The Boneyard

Upon seeing the video/dvd box, you may brush this off as a silly Z-grade horror flick, seeing as the picture is that of a giant mutated poodle. HOWEVER, this film at times is downright frightening, with just enough laughs and a bit of drama to keep it totally interesting. The movie is worth renting alone just to see Phyllis Diller as the morgue attendant, Miss Poopinplatz. This is the only film in her career that she wears her own hair and not a wig. Her one liners are priceless. You will also see Ed Nelson and Norman Fell. Not your usual horror film cast, but it works. The story centers on a 400 pound female psychic, disheartened by the way her life is and a cop who has befriended her in the past and needs her help again. The scene where she "remembers" a dead child she helped find is truly scary, yet touching. The 3 dead children (whom she is enlisted to get a feeling for) are absolutely terrifying. The special effects/makeup team deserve applause for their work. They will make you shudder. But for all the scares, there is enough cheesy-ness to lighten the pace, such as the poodle, and the fact that as they are running up a ladder in the roof of the morgue to escape the poodle, our "heroine" cannot get all the way up because her butt is too big to fit through and she has to go back and face the poodle! Lots of gore and gross-ness too. The DVD is a collectors edition and loaded with extra features!! This is a horror film well worth the watch.

I caught this movie very late one night on the horror channel (which I usually avoid due to the poor selection of movies they show) and I was pleasantly surprised. The zombie children are quite well done and the acting was OK (better than most of this kind of thing).

But I feel the movie leans more towards the Peter Jackson (although I must point out that this movie was released a year before bad taste was) way of doing A zombie flick rather than George A Romeros wonderful masterpieces. Not that this is a bad thing just different.

The effects are up to a point quite effective in my opinion but when it comes to what I suppose to be the big effects near the end of the movie are a bit of a letdown.

overall well worth a look but don't expect perfection

Back in the day, during the VHS rental period, when you could walk down isle after isle, genre after genre, seeing all types of unknown flicks, you'd always happen to walk by one more than the other. Or just notice one a tad more than the others because of the ridiculous covers. The Boneyard happened to be one of these movies for me. And it took me over a decade to finally see the evil, grinning poodle movie. Well, that was my impression anyways.

The Boneyard revolves around a psychic woman, a charismatic detective and his wet-behind the ears partner who team up with a morgue crew to stop some ancient supernatural evil......demons. To stop demons.

The Boneyard more or less succeeds in a being a pretty good horror flick. With surprisingly good music (which you should notice right away), some over-the-top acting which makes you smile more than roll your eyes, and some very fun make-up effects. Though, The Boneyard does have problems taking itself serious during emotional scenes, and the tension builders take too long and eventually grow tiresome instead of frightening. I also would have appreciated a little more violence/gore. But no biggie it seemed they spent most of their cash on the make-up effects which were definitely cool.

Another thing this movie has going for it is the hero. Or should I say, heroine. I'm actually one who is very much annoyed by all the horror flicks these days that are riddled with skinny, gorgeous women who by bullsh!t chance survive the unbelievable. In the Boneyard it's a tad different, even though our main character is a woman, she's a very overweight and average looking woman. It worked, it was unique, funny and it's something I really appreciated seeing.

With The Boneyard delivering some fun running around, some cool effects and a nice score it made for a pretty enjoyable 90 minutes. Definitely give it a look if you're looking for a clear-your-mind and enjoy type horror flick. Oh, being a big fan of horror movies would suit you well.

I purchased the DVD for a very cheap price and took a gamble on the film and remember reading somewhere at the time (1990)the film was being made starring Diller and Norman Fell. I thought this has got to be a hoot to see. Well....IT WAS....The story fails miserably but the special effects are great, especially when the Monster Diller mimics....well sort of.... Dillers real laugh. Diller is somewhat funny in this film and in the interview on the DVD she states "It was all in fun" and talks about the making of the film and the fun she had. Any Diller Fans will really get a kick out of the interview, especially her infamous LAUGH. I was really hoping for a funnier Norman Fell(Three's Company) but it just didn't happen,instead he was coming off as being serious. Its too bad that not all DVD'S have behind the scene interviews and trailers,etc. I purchased "CREEPSHOW" and Nothing,no interviews,behind the scenes,what the heck were they thinking,at least Boneyard later went in to get all of this coverage.

A great B-horror flick if I may add first of all. This movie stands on it's own ground as slick, original, and creepy. The acting could be a little better, and there could have been more violence but overall this movie is a sure classic.

The writter/director of the movie (James Cummins) is not bad at his work. But if you purchase this movie on DVD and listen to the Audio Commentary or the Exclusive Interview you will hear James Cummins say "And um....." about a hundred times.

I haven't seen any copies out there for rental but if you do see it, rent it. A great midnight movie for everyone. 7/10 stars.