Mirimax Sucked Before Disney, Too!

#23: The Burning

This 1981 film is the first film produced by Mirimax Films, was funded by Miriam Weinstein, mother of Bob and Harvey Weinstein and the Mir in Mirimax, and is the special effects sequel to Friday the 13th for gore auteur Tom Savini. As such, it is exactly what you might expect.

The plot line is standard maniac killer at oversexed summer camp. This one is based on the Cropsey stories that apparently terrorized campers throughout the 1970's and 1980's. The foundation of these stories is chronicled in the documentary Cropsey, screened at the 2009 DIFF.

In this telling, Cropsey was an abusive and alcoholic caretaker at a summer camp. The campers prank Cropsey but when the prank gets out of hand he is hideously burned. When he recovers, he decides to take his revenge on the next generation of campers and their councilors, one of whom was among the original group. And on an overnight canoeing trip... well, I'm sure you know the rest.

Aside from a fairly tolerant view of date rape, there is nothing noteworthy about this film. There is some dispute, apparently, about whether this film rips off the camper in peril theme from Friday the 13th or if the script was written before it was released. I honestly didn't care enough either way to try to figure it out.