I've recently read a review of this picture that said: "The acting in this low-budget, independent zombie film is actually surprisingly good. All of the actors and actresses (who get completely naked!) actually give great performances and it is obvious that they really worked hard to make sure they delivered the best performance possible. Not only was there great acting..." I had to laugh. Look, I'm all for giving kudos where kudos are due...but the acting in this picture was not good...it wasn't even decent. Here is a problem with indie movies...people actually think this caliber of acting is good. Acting is just as important as lighting or sound...if its bad, the movie suffers. And it does...suffer.
Like I said, I'll give kudos where they are deserved: the gore and makeup effects in Bone Sickness are incredibly good, given the micro-budget it was shot with. Makeup artists should take note of Paulin's detail and execution. Excellent job in this category.
Another area this movie excels is in the nudity. I don't know how Paulin managed to get multiple cute girls completely naked...but he did, and I don't think they were strippers. Gore and nudity sells horror films...and the nudity in this film is a great bonus. Too bad the lead girl has to lay down to show her boobs...they are huge, and should have been shown with her standing up, not on her back. I suppose they must sag, and this was the most flattering of positions...but still, they are too big to not see standing up. The red head in the film had an especially nice figure, and she got fully nude...excellent! It's ashame that other than the nudity, gore effects, and makeup...the movie slouches to a 1 star picture. The camera they shot it on wasn't very good (certainly not HD), and the DP and lighting designer (if they had one) didn't know how to optimize picture quality. There were also far too many slow motion effects, which looked horrible and digitized--if it looks bad, don't do it, unless you absolutely have to. Paulin uses slow-mo nearly a dozen times...and they all look like crap.
The sound was passable, but still suffered from your typical no-budget film issues: blips, background noise jumping up and down, inaudible dialog...I don't imagine they used a boom once (I could be wrong).
Paulin...take my advice. Go to Hollywood and be a makeup artist--you'll do quite well for yourself. Don't direct pictures. Yes, they may sell because your gore and nudity are awesome...but the movies, storyline, acting, lighting and sound need a lot of work. It's really sad that you not only cast yourself as one of the leads, but it's even sadder that you're the most natural actor in the cast (which isn't saying much).
Sorry about the bad review. I think you need to drop directing, and focus on what you're good at: gore and makeup.
