legend of terror

Interviews

Ned Eisenberg (played Eddy)

Ned 1Q1: How did you get the part in THE BURNING?

A casting director named Joy Todd who was very supportive of me and my work in the early days called me in for an audition.

Q2: Do you remember exactly when you shot the movie?

Late Summer - early autumn 1980.

Q3: THE BURNING was different to a film such as FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980), where most of the cast were young adults. Many of the cast in THE BURNING (1981) were young enough to truly reflect the real make-up of a summer camp in the early 1980s. The baseball and canoeing scenes sure looked like fun to make. Do you have fond memories of the production?

We had a ball and I am still friends with many of the people I worked with on that film.

Ned 2Q4: Cropsy – the horribly scarred killer in the film – is seemingly inspired (in name at least) by the urban legend that has terrorised kids and campers for decades in New York State. Had you heard about the legend? Did anything spooky happen on set?

When I went to camp as a kid they referred to the "Cropsey maniac" in the stories they told us at bedtime. To my recollection, nothing spooky happened on the set.

Q5: Tom Savini described the visual sleight-of-hand that he used in your death scene (much like Kevin Bacon's death scene in FRIDAY THE 13TH with the false neck). He said it was uncomfortable for you with all those shears flying around! Can you remember how long it took to film the notorious raft scene – and whether it was director Tony Maylam stepping in for Cropsy?

I don't remember how many days it took to do that scene and the shot of Cropsey was done either somewhere else or at some other time. And I doubt it was Tony.

Ned 3Q6: THE BURNING was surprisingly controversial on release. Suffering many cuts at the behest at the MPAA. Despite getting a cinema release in the UK it was accidentally released uncut on video and was banned as one of the infamous ‘video-nasties’. Were you aware of its enduring infamy?

No. I did know at the time that the European version was much more gruesome than what the American audience saw.

Q7: Have you seen the film recently? If so, how do you think it holds up?

I've seen snippets of it but haven't seen the film in it's entirety in a long time. It's nice to know that cineastes like yourself are still enjoying it.

 

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