The Bone Snatcher

Mining company employees who venture into the Namib desert to find some lost colleagues find a monster instead in this South African horror film directed by Jason Wulfsohn. While certainly not a classic by any means, I think this film stands heads and shoulders above most of the straight-to-video horror dreck I have recently seen. Technically, the film-making is certainly competent in all categories, even if some of the conflicts between the characters seems forced. Still, the film benefits most from its location: the Namib Desert, whose dry vastness adds a sense of isolation and peril to the proceedings. The bone-snatching monster is also visually interesting. This film is well worth a look. I look forward to seeing Mr. Wulfsohn's next film.

I expected very little going into this movie but came away feeling satisfied that I'd finally seen somebody do something different and new with the horror genre. If you're bored of slasher movies, torture porn, carbon copy creature features and the whole 'college kids spend the weekend in a cabin in the woods' rubbish that passes for a plot hook these days, The Bone Snatcher will give you a very pleasant surprise.

The acting isn't Oscar quality but it's really not half bad at all. The South African desert rats displayed a subtle Mad Max-ian quality, their rough and rugged nature neatly underlying a disconcerting sense of chaos and brutality that never quite rears its head but often threatens to do so. Other reviewers may see this as a wasted opportunity but I see it as crucial in juxtaposing the 'fish out of water' element of the main protagonist - the nice guy with whom we, the viewer, must relate if we're to give a damn what happens - compared with the environment, people and situations with which he is entirely unfamiliar. And that's before all the horror kicks in! This is, ultimately, a monster movie and there are a million of those. But Bone Snatcher takes an intelligent line, shuns the status quo and offers up something we can really get our teeth into. You'll be simultaneously convinced and disturbed, which is a great feeling for a true horror fan. As Doctor Zack Straker (the hugely watchable Scott Bairstow) asserts when faced with Karl's (Warrick Grear's) lack of reason: "there's method in this system". And though Straker never really engages scientific method, the line does throw a few hints the way of the viewer. And if brain cells are engaged (which, shock of shocks, they can be in this movie) the twist in the tale can be predicted.

Plot and monster aside, you'll also want to watch for the delicious Rachel Shelley, a British actress known more here in the UK for her modelling roles in advertisements than her filmography. But don't let that put you off. She's a decent actress and brings some aesthetic interest to this movie.

Negatives are obvious and should fall squarely on the shoulders of the director. The potentially incredible set location is squandered. Not once does the desert turn its murderous, bone-parching attention on our group of heroes. They always have plenty of supplies, lots of water, ample support from nearby bases. Where the film lacks severely is in its utter failure to mix the merciless horror of being stranded in the middle of a wasteland with no food, no water and no hope of rescue with the presence of a determined enemy.

But what there isn't is hard to miss if you're not concentrating too hard and what there is more than makes up for the missing aspects. Somewhere, in a parallel universe, somebody is enjoying the movie I know this could have been, but for us it is what it is. An enjoyable, entertaining and surprisingly clever creature feature that takes the genre and gives it a good hard shake.

Dr. Zack Straker (Scott Bairstow) is a laboratory scientist sent to a work in the field, more precisely in a diamond mining company in the Namid Desert, in Africa. His first assignment is to participate of a rescue mission of three missing prospectors, who are lost in the desert. The rescue team finds the bones separated from the completely destroyed bodies of the prospectors. The African Titus (Andre Weidman) explains that the slaughter was carried out by the Sandmother, a sort of evil being that was part of the African belief. His colleagues do not pay much attention on his faith. Meanwhile, their truck has an electrical problem and they have to spend the night in the desert, when they face the horrible monster that snatches the bones of its victims. Zach and the other survivors conclude that sometimes pray isn't enough, and decide to fight against the destructive creature. "The Bone Snatcher" is another variation of the storyline of "Alien". However, this story takes place in great locations in the desert and the special effects are reasonably good, and this horror movie is above the average of this genre. There are the usual clichés, but it is not a bad movie. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Caçador de Ossos" ("Bones Hunter")

There is an interesting idea here. It is a sort of weird mix of John Carpenter's The Thing, H.P. Lovecraft with sand thrown in. Lots of sand. For anyone who has seen The Thing and read Lovecraft sand surely doesn't spoil things. It actually makes for an interesting setting that is not too often used in horror. In fact, it is not really used much in any type of movie.

Perhaps it's the fact that such a featureless landscape is hard to imagine as anything other than dull and certainly not frightening. The typical desert doesn't have many, if any at all, caves or any other crevices and burrows where something awful can hide. So just where does a demon, that can strip someone's skin clean off their bones hide? Well, you'll just have to watch to find the answer, but unfortunately it is that answer that'll provide you with a let down. Like I said, the idea is good, but the manner in which it is shown commits one of the cardinal sins of the horror genre and that's showing too much too quickly. Virtually every horror movie that does so automatically just slips a few notches. It doesn't become frightening. Startling at best, but that's just not enough. Also, as another letdown is the lack of atmosphere. The cinematography hardly does justice to the setting and it relies too much on the mediocre special effects to cause chills. Predictably, those chills aren't nearly as chilling as they could have been. Also, the film seems to strive a little too far in giving a scientific explanation for the horror. That doesn't affect the film as bad as the other things, but it does take away a good deal of the mystery.

The manner in which is presented that is real down, but the initial idea remains a very good one. Meaning horror fans will want to tune in, if just for that. --- 5/10

Rated R for horror images and profanity. Ages 13+

This horror movie starts out promisingly enough and there is a moment where I thought to myself "this is going to be really good". However, it gets rather boring rather quick at the end. The acting is fairly good, as is the location and the story starts out rather well too. The problem, not enough kills on screen and an ending where you have the monster basically turning tail and running. I wanted to see more, especially after a very good sleeping bag scene where I thought the movie was picking up and going to be a winner. Unfortunately after that the movie showed the monster very little and the back of the DVD lied as it told me that the desert beneath the people literally came alive and was capable of devouring their flesh...now that would have been some movie, a nearly inescapable situation. Granted that would have made viewers uncomfortable and it might of ramped up the tension, but that is what horror movies are supposed to do! Instead we have very few shots of the creature or creatures as it were and when we do see it, it is mainly on the defensive. Still it wasn't all bad, it just needed more horror less hunting and more chomping.