MGM has indicated tentative
plans to several online sources to add THE BURNING to its slate of DVD releases in early 2002, though obviously it is too early to speculate whether it will be any different in terms of its transfer or content. The open matte framing here
looks fine despite the excessive headroom; a matted 1.85:1 DVD would most likely not interfere with any of the compositions or gore effects. The Hi-Fi sound on the tape is also good but would probably sound even sharper with a little more cleaning up. The only major downside to the tape is a tendency for night scenes to be overly bright, ex­ posing a few day for night shots for what they really are. Other­ wise, until a digital counterpart comes along, this should make a satisfying purchase for fans of the 1980s slasher movement. —Nathaniel Thompson
The Coughin' Head In last issue’s overview of the
A moment of retribution against the disfigured evildoer of MGM’s THE BURNING.
49:00 A throat stabbing has been extended to include several explicit wounds with a pair of shears.
59:00 The infamous raft se­ quence, easily the most fright­ ening and imaginative moment of the film, contains numerous brief but significant additions, including shots of Woodstock’s fingers being severed with gar­ den shears, several throat gougings, and one gash across the forehead, with more shots of actors reacting in horror. The action here is more co­ herent and smoothly edited
6
compared to the nonsensical R-rated cut, which featured several distracting jumps in the Wakeman score. As it now plays, the scene lasts half a minute.
66:30 The second half of the sleeping bag murder features several bloody shots of the male victim impaled with shears against a tree.
86:46 The killer’s demise (im­ mediately following a slightly more explicit murder montage) contains an extended view of his head bisected with an axe.
Mexican horror DVD releases of Beverly Wilshire Filmworks and Telefilms International, we mis­ takenly referred to their last re­ lease as THE LIVING COFFIN and provided information per­ taining to that title. In fact, the company’s last DVD (released without cover art) was Chano CJrueta’s THE LIVING HEAD [La Cabeza Viviente, 1961; 74m 30s]. German Robles (Nostra­ damus himself) stars as Prof. Herman Mueller, who with two other archaeologists, makes the mistake of entering the Aztec tomb of the beheaded warrior Acati, interred along with his be­ trothed Xochiquetzal, and also his grand priest. The female crumbles upon contact with air, but is reborn inside Mueller’s daughter Martha (Ana Luisa Peluffo), who wears a strobing
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
