The Burning is a 1981
slasher horror film directed by
Tony Maylam and written by Peter Lawrence and
Bob Weinstein. It is based on an original story by Maylam, Weinstein, and
Brad Grey, with a musical score by
Rick Wakeman of the
progressive rock band
Yes. The film is loosely based on the upstate
New York urban legend of Cropsey, a tale that became popular at summer camps in the 1960s and '70s. In the film a summer camp caretaker, who was horribly disfigured from a prank-gone-wrong, is released from the hospital with severe deformities and seeks revenge on those he holds responsible, starting with the kids at a nearby summer camp. Lou David stars as the maniacal Cropsy, while
Brian Matthews plays the heroic camp counselor that must stop him.