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.
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.