Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Flesh and Bullets Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf March 6, 2018

Director Carlos Tobalina is primarily known for his work in adult cinema (helming titles such as “Champagne Orgy” and “Sexual Kung Fu in Hong Kong”), but there was a moment in his career where he wanted to try out some professional legitimacy. 1985’s “Flesh and Bullets” doesn’t contain any hardcore material, but it might as well, with Tobalina treating the “thriller” with the same kind of attention most throwaway X-rated endeavors receive. That’s not to suggest the movie isn’t a wildly entertaining junk food viewing experience, but “Flesh and Bullets” is no display of creative focus from Tobalina, who sticks to what he knows, only dialing down graphic content.

A man who’s sick of his financial obligations, Roy (Glenn McKay) has robbed a bank, getting away to Las Vegas for some time to rest and relax with his favorite prostitutes. Meeting Jeff (Mic Morrow), Roy finds a kindred spirit, with the men trading stories about divorce and cruel exes. Looking to put an end to their shared misery, Roy asks Jeff to murder his ex-wife, Dolores (Cydney Hill), while offering to kill Jeff’s ex, Gail (Susan Silvers). Making a grim agreement, the single guys set out to complete their dual missions, only to encounter a complication when Jeff falls in love with Dolores and Roy warms to Gail, potentially ruining their plan to free themselves of family and monthly court-ordered payments.

“Flesh and Bullets” is a pretty random picture, but it carries the appearance of something that was stitched together from multiple shoots and different scripts. The main idea is a variation on “Strangers on a Train,” though all the Patricia Highsmith and even Alfred Hitchcock has been stripped from the production. Instead of a classy suspense piece, Tobalina simply tries to get from one scene to the next, building an atmosphere of psychology with copious amounts of inner-monologuing, finding voiceover helping to patch holes in the plot and provide the vague appearance of cohesion. Of course, blunt editing, grim performances, and poor cinematography plague the production, but Tobalina isn’t about to give up on Roy and Jeff, following their exploits as they contemplate murder, romance their targets, and reflect on past experiences with merciless gay wrestlers in San Francisco.

Flesh and Bullets Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

"Flesh and Bullets" isn't exactly crafted with care, but the AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation remains inviting, maintaining a clear view of the picture's wacky incidents, finding the limits of the original cinematography. Detail is superb with close-ups, which offer a textured view of skin care and wispy hair. Locations retain depth, and signage and set decoration are open for study. Hues are strong, helped in part by period style, which favors bold primaries, offering bright blues and yellows. Blood reds are also powerful. Delineation is sharp. Grain is filmic. Source is in fairly decent shape, with only a few blips of damage.

Flesh and Bullets Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 1.0 DTS-HD MA is perhaps most notable for all the inner monologues it has to juggle, managing restless thoughts from the characters and actual dialogue exchanges, which fight outside elements and technical limitations, but remain understood. Scoring is thin but inherently so, supporting the action as intended. Again, there's not a whole lot of polish here to engage the listener, but the essentials are satisfactory for this level of filmmaking.

Flesh and Bullets Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There is no supplementary material on this disc.

Flesh and Bullets Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Flesh and Bullets" isn't a good film, but as low-budget, no-quality ridiculousness, it's quite fun to watch, easily qualifying for "so bad, so good" status. The production is open to non-sequiturs, including brief cameos from senior stars (Yvonne De Carlo, Cesar Romero, Cornel Wilde, and a nervous looking Aldo Ray appear), also offering up laughable special effects, broadly masculine confrontations, and a cartoon sense of homophobia, which buttons the feature. "Flesh and Bullets" appears to be on the prowl for traditional cinematic tensions emerging from crime and improper romance, but everything here is so clumsily executed, it's a wonder there's even a movie at all. Deeper analysis of Tobalina's choices might inspire an aneurysm, so it's best to settle in and allow the effort's magical stupidity to take control.