The Bone Snatcher

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 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.

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!

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.

The Bone Snatcher is about a group miners who go on a search for a missing crew of miners in the Namib Desert. When the find them, they are nothing more than bones stripped clean and they could not have been dead for more than six hours. The story keeps you interested as to what exactly caused this. The characters are well enough, and the acting is pretty good.

About an hour and ten minutes in when you find out what is causing the bones to be stripped clean, you sigh "oh, that is really stupid." The movie is ruined by bad writing and a non-exciting ending. Up until that point, the movie was pretty good, and it is a shame that it took such a bad turn. So I cannot recommend this movie. I gave it a 4/10.