The Bone Snatcher

I was very excited to watch this movie for two reasons. 1) I read multiple positive reviews. And 2) It was never in at the video store (which obviously means it's a good movie!). Well I'll start off being nice. This movie was too slow... far too slow to sustain any sort of viewer interest for more than 4.9 minutes at a time. But I am a patient man, and I figured that in this case, my patience would pay off. Oh how I was wrong my friends. The "suspense" lead to absolutely nothing in the end, and the creatures were not scary at all. This movie raped my intelligence from all angles, and left me to rot. It simply had no remorse fort the damage it did to its viewers both mentally and physically. Why Bone Snatcher, why??? What I did enjoy about the movie was the scenery, however this was not a redeeming factor. In conclusion, this movie was terrible. If you would like to see horror at it's best, check out The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra!

What looks like an Australian movie starring non-stars keeps you in suspense to find out what the bone snatcher really is. The desert locale helps to bring that other-worldly scene missing in so many of today's horror movies. Fairly well done cinematography; acting could have been better, and the script. Still, I think it's worth watching. (Unfortunately I saw it on the SCIFI channel so it was cut to shreds.) The "creature" may seem too fantastic to some, but its actually a play on the creatures in Michael Crichton's book PREY (nano-monsters!). I've wasted time on far worse!

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.

In the heart of the Namib desert, a group of miners and scientists discover a bizarre life form living beneath the sand—a life form that needs human bones to stay alive. "The Bone Snatcher" is an African horror film that debuted on the sci-fi channel as one of their "original movies", despite having quite a decent budget ($6,000,000) and being extremely well-made, two things you rarely see from a sci-fi channel flick. The film is visually stunning. The camera work and cinematography are truly on par, or even BETTER than most films Hollywood produces. The actors are all unknowns but give perfectly fine performances, especially Warrick Grier. The monster is both conceptually and visually very, very cool. The creature effects are extremely good in this flick, far better than what you see in most made-for-TV horror films. I loved the score too; the music is fantastic! Lots of African drums and bongos mixed with a slightly electronic track for good effect. I wish there was a CD…

"The Bone Snatcher" is a finely-crafted, beautifully shot, well-acted monster movie. It's not scary as some have said but it's certainly leaps and bounds better than most direct-to-video horror movies, and trust me, I've seen a LOT of those in my time… Definitely worth checking out.

7.5/10.

This horror tale takes place in the Namib Desert of Africa. A Canadian systems analyst, Zach Straker(Scott Bairstow)is sent on an assignment for a diamond mining company. Although he hates field work, he finds himself in a truck with a rescue unit in the open desert fighting sand flies and whipping, blowing sand. Four diamond prospectors are found...well whats left of their scattered bones are discovered. During a long cold desert night a shape-shifting monster makes its appearance. Zach and his colleagues are terrified when their truck is stranded and members of the unit are dying horribly one by one. There is no character development; let alone dialogue to speak of. The desert set in its own way is beautiful and without giving anything away... the creature is as old as the desert sands. Also in the cast are: Rachel Shelley, Warrick Grier and Patrick Shai.