Blu-ray Review – The Flesh Merchant

1993's "The Flesh Merchant" is a strange blend of a T.V. cop show and fetish video. Director Mike Tristano and screenwriter Steve Jarvis look to make their own version of a police adventure with the picture, which follows the focus of two detectives on the hunt for a human trafficker who's made things personal, pitting the might of the LAPD against the brutality of goons trying to sell young women around the world. There's a big "been there, done that" vibe to the shot-on-video feature, with Tristano bringing nothing even remotely new to the supercop experience, content to rely on the same old stuff, found most frequently on network television. What's slightly different here is violence, as the helmer takes his time with brutality involving female characters, really lingering on suffering and humiliation in a way that suggests Tristano has some gender issues he needs to work out with a therapist. Promoted as exploitation, "The Flesh Merchant" is dreary and inert, in need of a much tighter edit and less focus on extended sequences of misery, which sucks all the potential bottom-shelf fun out of the endeavor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com