast and deliciously annoying. I am a big proponent of the films practical effects, the digital stuff not so much. My hat is off to Steve Johnson for the impressive creature design and animatronic effects. Grotesque well done gore on a budget. A few bits of shitty CGI at the start of the film don't ruin the show. What could have been better? The CGI enhanced prologue could have been nixed in my opinion without affecting the film, and I would
have liked to have seen more of Alex Redi's character if you know what I mean but c'mon, while it's not a great film it's definitely a fun b-movie creature feature.

DVD: Arachnid is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen, it's a good
looking transfer with bright, vivid colors, the jungle scenes really pop with luscious greens offering up decent detail and consistently good black levels. On the audio side we get English Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 plus Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 with optional English subtitles. It sounds great, the 5.1 delivers on Francesc Gener's film score and the films effects tracks spring to life once inside the jngle canpy. When the film was initially released on the Region 1 home market from Lionsgate it was a bare-bones edition. Arrow Video have sweetened the deal with reversible artwork, an 8 pg. booklet with a Jack Sholder interview, a fold-out poster with some great Tom 'The Dude Designs' Hodge artwork, a theatrical trailer and two interviews. One with Brian Yuzna who recalls the founding of Fantastic Factory and why they chose to do Arachnid plus a very interesting interview with special make-up effects designer Steve Johnson who recalls striking out on his own in the industry with Night of the Demons (1988), making Arachnid and an experience designing animatronics for Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are (2009) only to have the project to have collapse on him and pretty much cause him to throw in the towel. A very nice array of supplemental features and while a Jack Sholder commentary would've been grand what we do get is pretty informative and enjoyable, especially the Johnson interview.

Special Features:

- Reversible sleeve featuring brand new and original artwork
- Double-sided fold-out poster featuring new artwork
- King of the Spiders – Brian Yuzna remembers Arachnid (20:21) 16:9

- Creature Comforts: The Monster Mayhem of Steve Johnson (26:02) 16:9
- Original Trailer (2:23)

- 8 pg. booklet with Jack Sholder interview by author and critic Calum Waddell

Verdict: A very enjoyable throwback to the atomic creature features of the 50's and 60's with some great special effects (and some not so great). There's some nods to Mimic (1987) and Alien (1979) here, original it ain't but it is quite enjoyable. If you've enjoyed Deep Blue Sea (1999) or Eight Legged Freaks (2002) there's no way this is not gonna be a blast. Sit back, grab a bowl of popcorn and a beer and enjoy. 3.5 outta 5

Arachnid is available June 6th 2011 as a single disc edition or you can grab the currently available Fantastic Factory Presents 4 DVD boxset which also includes three other films from Brian Yuzna's Fantastic Factory Presents studio; Faust: LOve of the Damned (2000), Beyond Re-Animator (2003) and Paco Plaza's Romasanta: The Werewolf Hunt (2004).

DVD Review: The Burning (1981)

THE BURNING (1981)
 “Gather Around the Campfire to DIE!”

 RATED: R
RUN TIME: 91 Min.
DIRECTOR: Tony Maylam
CAST: Jason Patrick, Lou David, Brian Mathews, Brian Backer, Larry Joshua

ANECDOTAL: The Finger Lakes Region of Upstate New York, it’s a wonderfully wooded area, ensconced in the simple pleasures of nature itself, it’s the place I called home for 20 years, and just down the road apiece was Babcock-Hovey Campground. Having been nurtured on the FRIDAY THE 13th films from an early age do not think for a second that I did not fear a masked and vengeful killer lurked there, waiting for some wayward teen to have sex or smoke some weed and take ’em out with a machete. Actually, I’m not really as much a pussy as all that, in fact, I loved camping and ventured into the woods quite frequently. My Huckleberry Finn-esque childhood was filled with forest expeditions, fishing, and a healthy amount of fort-building. While I enjoyed the woods, catching crawdads in the creek and whatnot, the idea that a masked or disfigured killer could be lurking smoldered in the back of my mind. THE BURNING (1982) was filmed in nearby Buffalo, NY while FRIDAY THE 13th (1980) was filmed in the neighboring New Jersey, and because of my familiarity with the terrain I found it easy to imagine these scenarios playing out in the woods surrounding the area.

SYNOPSIS: After a cruel joke goes awry, severely burning him and subjecting him to five years of intensive, unsuccessful skin graft treatments, Cropsy is back at camp… and ready to wreak havoc on those who scarred him.

THE FILM: The film opens with the kids of Camp Blackfoot devising an overly elaborate and ill conceived prank to fuck with the Cropsy, the camp janitor. Needless to say the prank goes awry as he knocks a flaming skull onto his bed sheets, setting himself aflame. He runs from the cabin engulfed in flame, through woods, leaping into the nearby river, he is severely burned over his entire body. He’s taken to the hospital, and while two orderlies are sneaking a peak at the disfigured Cropsy he grabs one by the arm, eliciting an over-the-top reaction, and it’s hilarious. Flash forward five years; Cropsy is being released from the hospital with disfiguring burns and a vengeful disposition. Upon his release he makes straight for 42nd St., picks up a whore and escorts her back to her place. After seeing his disfigured face she is horrified and panics, he proceeds to plunge a pair of sewing shears into her abdomen. It’s a gut churning scene; very grindhouse, brutal and chilling. From there we are taken to Camp Stonewater where summer camp is in full swing. Two of the counselors take the older teens for a rafting trip upstream for a bit of fun; things turn bad quickly thereafter, as Cropsy, armed with hedge clippers, has returned to the area, vengeance foremost in his mind.

THE BURNING features several notable debuts, including producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein (founders of MIRMAX films) as well as Jason Alexander (SEINFELD), Fisher Stevens (MY SCIENCE PROJECT), Holly Hunter (RASINING ARIZONA), and Larry Joshua (SPIDER-MAN). Of note is Jason Alexander (George Costanza from Seinfeld) whom even at this early stage displays a knack for comedic timing and has a luxurious full head of hair t’boot.
THE BURNING is directed by Tony Maylan, who’s done little else, but like Joseph Zito (THE PROWLER), I would’ve liked to see him do more in the genre. The film is edited by Jack Sholder whom would go on to direct a few genre classics of his own, including THE HIDDEN(1987), WISHMASTER 2 (1999), ALONE IN THE DARK (1982) and maligned though enjoyable A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY’S REVENGE (1985). As mention before, the film has great cinematography, capturing the gorgeous wooded scenery and waterways; it has a real sense of thoughtful shot composition, more so than say F13.

The special FX are created by none other than horror maestro Tom Savini, who turned down FRIDAY THE 13th PT.2 (1981) to work on The Burning, though he would later return for Joseph Zito’s FRIDAY THE 13th: THE FINALCHAPTER. The FX are amazing, a notable exception being the poorly rendered Cropsy mask that is used minimally and obscured by editing and shadow. The film ended up on the infamous UK Video Nasties list due to gore, and was unavailable in its uncut form here in the U.S. until 2007.

 The film gets a rather unfair lumping in with the plethora of FRIDAY THE 13th knock-offs, as it shares a number of clichés, horny teens, shower scenes, busty blondes, the nerd, the asshole, good-natured guy, wooded scenery, and the summer camp setting. THE BURNING, more-so than other slashers of the era, benefits from decent cinematography, a good script, likeable characters, and Tom Savini’s gory effects. The direction is keen, and the editing is well-done as evidenced during the infamous rafting scene, it is so well put together, complimenting Savini’s bloody effects work. The film does falter some in the final third, the final confrontation inside a mine feels slightly off and out of place. According to director Tony Maylan the last act was to have been filmed in a cave, when problems arose with the location the decision was made to utilize an abandoned mine in the area, and I think it suffers some for that decision.

DVD: The MGM DVD is 1.85:1, anamorphic widescreen with a mono audio track; it looks great, obviously from a good print. Special features include a commentary from director Tony Maylam and journalist Alan Jones, as well as a featurette: Blood ‘n’ Fire Memories’, in which special FX Master Tom Savini recollects his experiences on the film, good stuff. Of note, while the DVD is advertised as an R rating this is indeed the full, uncut film.

VERDICT: THE BURNING is a classic, though underappreciated slasher. If you enjoyed MY BLOODY VALENTINE, THE PROWLER, FRIDAY THE 13th or HALLOWEEN I would be hard pressed to believe you would not love this film.
**** (4 out of 5 stars)