The Bone Snatcher

2003 "It will scare you out of your skull."
4.4| 1h30m| R| en
Details

After miners disappear in the Namib Desert, some scientists find their remains and the demonic creature that killed them.

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Reviews

Wordiezett So much average
LouHomey From my favorite movies..
Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...
Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
BroadswordCallinDannyBoy 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. --- 5/10Rated R for horror images and profanity. Ages 13+
Paul Andrews The Bone Snatcher starts in the 'Nambi Desert South Africa' where Clive (Sean Higgs), Paul (Langley Kirkwood) & Harvey (Jan Ellis) three diamond prospectors are, well prospecting for diamonds. Unfortunatelty for them they discover something rather nasty lurking under the sand... Jump to 'Vancouver British Columbia' where systems analyst Dr. Zack Straker (Scott Bairstow) is told that he has to go to the Namib Desert to do a bit of field work, analysing systems I guess. Jump back to the Namib Desert & Zack has arrived at 'Eland Mining', he has to pass security before he is driven to the main complex. The three prospectors have been reported missing & the security guys are going to pick them up on the way, attractive female Mikki (Rachel Shelly), Karl (Warrick Grier), Titus (Patrick Shai), Kurt (Andre Weiman) & the driver Magda (Adrienne Pierce) are the rescue team. It's not long before they run into the prospectors abandoned truck & nearby discover the remains of two of them, the bones stripped of all the flesh. Karl decides the third prospector was responsible & they set off in search of him but only find his bones as well, they also discover that there is something nasty out there lurking in the bleak isolation of the Desert...This English, Canadian & South African co-production was directed by Jason Wulfsohn & is fair to middling entertainment. The script by Malcolm Kohll & Gordon Render is a little slow to get going, after the three prospectors meet their ends at the start no-one else dies for over 40 minutes & is rather clichéd, the attractive female, the computer nerd, the tough macho guy, the religious nut-case there to add a supernatural spin on things &, of course, the disposable character's merely there to die & do very little else. The creature itself is disappointing in the sense that it turns out to be a collection of ants that steal peoples bones so they can use them as a skeleton & walk around, why exactly? Surely just walking across the ground would be just as efficient? Add that to the fact that all they want to do is find a new nest & aren't bothered about killing anyone it all becomes rather lacklustre & dull. I don't particularly understand the need to hunt them down & destroy them either, as I've said they don't purposely set out to kill anyone & they are buried deep in the Namib Desert far from civilisation. Having said that it provides fair entertainment & is far from the worse horror film ever but at the same time far from the best & in keeping with the rest of the film the climax is dull & by-the-numbers.Director Wulfsohn can't exactly do much with the monotonous Desert locations & it starts to get tedious to look at. Most of it takes place during broad daylight which doesn't help the atmosphere & it lacks any real tension or excitement. Forget about any gore because there isn't any, a few bones & someone has their arm devoured. The creature itself is a mixture of both CGI & traditional puppet effects which are decent enough & look OK.With a surprisingly healthy $6,000,000 budget The Bone Snatcher comes across as a missed opportunity & where did all the money go exactly? The entire thing is set in the Desert, the creature & CGI effects are used sparingly, there are no action scenes or big set pieces & no big name actors. Six big ones sounds like a lot of money considering what ended up on screen. The acting is annoying & most of the cast talk in thick South African accents which sometimes makes it a bit difficult to understand them.The Bone Snatcher is an OK way to pass 85 minutes but is far from spectacular, in fact average is the word I'd use. I can't say I hated it but I can't say I liked either, disappointing.
mdriazj OK obviously people who have rated this movie earlier have no idea what this movie is about. And Lil man from Melbourne, its NOT a movie about people snatching bones..!! its about the heart and soul of a snatcher.. if you don't get the movie, you shouldn't comment on it..i FUD send this movie up for a Grammy... what do you believe is the theme of this movie? what do you believe is the theme of this movie?? OK obviously people who have rated this movie earlier have no idea what this movie is about. And Lil man from Melbourne, its NOT a movie about people snatching bones..!! its about the heart and soul of a snatcher.. if you don't get the movie, you shouldn't comment on it..i FUD send this movie up for a Grammy... what do you believe is the theme of this movie? what do you believe is the theme of this movie??
bigwig_thalyi This is another Alien imitation and not a very good one at that.Replace outer space with the South African desert,throw in the same ingredients,a group of people stranded in an inhospitable landscape, have them hunted down by an alien creature and you have the same old story of a very ordinary film trying to ape a classic film. A group of miners and scientists go on a hunt for some missing colleagues and find their bones in the desert stripped clean of flesh.Their vehicle breaks down and they head for civilisation while being stalked by the monster. The African location is pretty enough but that is basically all this film has going for it. There is a vain attempt to build up the tension but I found this didn't really work and made the film rather boring.The creature didn't appear much and when it did it didn't really install a feeling of horror.There is one scene where someone gets the flesh ripped from his arm but that was basically it on the gore front. In conclusion i found this film about as exciting as watching paint dry.I give this film 4/10 and that is only because of the interesting location which alone isn't enough to save this movie from being a total snooze-fest

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