Bones (2001)

Sleepy-eyed hip-hop luminary Snoop Dogg stars in Bones, an energetic horror film about a hustler who returns from the dead. Jimmy Bones used to rule his street, but now his body lies in the basement of a gothic abandoned house. When a troupe of young DJs and promoters decide to turn the house into a nightclub, dark forces are, unsurprisingly, unleashed. Bones has a cutting sense of humor, and Ernest Dickerson's direction snaps, crackles, and pops. It's not exactly subtle--the opening scene launches into gore and special effects--but there is some evocative imagery, particularly a large black hellhound that the club kids foolishly adopt as a pet. Snoop casts an effectively spectral aura, and Pam Grier, as the hustler's psychically gifted former girlfriend, has her usual presence and energy. All in all, a dynamic and enjoyable horror flick. --Bret Fetzer Amazon.com

Blaxploitation at it's best

Bones is what intends to be a blaxploitation film for the nineties. You don't see many horror films with black casts like you did the seventies. Bones reminds of classic blaxploitation horror flicks like J.D.'s Revenge and Blackenstein. Snoop Dogg makes a wonderful villain and you actually root for his character. Khail Klain and Bianca Lawson are very good in supporting roles. My only complaint is that the film didn't have enough nudity like films of this kind normally do. It's still a lot of fun though and a great gulity pleasure. March 25, 2008

LOVED IT

I REALLY LIKED THIS MOVIE. NOT TOO SCARRY NOT TOO BORING. VERY TO HTE POINT BUT PAY ATTENTION. ONE BLINK AND YOU'LL MISS SOMETHING. I HATE SNOOP DOGG BUT I LIKE THIS MOVIE. November 27, 2007

Cut and paste assemblage of borrowed tidbits

The film is original in a few ways but it is mostly a jigsaw puzzle of borrowed elements. One can recognize Clive Barker's Hellraiser, or a new episode of Candyman, or an extension of Nightmare on Elm Street, or even Halloween or some Stephen King film. But it is black, black and black again and the hood is always very close, the hood of Boyz in the Hood and its crack and the execution of the little local gang leader by his associates including his protecting cop, and he finally comes back to get his vengeance, get even and recapture all his executioners and their next generation of children, including his own daughter. That does not make a film with a meaning, just some kind of thrilling entertainment, if you like blood and maggots, underground tunnels and skeletons in some kind of cabinet, or is it a cupboard or a closet? A little bit sad in a way because the situation and the theme could have produced a film with some insight in black imagination, in black white-induced schizophrenia, and it does not.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
October 15, 2007

a demented horror film

I was curious about this movie for a long time and being that I am not a fan of Snoop Dog, but a writer in the horror genre I wanted to watch it for my homework about creating more Urban Gothic stories. In turn I ended up having that I wrote this story's cousin.

This movie isn't even close to the African American Horror films of the 1970's in fact it was better, and not only that you have to know the influences involved with this one. The kinship is closer with Dario Argento's work, the film Suspiria (the maggot scene in Bones is a direct nod to this film.) The intense Gothic imagery will call to mind some of his movies and the level of darkness involved with the film is that of the works of either Algernon Blackwood or H.P. Lovecraft.

This film is its own entity, and in some ways the humor is in it but not a lot of humor. The scene that I was laughing at was the scene with the maggots. That was gross but that's what made the film one hell of an old school horror film. I have an eye for this kind of movie but I think it would be a lot scarier as a book or short story format. Some of the jolts in the story lend itself well, but you have to sit down and watch the film a few times to see some of the jolts -- in fact I stumbled acrossed it on BET but didn't watch it then because I wanted to see everything uncut.

The imagry in this one is just as strong as either BLACK SABBATH which is Mario Bava's work, and the director says it's cousin is Mario Bava's films. It lends itself more as Gothic horror film than a Slasher because the imagery is a lot darker than most of the films in this genre. The theme of the sins of the father play into this one, and the imagery of this film is more indepth than Tales from da Hood.

The kinship it shares with that movie is it is set in the Ghetto, but what you see with Jimmy Bomes is actually a likeable guy who was put in a bad situation. I am not a fan of Snoop's music but this movie made me a fan of his horror films. Seeing him on film with a lady he idolized was surreal and for her to play the love interest in this film was cool but her part in the film was disturbing too with the elments of the Occultism in it.

The use of flashbacks in the film make it even more effective, and it lends it self to The Crow some but this is an entirely different entity than The Crow. The images described to be The City of the Dead I will say did have me disturbed too. I will say other related books to this movie is Darkness Fears: A Tale of the Moon-Chosen by Joseph Armstead and a number of his novels. African-American Horror got smarter too over the years.

BONES isn't a new installment to genre, but a continuation but adding something original into the mix. I give the writers and director a lot of credit for building on the horror and suspense in the film. The use of an actual dog for one of the characters and special effects made this one one of the most creative I've seen in a long time.

The ending in the film wasn't that bad, disturbing and it was what they called the 'f--k you' ending. The darker horror films have this ending too, not many people who are casual watches of horror will know what a 'f--k you' ending is. 'F--k you' ending is a dark ending that provides the final jolt just as you're leaving the movie theater. The blood in the film will remind you more of how the blood was with Suspriria, and this in turn creates a movie akin to that film almost as brilliant as Suspriria. The extras make the movie worth watching after the film because it shows you the roots of the film. July 6, 2007

Violent ,gore drenched blaxploitation throwback

The movie centres on a revenant -the troubled spirit of a murdered black gangster ,returning to wreak vengeance upon those responsible for his demise .The spirit is that of "Bones" a criminal who was possessed of a sense of community responsibility (what a cop =out !)and was arespected figure in the locality .He was killed in the 70's by drug dealers whose incursions into "his" community he ws resisting .His spirit lies dormant until the property in which his body is buried is purchased for use as a dance/rap venue when it is awakened and embarks on a violent rampage with the intent of settling old scores
The result is a violent movie which is most emphatically not for the squimish .The gore content is high and the attitude of the movie makers towards this violence seems troubling adolescent and lip-smaking .Add to the mix a loud soundtrack and flash editing and you have a movie aimed at the young and uncritical (the only people likely to be entertrtained by that ultimate oxymoron ,rap music )

Snoop Dog is fine as the vengeful gangster and there is a deft contribution from the blaxploitation icon Pam Grier Special effects are fine but the movie overall is not a classic or even specially good of its type

Strictly for the gore hounds amongst us May 16, 2007

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