10 Most Obscure And Underrated Slasher Horror Movies

It is hard to surmise why The Burning is so unfamiliar to the majority of slasher fans. The unholy delight debuted in 1981, at what was arguably the peak of the golden age for the subgenre. It seems likely that The Burning was just unlucky enough to get lost in the tidal wave of gory new releases making their debuts.

For starters, The Burning is a terrifying, visceral story. The primary antagonist Cropsy, is an alcoholic camp caretaker who is hideously burned as a result of a prank gone wrong by a group of campers. Despite being set completely ablaze, Cropsy survives his appalling injuries. When he is released from hospital five years later, the now horrifically deformed caretaker arms himself with a pair of shears and unleashes a campaign of Vlad the Impaler-level brutality against residents of a nearby camp.

The frightening thing is, it's not even the camp where Cropsy suffered his injuries; the killer is so apoplectic with psychotic rage that he doesn't care who he targets and the end result is an adrenaline-fueled visual nightmare that viewers can't tear their eyes away from for a single second. Despite the lack of interest generated on the movie's initial release, critical reappraisal of The Burning has been kind. Roger Ebert was one notable name impressed by the premise and it holds beloved cult classic status to this day.

With that being said, the majority of people you ask will never have heard of Cropsy or Camp Stonewater. Go figure.