Fleshburn

The title and cover try to promote this as some sort of horror thriller, but don't be fooled; it's really a revenge/survival story. It's meant to be about man's primal instincts, which surface under extreme circumstances, but it's so unconvincingly done that the four protagonists never seem to be more than an hour's walk away from civilization. Completely boring, filled with scenes of people just walking or driving around, it also resorts to all the usual stereotypes about paranoid Vietnam vets and evil, witchcraft-practicing Indians, having as a villain a man who is both of the above! In short, I'd rather be stranded in the middle of the desert than having to see this film again. 0 out 4.

I saw Fleshburn on video. The picture on the video cover suggests that the film is some kind of post-apocalyptic B-movie, but in actual fact it's nothing of the sort. As it happens, Fleshburn is based on a novel by Brian (Death Wish) Garfield, and is an outdoor thriller akin to Deliverance, The Most Dangerous Game and Open Season (1974).

Navajo Indian and ex-Vietnam vet Clavin Duggai (Sonny Landham) has spent several years in a mental institution, having left a bunch of Indians to die in the desert over an argument about witchcraft (!) He escapes from the institution and sets about finding and kidnapping the four psychiatrists who recommended that he be sent there in the first place. First on his list is unhappily married couple Shirley (Karen Carlson) and Jay (Robert Chimento), followed by resourceful Sam (Steve Kanaly) and homosexual Earl (Macon McCalman). Having rounded up his victims, Duggai drives them off into the middle of the desert, where he abandons them. From a safe distance he watches as his four victims weaken physically and mentally in the unforgiving desert environment.

Fleshburn falls between two stools. It isn't quite fully-blown trash, nor yet is it a serious psychological study. Landham as the despicable Duggai isn't much of an actor, though his weak performance is counter-balanced by Kanaly's excellent work as the most gutsy of the victims (wonder why he was never a bigger star?) The film is interesting throughout, if never truly engrossing, and director George Gage manages to tell his story competently. The ending tries to be clever - a compromise rather than a confrontation - but it feels oddly unsatisfactory. All in all, Fleshburn is a passable film, never quite as good as it wants to be yet never so bad that it taxes one's patience.

Fleshburn (1984)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

In 1975 Calvin Duggoi (Sonny Landham) deserted his troops in Vietnam due to spiritual beliefs held by the Native Americans. When he returned home four psychiatrists deemed him mentally unstable so the court systems threw him into a mental hospital where he remained for the next nine years. When the nine year mark hit, Calvin decides to break out and track down the four responsible for having him locked up. After stealing a truck Calvin kidnaps all four people and drives out in the desert where he drops the four off and demands that they live like Indians. Meaning, the four city folks will have to find their own food and water and perhaps, die under the heat of the sun.

When VHS took off Fleshburn tried to hide itself as a horror title but that's certainly not the case. This film is part drama, part action film and it really doesn't do either genre any justice. The low-budget nature of the film doesn't help matters either nor does the childish acting, which grows very tiresome very quickly. The film could be seen as a forerunner to the hit show Survivor but even that show features better acting.

The film has a very interesting idea to work with, although it's certainly not anything original. The idea of an Indian seeking revenge by forcing the white man to live as an Indian should have made for a more entertaining movie but instead of anything smart, the director has the viewer out in the desert just watching people sit around and wine. Really, not much happens in this film, which is a shame. We see them learn how to catch food, find water and finally try to walk out of the desert but all of this takes a total of three minutes so the other 80+ minutes we're just watching them sit around. The only saving grace the film has is in the first twenty-minutes when Calvin is tracking down his victims. He does this by breaking into their houses and the director actually does a nice job getting a few jump scares as I like to call them.

Another selection from the 200 drive inn cult cinema box set from Mill Creek.

Reading the plot synopsis I was excited to watch this one.

Vietnam vet is sentenced by 4 psychiatrists to send the rest of his life in an asylum, for the crime he committed. He breaks out to get his revenge.

Great idea but doesn't quite pull through. He kidnaps them and makes them try to survive the harsh desert.

Lead is pretty great in this one but that is all. I found myself not cheering for anyone. As this one plods along.

Still I didn't feel like I wasted my time on this one. But probably will never watch or think about it again.

Cheapo film that manages some suspense. However, it's too uneven to fulfill the premise. Three men and a woman are left to die in the searing Arizona desert. Their crime is having institutionalized a crazed Navajo Vietnam vet. Now he wants revenge, and just as importantly, show that his "medicine" is stronger than the white man's.

Though the acting is better than expected, the survival element comes and goes. The early part, where Sam shows how to get food, water, and keep cool by digging holes, amounts to an interesting survival manual. The trouble is many other logical precautions are implausibly lacking, like covering bare skin in the sun or seeking shade while talking. Then too, Sam seems to get stronger as the movie progresses, which makes little sense given the draining heat. That, plus a meandering narrative, doesn't help. Frankly, events appear to have been made up on the fly, maybe as the budget or conditions permitted. As a result, a finely adapted musical score is also largely wasted.

Too bad, because at times the film shows genuine promise. But a basic lack of coherent narrative and thematic development undercuts that promise. For a more riveting tale of desert survival, catch Robert Ryan in Inferno (1953).