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.
