The inevitable reality of box office success is reproduction. But, if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then genre gold standards like FRIDAY THE 13th and HALLOWEEN must be wearing a simile that could only be removed by a sandblaster. Most films that follow in the wake of their forefathers accomplishments, pale in comparison. This fact is perfectly illustrated in early 1980’s rise of the slasher film or the mid-90’s onslaught of witty-teens in peril. Most of the time (and this was especially true when the DTV marketplace really caught on) these film are simply hollow replicas desperate for a little market share to slide their way. But, every so often a blatantly obvious rip-off arrives on the scene and causes a stir. Take the case against THE BURNING for exhibit A in this phenomenon.

THE BURNING may be more famous for who was in it, and who was behind I, than for why the film still manages to entertain more than 25-years after it’s release. The cast, comprised of almost all newcomers includes such future notables as Brian Backer (Rat in FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH), Jason Alexander (SEINFIELD), Fisher Stevens (SHORT CIRCUIT) and in the true definition of a “blink and you’ll miss it part” Academy Award winner Holly Hunter (THE PIANO). But even if you’ve never heard of any of these people today (and you’d have to be living under a rock to not know at least one of them) a pair of names that saturate the credit sequences would surly cause you to sit up and take notice—Harvey and Bob Weinstein.

THE BURNING was the first film ever created under Harvey and Bob’s newly minted Production Company. Based in Buffalo, New York that little undertaking—named Miramax (after the brothers mother and father)—would go on to almost single-handedly stand as the face of independent cinema in the United States. That’s right, the home to esoteric arthouse flicks and gritty indie product, that needed to create offshoot Dimension Films to handle genre fare—got its start making cheap camp killer films to cash-in on a growing theatrical trend.

The plot to THE BURNING is set up like a campfire tale. 5-years earlier a midnight prank at Camp Blackfoot, carried out by a group of teenage kids causes the immolation of caretaker/janitor Cropsy (Lou David). After a series of failed skin grafts, Cropsy escapes from the burn ward and heads to Camp Stonewater (Blackfoot burned to the ground) to exact his revenge.

That’s it right there—the whole plot. It’s as simple and to the point as HALLOWEEN and FRIDAY THE 13th—borrowing the core concept and location from each of those movies. In fact, THE BURNING is so unoriginal that the production employed Rick Wakeman (the keyboardist for YES) to create a score that plays out like a John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN theme on speed, and all the effects work in the film was manufactured by FRIDAY alum Tom Savini. Blind men can see what the Weinstein Brothers were trying to accomplish here.

So, how come we are still talking about THE BURNING a quarter of a century later? It’s because despite the insurmountable odds, the film is wonderfully well conceived. It features some impressive early Savini effects work, even if you can tell it’s done on the cheap (according to director Tony Maylam the budget was only about a half-million dollars). The performances from the up and coming cast are spot on. Rarely do teenagers in teen films act or appear to be actual teenagers. Sure Brian Backer was 24 and Jason Alexander was 21 when they made the film. Actually only Fisher Stevens who was 17 actually qualified as a true teen in peril, but the summer-break-immortality-of-youth that the cast conveys is a far cry from the “clearly too old for this shit” performances that Sean Cunningham elicited from his crew in “FRIDAY”.

What makes the film still compelling—to this day—is that it delivers everything that you want, and at this point, demand from a slasher film—the pace is perfect, moving from kill, to set-up, to false scare, to bloodbath while playing with the conventions of the formula—for example: The “final girl” of the film is a boy (Backer). He still suffers from the same virginal construct that creates a final girl, only his male sensibilities allow him to be a pervert in the confines of the film and still get away alive.

THE BURNING is also notable because it bucks the need for a sequel by absolutely destroying the villain in the final throes. Sure there is a tagged on ending—again back by the campfire—that a sly producer like Harvey Weinstein could use to justify a sequel. But the internal logic of the film (something the makers of FRIDAY THE 13th abandoned immediately in Part II) dictates that Cropsy is toast by the end of THE BURNING—taken out the same way he came in.

THE BURNING has often been overlooked because—for so long—it’s been damn near impossible to get a descent—unedited—copy of the film. It’s too bad that the cult of the film hasn’t reached the mythic level those productions like SLEEPAWAY CAMP have achieved. But with the recent re-release it seems likely that a new audience base—one that grew up saturated by a marketplace of Michael Myers and Jason Vorhees’—will plainly see that Cropsy is just as cool a killer as anyone else in the Retro-Slasher Hall of Fame.