URBAN LEGEND: The Burning Man
A young man afflicted with chronic Spontaneous Human Combustion (SHC) discovers that the flames killing him little by little have miraculous healing powers.
"Exorcise your demon," Carma says. "Kidnap a priest if you must."
BURNY MADDEN IS BURNING LITTLE BY LITTLE TO DEATH. Parts of his body randomly ignite for no apparent reason at all. Although a young doctor, DR. MARIAN CURIEN, has averted Burny’s first fit at birth, this phenomenon known as Spontaneous Human Combustion (SHC) continues to torment him for the next twenty-three years. Now disfigured by burn scars, limping, lonely, and mortified forever, Burny matures into a mild-mannered outcast. Yet charming in a mystically neurotic way.
Burny’s overbearing, and lapsed Catholic mother, CARMA MADDEN, has presumed that SHC is a symptom of demonic possession. For years, she continually pesters FATHER PAUL JESSUP to perform exorcism rites on Burny. But finding no symptoms of possession, the priest has always declined. Disillusioned, Carma proceeds to instill in her confused son a resolve to have his "demon" exorcised no matter what.
Right after losing an emotional anchor at the age of ten with the death of his father, Burny befriends a young girl, NONA, who is a total enigma. They have stuck together through thick and thin through the years.
Roguish as ever, Nona embarks on a haphazard Internet research and deduces that Burny’s SHC is psychological in origin: schizophrenia. From her little learning, she decides that she’s fit to be Burny’s shrink. She persuades him to undergo her own low-budget bathroom version of electric shock treatment. It yields comic and disastrous consequences that only aggravate his condition.
Nona builds a website for Burny, http://www.burning-man.palmagick.com/index.htm to tell the world about his mysterious condition. The website quickly becomes popular getting over 300,000 hits in just a very short time and continuously growing. The Burning Man is starting to become an urban legend.
Desperately seeking a way to forestall Burny’s slow, painful death, Nona crash-learns hypnotism and tries it on him. The result is nothing short of bizarre.
Carma, however, almost dies first. Her psychopathic new husband, STAN LUCIERNO, trashes her within an inch of her life. Upon touching his battered mother, Burny’s hand goes aflame. But the SHC fire doesn’t burn Carma a bit. Instead, it heals her wounds and bruises instantly. It restores her youthful look.
A few days later, Burny’s SHC fire brings a dead dog back to life. Nona posts the details of the phenomenon in the website, launching an online campaign to save Burny from burning to death. Burny and Nona receive tons of e-mails from people all over the world.
Intending to cash in on the SHC fire’s miraculous healing power, Stan tries to demonstrate it on a rich prospective client. But Burny fails to induce SHC. Stan goes berserk and pours alcohol all over Burny to set him on fire. To save her son, Carma shoots Stan. Before dying, Stan shoots Carma too.
Drawing her last few breaths, Carma tells Burny not to bring her back.
Burny blames himself for everything. In cahoots with Nona, he abducts Fr. Jessup – who is now blind due to a failed exorcism rite – coercing him to drive away his "demon." The priest proves that Burny is not possessed. Then he discovers Burny’s healing fire. The flames restore his eyesight. And he sees what Burny failed to see all these years: Nona’s real identity. Nona does not exist.
The shocking revelation makes Nona disappear in Burny’s mind.
Now Burny comes to terms with the true purpose of his existence. Though suffering the throes of death, Burny joins Father Jessup in a final battle against the powerful demon that blinded the priest. It is the same demon possessing Dr. Marian Curien, the doctor who saved the life of newborn Burny.
The demon tricks them to the brink of death. When all seems lost, Nona comes back to help them with a trick of her own: the bizarre hypnotism. Together, they defeat the demon.
Burny burns for the last time and brings closure to the mystery of their intertwining lives.
BURNY MADDEN IS BURNING LITTLE BY LITTLE TO DEATH. Parts of his body randomly ignite for no apparent reason at all. Although a young doctor, DR. MARIAN CURIEN, has averted Burny’s first fit at birth, this phenomenon known as Spontaneous Human Combustion (SHC) continues to torment him for the next twenty-three years. Now disfigured by burn scars, limping, lonely, and mortified forever, Burny matures into a mild-mannered outcast. Yet charming in a mystically neurotic way.
Burny’s overbearing, and lapsed Catholic mother, CARMA MADDEN, has presumed that SHC is a symptom of demonic possession. For years, she continually pesters FATHER PAUL JESSUP to perform exorcism rites on Burny. But finding no symptoms of possession, the priest has always declined. Disillusioned, Carma proceeds to instill in her confused son a resolve to have his "demon" exorcised no matter what.
Right after losing an emotional anchor at the age of ten with the death of his father, Burny befriends a young girl, NONA, who is a total enigma. They have stuck together through thick and thin through the years.
Roguish as ever, Nona embarks on a haphazard Internet research and deduces that Burny’s SHC is psychological in origin: schizophrenia. From her little learning, she decides that she’s fit to be Burny’s shrink. She persuades him to undergo her own low-budget bathroom version of electric shock treatment. It yields comic and disastrous consequences that only aggravate his condition.
Nona builds a website for Burny, http://www.burning-man.palmagick.com/index.htm to tell the world about his mysterious condition. The website quickly becomes popular getting over 300,000 hits in just a very short time and continuously growing. The Burning Man is starting to become an urban legend.
Desperately seeking a way to forestall Burny’s slow, painful death, Nona crash-learns hypnotism and tries it on him. The result is nothing short of bizarre.
Carma, however, almost dies first. Her psychopathic new husband, STAN LUCIERNO, trashes her within an inch of her life. Upon touching his battered mother, Burny’s hand goes aflame. But the SHC fire doesn’t burn Carma a bit. Instead, it heals her wounds and bruises instantly. It restores her youthful look.
A few days later, Burny’s SHC fire brings a dead dog back to life. Nona posts the details of the phenomenon in the website, launching an online campaign to save Burny from burning to death. Burny and Nona receive tons of e-mails from people all over the world.
Intending to cash in on the SHC fire’s miraculous healing power, Stan tries to demonstrate it on a rich prospective client. But Burny fails to induce SHC. Stan goes berserk and pours alcohol all over Burny to set him on fire. To save her son, Carma shoots Stan. Before dying, Stan shoots Carma too.
Drawing her last few breaths, Carma tells Burny not to bring her back.
Burny blames himself for everything. In cahoots with Nona, he abducts Fr. Jessup – who is now blind due to a failed exorcism rite – coercing him to drive away his "demon." The priest proves that Burny is not possessed. Then he discovers Burny’s healing fire. The flames restore his eyesight. And he sees what Burny failed to see all these years: Nona’s real identity. Nona does not exist.
The shocking revelation makes Nona disappear in Burny’s mind.
Now Burny comes to terms with the true purpose of his existence. Though suffering the throes of death, Burny joins Father Jessup in a final battle against the powerful demon that blinded the priest. It is the same demon possessing Dr. Marian Curien, the doctor who saved the life of newborn Burny.
The demon tricks them to the brink of death. When all seems lost, Nona comes back to help them with a trick of her own: the bizarre hypnotism. Together, they defeat the demon.
Burny burns for the last time and brings closure to the mystery of their intertwining lives.
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