MartinHafer Some parts of FLESHBURN are very good and it sure could have been a very good movie. Instead, however, the film is just pretty poorly executed and stupid much of the time. Too bad.The film begins with a guy breaking out of a hospital for the criminally insane. Obviously bad things will ensue. The maniac is apparently in the mental hospital because years earlier he took a group of folks into the desert and allowed them to die due to exposure--a slow, lingering death. Now, his plan is to find all the people he feels are responsible for putting him in the booby hatch and exacting revenge--and killing him just like that first group of people; So far, all this is a very good setup for a film. However, it has two major strikes against it. Instead of the villain simply being an American-Indian who knows the land and how to survive, he's some sort of American-Indian who dabbles in WITCHCRAFT (whatever the heck that's supposed to mean). He has some goofy psychic or magical power that allows him to occasionally do things like catch and train a hawk to attack on of the four people stranded in the desert!! Gimme a break. And, the more serious problem is that although the people are exposed to the elements in the desert, they seem amazingly healthy even after many days there. With very, very little food and water, they all seem to have miraculously avoided any sunburn!! And, what's worse, a couple of them are running about with no shirt on--and yet their skin isn't even pink!! The inconsistent elements of their dire circumstances and their actual condition makes no sense at all and is just sloppy. Just as sloppy is the gun scene at the end--again and again, the guy who takes on the killer gets the upper hand but never finishes the job. If I were taken into the desert to die, if I ever got a chance to kill my tormentor, I'd not hesitate for a microsecond. duh.Overall, this is a wonderful example of a decent idea for a movie that was totally botched because the film makers were apparently squirrels.

John Seal Though it's far from a classic, Fleshburn is also far from being a complete failure--in fact, it's a good example of what can be achieved by filmmakers with limited resources. Sonny Landham stars as Vietnam vet Calvin Duggai, a PTSD sufferer sent to a mental institution on the advice of four psychiatrists. Calvin escapes, kidnaps the four responsible for his confinement, and dumps them in the desert, where he hopes they will swiftly expire from exposure to the elements. He hasn't figured on the resourceful of Sam McKenzie (Dallas regular Steve Kanaly), who takes charge of the group and attempts to lead them to safety. Fleshburn benefits from a lean screenplay which catapults us immediately into the action as well as a surprisingly good score by Arthur Kempel, which avoids most of the clichéd cues rampant in films of the time and utilizes REAL instruments instead of drum machines and Casiotone rhythms. Landham, usually cast as either a heavy or a stud, is effectively malevolent as Duggai (check out his evil grin towards the end of the picture), Kanaly is quite good as the hero, and the film even has time for two gay characters who are neither aberrant nor evil. Overall, Fleshburn is a surprisingly good film that exceeded my (admittedly low) expectations.

Michael_Elliott 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.

EyeAskance 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