Fleshburn

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).

Sonny Landham portrays a confrontational Vietnam veteran who is wrongfully sent to an institution. He eventually escapes, Hell bent on revenge against those responsible for having him locked away. These folks are rounded up like cattle, bound and gagged, and left in the middle of the desert with no shoes or provisions. In the face of their quandary, they quarrel ceaselessly with one another, growing ever weaker in the elements as the crazed madman watches from the distance.

Nothing to sing high praises about, but it manages to remain variably suspenseful and resourcefully appointed on an obviously skimpy per-diem. For such a picayune effort, it's not a complete toss-out, but it definitely could have benefited from a stronger denouement.

Despite being a somewhat neutered thriller, FLESHBURN is still one of the more professional offerings from the bozos at Crown International Pictures...which, of course, isn't saying much. 4/10

From the description of "Fleshburn" - a crazed person dumping several people in the desert, and the victims have to struggle to survive not only from the elements but the person who put them there - you might think that this is yet another rehash of "The Most Dangerous Game". Actually, only parts of the movie suggest that earlier movie. Most of the movie has the victims struggle to survive under the heat of the desert while arguing with each other. As you can probably guess, all that stuff is not a lot of fun. It gets tiresome quickly. Former porn star Sonny Landham does show some creepiness, but he doesn't get enough scenes to make him a prominent menace. If you are still wanting to watch this movie, a word of warning - the DVD uses a television print, meaning the movie's "R" rated elements like language are censored. Also, there are several video glitches. If the DVD company didn't care enough to give this movie a good presentation, that should give you a clue of its general quality.

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.

Fleshburn is a violent revenge story starring minor action hero Sonny Landham. The story really doesn't really break any new ground in terms of its structure, but it does incorporate a strange, spiritual element in its central conflict, and uses a Native American villain in a non-typical, not-so-stereotyped way.

The action in the film is intense, as it emphasises the psychological trauma of those involved in the peril of being stranded out in the desert by the Landham character, as opposed to a lot of gunplay or explosions. Fleshburn is something a bit off the beaten track, for those who want a look at a different action-type film.