The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 31

vrr rtf rr rrrrr rrrTfr rr rrrr tvtto i rr nrrr-fv rrr nnrr yrrrr rhe Miami Herald0080 VIonday May 11 1981 Lively flits 5C filmgoers will feel some familiar chills rr i rr Movie Review ment in the woods But in both films there is a solid competence in almost all areas both well filmed their directors are competent their unknown actors unself-conscious their characters engaging and believable as happy doomed teens The dialogue is good though the scripts are light on believable structure The violent effects in each are grisly and convincing though the edge goes to Tom Savini for The Burning he uses more restraint until he unmasks his face then cuts loose with a truly grotesque monster head What differences exist between these two films are ones of detail not tone or entertainment value Whether there is room for both films in the pre-summer market is a function of the shock audience habits will knife-in-the-dark fans see both the equivalent of sitting through either one twice? The answer is the least predictable element in either film THE BURNING rated (vulgar language nudity implicit sex violence) demented killer then scares his audience into their duffle bags by producing a masked from the shadows (only a fellow teen in disguise of course but still good for a scare and some laughs) Most of the teens are eventually butchered but the most likable mature couple survives and all seems well except that we can not be sure that the killer is really dead a certain similarity in rhythm there Admittedly between The Burning and Friday the 13th Part 2 there are differences of nuance: In the newer (by one week newer) film the slaughter occurs on a canoe trip and the killer is a victim of terrible burns (In Part 2 it happened at the base camp and the original calamity was a neardrowning and subsequent abandon Maylam here making his Hollywood debut It is safe to say that Maylam was influenced by the American (as The Burning's special-effects director calls the subgenre) It also is safe to say that this is nothing short of uncanny for though The Burning and Friday the 13th Part 2 were in production at about the same time here is what this new film offers: A disfigured victim of a summer-camp mishap returns years later to wreak his vengeance on counselors and campers at another summer camp on the same lake picking off the teens one by one as they wander about in the dark or make love or run for help As a plot device there is a campfire ghost-story session in which the head counselor tells the story of the By BILL COSFORD Herald Movie Writer Come we now into the valley of the Movie Clones This is a strange mystifying place full of speculation and quick bucks We all know that one successful entertainment formula movie TV pop music may rapidly be spun off into sequels subgenres and long-running series But rarely do "we find two films released almost simultaneously whose style subject matter and plot twists are the very same Last week it was Friday the 13th Part 2 the predictable sequel to last surprise shock hit In that film a disfigured victim of a summer-camp mishap returned years later to wreak his vengeance on teens one by one as they wandered liwuyj i OPEN 4:30 PM DAILY SERVICE CHARGE $125 about in the dark or made love or ran for help As a plot device there was a campfire ghost-story session in which the head counselor told the story of the demented killer then scared his audience into their duffle bags by producing a masked from the shadows (only a fellow teen in disguise of course but good for a scare and some laughs) Most of the teens were eventually butchered but the most likable mature couple survived and all seemed well except that we could not be sure that the killer was really dead Comes now The Burning made by a British director named Tony Dance Review a fraction off and more important his heart always seem in it There was a sort of subtle strain in much of his dancing so that you noticed the preparation more than usual Though both he and Gregory danced with great precision much of the time there was often less spontaneity than calculation in their work Yet their last act had a flash of fire and Gregory took the 32 Miami choppy SEAFOOD SALAD BAR SERVED 7 DAYS A WEEK 4:30 TO 6:30 PM ONLY SEAFO hi WITH CNTRft Of SttOAMOKt CLOSED FOR VACATION MON MAY 1 1 THRU SUN MAY 17 WILL RE-OPEN MON MAY 18 fouettes of the third act in stride Still for all her basic solidity of technique and the pliancy of her work on pointe there was something oddly missing from her Odette-Odile this time She was not Odette the white swan of whom Balanchine wrote is the princess of the night she is all magic a creature of the Nor was she Odile the black swan the slashing impostor who at the command of the evil sorcerer destroys the bewitched bird who can be a woman only between midnight and dawn She was just Cynthia Gregory that amiable dancer of great security and style no imperious malevolent Swan Queen Nor was her dancing with Bujones for all its neatness ever throat-catching The production as a whole had the usual colorful costumes the mist rising from the lake and traditional backdrops But the live sharing orchestra though preferable to dancing to a recording was often a blight on the performance Even with Akira Endo conducting there were excruciating episodes of off-pitch playing FULL1SEAFOODTMENU MARYLAND STYLE ---FRESNISTONEICRABS (TOn Iff By JAMES ROOS Herald Munc Editor Any balletomane knows that the ull-length Swan Lake taxes the resources of a major ballet troupe and be approached with caution if at all Its four acts stretch the malarial paper thin and only superb dancing can rescue it from boredom Yet the Miami Ballet which really is a ballet school not a company in ihe true sense of the word billed it without a qualm Saturday night in Dade County Auditorium Not only that the house was packed because Fernando Bujones and Cynthia Gregory were dancing the fowd roles With two such stellar lurts it was not surprising people came in droves and after all buyig a ticket to the performance was tantamount to supporting the Miami Ballet which does so much to train and catapult promising youflg dancers into the limelight All this is admirable enough except that the effect on Swan Lake was schizophrenic Peppered with professionals to offset the unpolished effect of the students the corps still give Bujones and Gregory the kind of setting they deserved so that the result was a bit like a well-meaning community orchestra trying to accompany a great soloist in a concerto it ought never to have tackled in the first place Mistake not The youngsters put their best feet forward but it was not enough to rescue for instance i the dance of the four swans And while the national dancers were spirited they were shorn of glittering virtuosity Kirk Peterson though was a highly skilled Benno and in the first act Pas de Trois did the kind of suave job you would expect from a front-rank member of the San Francisco Ballet Bujones and Gregory too did some lovely dancing but I say it was their absolute best Bujones at best is an impeccable technician who can bring down the house and so he did this time dancing the Prince with unfailing elegance of style But his timing was sometimes NOW TO DEC 15 Daily Per Person Double Occup 50 of 350 Rooms MONTHLY EFFICIENCIES AVAILABLE 55000 MONTHLY 3 Swimming pools 400 ft of Beach Entertainment Coffee Shop 'RESERVATIONS CALL 932-2233 OPENING TONIGHT The greatest Latin Jazz in the world today with MONGO SANTAMARIA Call For Reservations basitall! On the Ocean 19201 Collins Avenue Sunny Isles 5 Miles North ot Miami Beech NOW TO DECEMBER 15 15 Daily Per Person Dbl Occup 75 ol 550 Rooms MONTHLY EFFICIENCIES AVAILABLE MONTHLY Entertainment 3 Restaurants 2 Pools Private Beach RESERVATIONS CALL 932-2233 BUT WHAT'S BEEN DONE? All this week on NEWSWATCH 10 a look back at the promises made after the May Riots Promises of money promises of aid promises of jobs Promises from the federal government local government and from private industry One year ago we all heard the promises that things would get better This week see what's happened See how the lives and attitudes of the people of South Florida black white and hispanic have changed FIVE NIGHTS OF SPECIAL REPORTS STARTING TONIGHT AT 6:00 South Florida's Most Watched Television News NEWSWATCH 10 3 Ij.