Cropsy (The Burning)

The Burning character
Cropsy
Development Information
First appearance	The Burning
Created by	Harvey Weinstein Tom Savini
Portrayed by	Lou David[1]
In-story information
Occupation	Caretaker
Signature weapon	Pruning shears
Classification	Serial killer

Cropsy is a fictional character and main antagonist of the 1981 horror film The Burning. He was created by Harvey Weinstein and Tom Savini, and was based on the urban legend "The Cropsy Maniac".^[2]

Backstory

Cropsy is an alcoholic and an implied pedophile. He was also the caretaker of the summer camp "Camp Blackfoot." One night a group of boys play a prank on Cropsy; during the middle of the night, they sneak into his cabin and set a rotting skull on fire, only to have Cropsy wake up and accidentally knock the skull onto his gas tank, causing flames to spread all over his cabin. They watch Cropsy, engulfed in flames, stumble out and fall down a ravine into a river, putting out the flames. Five years later, Cropsy is released from the hospital, wearing a heavy coat, sunglasses and hat to hide his deformities. He murders a female prostitute and sets out back to the camp where he was burned.

Back at the camp

Cropsy makes it to the camp as everyone is playing baseball, and almost kills a female camper, but hesitates too long. Night rolls around, and a camper named Alfred spots Cropsy outside his window, but no one believes him, so he and fellow campers Dave, Fish, and Woodstock go to the mess hall with everyone else. After supper, everyone then goes to sleep, except for campers Karen and Eddy who sneak off into the woods by another lake, to skinny dip. They begin to fool around in the lake, while someone takes Karen's clothes. Just as Eddy and Karen are about to have sex, Karen decides she's not ready, upsetting Eddy who tries to force himself inside her, making her slap him. Eddy is outraged and orders her to leave him, which she does, only to discover that her clothes have been strewn all over the woods. She begins to collect them all, until she reaches her last article of clothing on a tree, where she is grabbed by Cropsy and has her throat viciously slashed.

The next morning, Michelle finds that Karen has not returned, and she and Todd go out and find Eddy, who tells them she left. They take him and go back to camp, only to discover that the canoes have been cut loose and are floating adrift in the lake that surrounds the island the summer camp is located on. Michelle does not believe Karen would do this, so she has all the campers fix up a raft for them to go on and collect the canoes, while other campers and counselors go out to find wood. Eddy, Fish and Woodstock finish the raft and board it, along with two female campers, who then set off to find the canoes. Alfred feels that something is wrong, and begins to explore, while Todd reassures Michelle, that Karen is okay. Eddy and the campers spot a canoe and begin to paddle towards it, only to have Cropsy pop up with his shears and kill them all.

Night falls, and Glazer finally has sex with Sally. He goes to get matches to start them a fire to spark things back up. While he's gone, Cropsy appears behind Sally, and begins to shove the shears into Sally's chest, as she begs for him to stop. Alfred finds the spot where Glazer and Sally were, and watches as Glazer returns, thinking the now deceased Sally is asleep, and uncovering Cropsy, who pops up from the sleeping bag, and rams the shears through Glazer's neck, pinning him to a tree. Alfred sees this and tries to make his way back to Todd and the others, finding them at sunrise the next morning. He awakens Todd, and tells him to go over to the site, and Todd manages to get there, not believing Alfred until he finds the dead bodies. He is then attacked by Cropsy, who hits him in the face with the shears, knocking him out, and begins to chase Alfred.

Alfred is chased all through the woods, becoming extremely dirty, and cut up, while Todd regains himself and chases after Cropsy, finding an axe before following Alfred and Cropsies footsteps. Everyone else has awakened, and are waiting for the raft to return, and after a while spot it floating towards them, but no one is moving. Dave thinks it's a joke and tries to swim in towards it, only to have a worried Michelle do it instead, who, upon reaching the raft is bombarded with blood and the dead bodies, sending her screaming and swimming back. Once back on the island, she has the kids Todd took out camping grab a canoe that is floating nearby, and begins to row them back towards the campsite. Meanwhile, Cropsy has captured Alfred, in a rocky hill, by forcefully dragging him by the throat towards an abandoned mineshaft. Todd follows nearby, and hears Alfred's screams, finally tracking him down to the mineshaft, where Alfred has the garden shears embedded into his arm, pinning him to the wall.

Death

Michelle makes it back to land with the campers, and calls the police to come by helicopter to save the kids, and anyone else still alive. Todd looks through the mine opening for Cropsy and Alfred. When he steps across a piece of track, a mine car up on a raft suddenly rolls down towards him, causing him to fall back. He runs into a wall and falls through it, where he discovers Karen's body, hanging from the ceiling. Then he and Cropsy struggle, and Cropsy's disfigured face is shown, making Todd remember back to when he and his friends set Cropsy on fire by accident. Alfred is able to take the shears out, and finds Cropsy and Todd, stabbing the shears into Cropsy's back, while Todd makes him fall onto them. The police arrive by helicopter, while Michelle travels by boat to find Todd and Alfred. While Todd and Alfred are walking away, Cropsy pops back up, and attacks them, resulting in a struggle, which ends with Todd hitting him in the head with the axe and Alfred igniting Cropsy's clothes.^[3]

See also

Jason Voorhees
Michael Myers

References

1. ^ The Burning (1981) IMDb
2. ^ Kerswell, Ja (in English) (Magazine). Well Done: The Making of The Burning. Famous Monsters Underground. p. 41. "The actual genius of The Burning came many full moons ago at a summer camp in New Jersey, where adolescent Harvey Weinstein first herd the legend of 'The Cropsy Maniac.'" 
3. ^ YouTube - 25. Cropsy (Horror Icons Top 50)