A forgotten action thriller with a 0% rating that hides a samurai classic
In short: Before his 2017 death, director John G. Avildsen helmed a Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle that suffered a troubled production. Originally titled Coyote Moon, the film was recut against the director's wishes, leading him to unsuccessfully lobby to have his name scrubbed from the project entirely. It remains a strange, critically panned curiosity.
Released in 1999, Inferno—also known as Desert Heat—is an action thriller that draws its narrative DNA from Akira Kurosawa’s 1961 Japanese masterpiece, Yojimbo. The plot follows Eddie Lomax, a depressed military veteran played by Van Damme, who wanders the desert seeking an end to his life. After a violent encounter with local thugs who steal his motorcycle and leave him for dead, Lomax embarks on a vengeful path that mirrors the classic trope of a lone stranger manipulating warring factions against one another.
The production was notoriously fraught. Filming began in June 1998 with an eight-week schedule, but the final product deviated significantly from the original vision. Van Damme reportedly disliked the initial cut, titled Coyote Moon, and ordered a re-edit. This creative friction resulted in a film that critics largely ignored or despised. According to Rotten Tomatoes, the movie holds a 0% approval rating among the five critics surveyed, with an average score of just 3 out of 10. Authors Larry Powell and Tom Garrett noted that the few reviews published at the time were particularly harsh.
Despite the critical failure, some elements of the film received praise, specifically Bill Conti’s musical score. Dragon's Domain Records highlighted the soundtrack’s eclectic blend of country, blues rock, and synthesizer motifs, which underscored the film's climactic, high-intensity showdowns. The story concludes with a bizarre twist: after systematically eliminating the local gangs, Lomax fabricates a story about UFO-related disappearances to boost the town's tourism and prosperity before riding off into the sunset. It stands as a final, idiosyncratic entry in Avildsen's filmography, far removed from his more celebrated work.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Inferno (1999 film)
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