Bone Eater

All I can do is laugh. Wow. I like Jim Wynorski's movies, I really do. I mean, Chopping Mall is a classic. But this, what happened to this guy? He used to make funny horror movies, that tried to be good. But this was hardly even funny...I mean, I guess it was, because I laughed. The villain is incredible. I mean, horrible CGI. It looks...terrible. And the movie has no gore, and no nudity as redeeming qualities. It is rated PG-13. A movie named "Bone Eater" you know won't be a blockbuster movie, you know it probably won't have a smart script. A movie like this may rely on gore...but no. It doesn't rely on anything really, it's just...crap. Check it out if you want to laugh, though. But don't expect a good movie. I hope Jim Wynorski goes back to movies like Chopping Mall and Ghoulies IV, because this and Komodo Vs. Cobra ain't cutting it.

It's a low budget creature feature. Hundreds of them have been made over the decades with the same simple mindset. But people seemed to be entertained by them.

But lets get the facts straight. The movie was shot in California in an area called the Alabama Hills near the base of Mount Whitney.

We were diligent in getting script approval from the local Paiute Shoshone reservation to shoot a scene on their property and the co star Michael Horse is a Mescalero-Zuni Apache. None of these Native Americans had a problem or were offended by the story. I'm offended that you guys print something that is not based it fact and leads people to believe that we are somehow insensitive.

Call the movie what you will but the truth needs to be told about the people involved. A critique is one thing but to print statements that are untrue is another. Come on guys this should not be a PC courtroom.

I have made no secret of disliking SyFy's movies in general, though I see them for novelty value and because there are some that actually did on paper have decent ideas to work from. That was the case with Bone Eater, a good idea let down horribly by worse than bad execution. The acting is not great, neither is it terrible, though some of the cast are either over-eager or bland and the more likable actors in the movie are not given as much to do as they had potential to. Bruce Boxleitner is the best of the lot and he tries hard, though he's done better. But what could they do with a script that was so cheesy and sometimes childish in tone and characters that were so clichéd and the very anti-thesis of engaging. Not only have most of these characters been seen before many times whether in SyFy or not but often very irritating too, also like with the Sheriff and his daughter the relationships and development between characters are never fully explored. The story is dull, formulaic and far too silly for its own good with unexciting set pieces, a severe lack of suspense, an over-familiar and all too predictable inclusion of the villain(poorly written and over-compensated acting-wise) vs Native Americans angle logic lapses and a ridiculously contrived finale. The soundtrack sounds cheesy and even out of place apart from some atmospheric and rousing parts in the chase sequences, and the effects are both stiff and daft in look. Neat idea for the creature, but apart from the phantom skeleton horse, it looks pathetic and doesn't have any impact at all. The editing is often choppy too, there are the inevitable(and occasionally with SyFy fun to spot) continuity errors especially with the whole one hour left of daylight and it is still early afternoon thing, and the filming has moments where it is much too dark. Overall, bone-jarringly bad and one of SyFy's worst. 1/10 Bethany Cox

Following an accident at a local dig, a local sheriff finds that the series of incidents around town are the result of a released Native American demon through the construction project and must find a way of stopping its rampage through town.

This one wasn't all that bad of an effort but did have some flaws to it. Among the few good parts here is the relatively high body count featured here that really makes for quite a fun time here as there's a lot of rather enjoyable encounters throughout. The opening resurrection at the site where it massacres the workers is quite fun, as well as the sequence where it takes out the archaeological diggers, the ambush at the side road where it gets the couple by their truck and another rather fun attack as it appears and takes out a series of guards while dealing with the workers and the local tribe at the construction site which is quite fun with the mystical incantations against it as all of these scenes are really enjoyable. There's also the rather fun scenes here with the spirit chasing after the dirt-bikers on a ghostly steed across the desert dunes and a latter high-speed chase down the highway which is highly fun, cheesy action scenes that gives this some fun action moments. As well, the creature here could've been quite fun here as this has some potentially enjoyable aspects here with its imposing appearance made of bones assembled into a fine-looking beast complete with a crown of bones as well as some fine weaponry, a really unique and inventive backstory that ties it into the area and a pretty clever way of finally dealing with it for a pretty nice main creature here and ends up being what holds it up over the several flaws here. Among the film's biggest issues here is the fact that there's absolutely no blood or gore here as the creature's attacks are never given to include the chance for any by being portrayed as him disintegrating them into a cloud of mass. There's a speculation that it's turning the victims into bones but just vaporizing them into a vapor of smoke isn't that appealing anyway trying to showcase this, and given the high body count there's some chances here to really have had some fun with the creature like this and it's wholly disappointing. Another big flaw here is the lame and utterly ridiculous CGI on display, which is used on the creature to make it so cheap and unconvincing that despite the cool-looking appearance it comes off laughable that it was allowed to pass through and completed here as it's simply a non-stop series of the usually- associated tropes of the style. The only other part here that holds this back is the totally unrealistic and over-the-top manner of the businessman's attitude towards the tribe which borders on ludicrous with how he expects what's happening to the relics left there that are continually being dug up, forcing more to hide. Otherwise, this one was quite decent.

Rated PG-13: Violence and some Language.

Another Indian legend you never heard of before is let loose. As the name implies, this is a vengeful wraith who likes to absorb the skeletons of people while they're still using them. As usual, ancient burial grounds (can you say, "Poltergeist?") have been disturbed by clichéd greedy land developers building stuff.

The CGI, if it had been better, might have made the effect more treacherous looking, but they skimped on the budget, and it shows--to comical effect. The unleashed creature probably should have been kept off stage during its first several killings-that might have added some mystery or impending doom atmosphere-but the inept director decided to show us in the first five minutes what it looks like, and it wasn't impressive. The deaths are just poorly done, again with shoddy CGI. I guess ancient spirits always kill by using cheap special effects. As for the "victims," they look they're going to laugh any moment while they do goofy screams. It's always obvious who's going to get it: a character with only a few lines shows up, strange noises are heard, CGI dots fly, exit character. Repeat (several times).

Still, there's a few chase scenes featuring the monster that actually made this thing watchable. Unfortunately, the director seems to be using these as a device to fall back on (so it's used too often) when he can't think of anything else for his characters to do. Overall, it's pretty silly, but I've seen worse. This flick is cheap, but it's oddly fun to watch.