It's definitely a knockoff.
"The Burning" came out a week after “Friday the 13th Part 2” in 1981 and contains all the staples of that blossoming franchise: disfigured killer, iconic weapon (in this case, garden shears), summer camp, camp counselors, a prank gone wrong, swimming antics, deep woods sexual frolics, death during (or after) sex, a secret hideout for the killer, semi-nekkid or fully nekkid teen girls, etc.
It is held in high esteem mostly for its infamous raft sequence, but that only involves about 30 seconds and it’s not THAT phenomenal. At best, the movie might be as good as some of the “Friday” sequels, although the girls are subpar by comparison, albeit okay.
Nonetheless, “Burning” has its points of interest, like Brian Backer from “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and, especially, a young Jason Alexander from Seinfeld with a full-head of hair. Production-wise, it’s low-budget but superior to, say, “Sleepaway Camp.”
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[deleted]
6 years ago
Friday itself was a knockoff, so that makes it a knock off of a knock off.
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[deleted]
6 years ago
They were both release in 1981 just like Halloween II...It's hard to know who copied who...
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[deleted]
6 years ago
The makers of Friday the 13th are pretty open about imitating Halloween.
They did add a lot to the genre though. That backwoods atmosphere mainly, which is what the burning went after.
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Wuchak (8834)
6 years ago
They did add a lot to the genre though.
Yeah, the whole summer camp location and everything that revolves around it, plus the evolving idea that Jason was more of a diabolic supernatural being than simply a mongoloid child who was thought to have drowned.
And it could be (rightly) argued that "Halloween" took elements of previous slashers like "Black Christmas" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" -- both from 1974 -- and, of course, "Psycho" (1960), not to mention "Home For the Holidays" (1972) and "Schizo" (1976); and we can't forget about "A Bay of Blood" (1971) and "Silent Night, Bloody Night" (1972).
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[deleted]
6 years ago
Halloween copied several things from Friday The 13th also...
Friday added a kid (Tommy Jarvis) in Friday The 13th Part 4...Halloween added a kid (Jamie Loyd) in Halloween Part 4
Friday discontinued Tommy Jarvis in part 6...Halloween discontinued Jamie Loyd in part 6.
Friday part 5 was supposed to make Tommy the new killer...The ideal discontinued...Halloween part 4 was supposed to make Jamie the new killer...The ideal discontinued
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Wuchak (8834)
6 years ago
They were both release in 1981 just like Halloween II...It's hard to know who copied who...
"Friday the 13th" came out in 1980 (and was shot in '79). "The Burning" was a knockoff that debuted a week after "Friday the 13th Part 2" in May, 1981. It's still a worthwhile slasher with its attractions.
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