O Inimigo Está Por Perto

Bone Cold is a 2022 thriller written, edited, produced, and directed by Billy Hanson (Coach Hop Playlist, Lightning Dogs, Survivor Type, and Total Ghostage). An experienced Black Ops sniper Jon Bryant (played by: Jonathan Stoddard from Falling for a Killer and Of the Devil) attempts a nightmarish escape after a failed mission, tracked by enemy soldiers hellbent on revenge, and hunted by something sinister and monstrous, hungry and determined!!!!

Bone Cold is a mix between a thriller and a horror feature. This one isn't as action packed as I hoped. Honestly, most of it is in the trailer. It still has some solid moments but it's more of a character study than anything here if you trying to figure out what sub-genre it fits the best. The lead was decent in Bone Cold, I think he mainly does soap opera and television work for the most part. It has a smaller cast so he definitely carries Bone Cold with his performance. It has some good creature fx, cinematography, and music for this very low budget film. This one definitely feels like a indie production which is nice because lots of features try too hard and it hurts the final product. Bone Cold knows exactly what it is has to do with it's small budget and they use their funding in the right departments. I enjoyed it but I'm not sure if it has great replay value to it. This is worth checking out at least once!!!!

Bone Cold executes its premise flawlessly. It's a character study, written in blood and biting snow. Soldiers are asked to pledge everything for a cause, and the toll is always more than just physical. This movie takes that theme, infuses it with a healthy dose of matinee creature feature, but never loses sight of its poignancy. When you get to the climax, which I will not spoil, everything is placed in sharp relief. Family, loyalty, patriotism, love. Bone Cold is a movie about the things that matter most. As a sidenote, the logistics of filming so much of this movie in the snow-covered forest are quite impressive here. Highly recommend a watch.

After a disastrous mission gone awry, an elite sniper team tasked with taking out the leader of a Ukrainian terrorist squad on the Russian border are haunted by a strange creature that may or may not be stalking them through the wilderness and must try to figure out its existence to leave alive.

Overall, this was an enjoyable if somewhat troublesome genre effort. When this one works the best is the fantastic mixture of high-end action scenes mixed with thrilling creature action. The military-based setup here featuring the team running through the wilderness going through their missions which require tons of tactical weaponry alongside the full-on firefights that take place not just for the successful mission that opens the film but also the botched one that sets the main story in motion that pits them against not just an enemy sniper but the other ground forces in the middle of their mission. This type of interplay is mixed together throughout the rest of the adventure back to their base when the creature starts getting more involved and bringing about a fantastic idea of whether or not he's a figment of the tortured psyche within. This comes across rather nicely and manages to generate a lot of really likable features here challenging whether his interactions with the team and those they come across are really happening with others bearing witness to it as well but the initial encounters cast doubt over this leading to an intriguing enough concept that gets utilized quite well here. There are some minor drawbacks that do emerge here to bring it down. The main feature is the surprisingly confusing layout of the film as it seems to shift constantly between this psychological mindset for the creature or a genuine article. There's evidence for both interpretations, with the first sighting occurring just after the botched mission that's a clear metaphor for the repressed guilt hovering over him with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. However, since there are also implications that those around him are also aware of its existence the use of both plausible explanations without committing to one is a weird take to go here. The other factor that goes along with the film not being able to commit to a specific style rests on its overlong and plodding pacing. The film runs a good ten-to-fifteen minutes too long with several implications that aren't really necessary, including the constant echoes of his grief eating at him which just ends up creating a highly repetitive feeling here with the cutbacks to his interactions with his family trying to get over what happened that are repeated in the field with his friend. This becomes quite tedious being utilized as such here dragging the running time out for no reason, which is enough to keep this down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

I really enjoyed this action and psychological horror film because it covers a lot of important themes, such as PTSD, what it means to serve in the military, and the sacrifices required. It doesn't spoon feed you the answers and it really makes you think.

Yes you come away with some questions, and not everyone is going to like that. But if you don't mind pondering a film and perhaps watching it more than once, I think you'll find it not only satisfying, but eye opening. It's incredibly creepy as well, and the score really sets the mood in every scene.

I've read in some other reviews there were some inconsistencies in the military uniforms and weapons etc. But if you haven't served in the military it doesn't affect the overall themes and plot of the film.

8/10 a solid film.

This movie already has a low rating but after starting it it seemed to not be totally low budget bad. However about 25 minutes in the two main characters were trying to identify a target, only had a few basic descriptions, I had to go back and check. At the mission debrief they had a picture of the guy they were sent after. Seriously they were presented with a picture of their target. Then on site they can't verify the dude? Come on guys, this just made the movie implausibly dumb I gotta question every aspect. Like not using proper weather protection despite what are sub freezing temps, not caring about footprints in snow, etc.