The low-budget horror film has always been a staple of the movie industry but back in 1980, a producer named Harvey Weinstein was desperate to get his shot in Hollywood so he decided to try his hand at creating a scary movie after hearing stories about the Cropsey legend in upstate New York.
He pitched the idea to his producing partner Michael Cohl, who knew this was a potential hit after the success of films such as “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and “Halloween.”
The initial pitch for the film took place prior to the success of “Friday the 13th,” although both movies share a somewhat similar premise involving a group of counselors getting hunted down at a kid’s campground.
Once the film was greenlit based on a treatment, a screenplay was written in just six weeks by Peter Lawrence and Bob Weinstein before going into production. With the effects done by the legendary Tom Savini, a new slasher film was born.
In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we’re going to pick up our garden shears and run into an abandoned mineshaft as we talk about the 1981 film “The Burning”…
Music courtesy of Andrew Scott Bell and Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
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