When you think of summer camp slasher flicks from the early ’80s, Friday the 13th and Sleepaway Camp automatically come to mind. While those two deserve their place on the mantel of great summertime splatter, there are two others that merit a spot in the top ten: The Burning and Madman. With a current resurgence of ’80s-themed horror movies – and the release of last year’s terrific retro summer camp slasher, Fear Street: 1978 – here’s hoping these two underappreciated gems continue to climb up the cult ladder.
Initially considered to be nothing more than a Friday rip-off, 1981’s MADMAN is an atmosphere-heavy, suspenseful chiller. Taking place over the course of several late night hours, the story follows a group of camp counselors at a woodsy retreat for gifted children. While they, along with the kids, sit around a late night camp fire, head counselor, Max (Frederick Neumann), spins a gruesome tale about legendary Madman Marz, a local, crazed farmer who murdered his family with an axe years earlier and seemingly vanished without a trace. Rumor is you can summon Marz forth by calling out his name.
When one of the teens does just that, he unknowingly lets loose the unstoppable Madman (Paul Ehlers), who, with axe in hand, goes on a bloody rampage, dispatching the clueless counselors in gory fashion. With wise old Max having left for the holiday, it’s up to feisty, young Betsy (Gaylen Ross, Dawn of the Dead) to defend herself, and the kids, against the hulking Marz.
Although filmed in late 1980, Madman wasn’t officially released until early 1982, which meant it had unfortunately arrived after Friday the 13th Part 2 had already secured Jason Voorhees as the predominant summer camp slasher. With not enough room for two camp counselor-killing maniacs, Madman was, for many years, ignored, which is a shame. Madman is an inventive and highly stylish slasher flick with good characters and a scary villain. And while the movie has plenty of juicy splatter, director Joe Giannone leaves room for ample amounts of suspense, especially during the final 20 minutes. B+
Madman is available on Blu-ray and is currently streaming on Tubi.
Originally inspired by the Cropsy urban legend, Madman changed its villain to Marz after discovering another film already in production was using the Cropsy name: 1981’s THE BURNING.
At Camp Blackfoot in upstate New York, shenanigans are underway late one night as a gang of teenage boys plot a prank against the creepy camp caretaker, Cropsy (Lou David). When their joke goes horribly wrong, Cropsy is set ablaze and left grossly disfigured. Five years later and after several failed skin grafts, Crospy is released from a hospital and, after murdering a spunky Times Square prostitute, heads back to camp for some bloody revenge.
Crospy, with large garden sheers in hand, stalks the grounds of Camp Stonewater and its multitude of nubile teenage campers. The characters include the hyper-shy Alfred (Brian Backer), who’s continually tormented by the camp bully, Glazer (Larry Joshua); there’s also the camp funny man, Dave (Jason Alexander, Seinfeld), virginal Karen (Carolyn Houlihan), and head counselors Michelle (Leah Ayres) and Todd (Brian Matthews). Things are made easy for Cropsy when the older teens basically line themselves up for a gory smorgasbord during an overnight camping trip down the river.
As with Madman, The Burning was unfairly overlooked during its initial release. And just like Madman, the film deserves its place on a list of ’80s horror gems. Suspenseful, shocking, and overflowing with dense atmosphere, The Burning is slasher gold that, as with the best of the genre, offers immensely likable and realistic characters that heighten the effect of the horror. There’s also some terrific Tom Savini make-up FX (much of it showcased in the infamous “raft of death” scene), a creepy musical score by Rick Wakeman, and an intense final conflict between Cropsy and Final Boy Alfred, the movie’s surprise hero. A–
The Burning is available on Blu-ray and currently streaming on Tubi.