The Bone Snatcher (2003)

Alex, a scientist who hates field-work, finds himself in a truck surrounded by sand flies and blowing dirt, bouncing across the desert. What is probably the worst day in his life is about to get worse. As he clings to his seat, a radio call comes through – four prospectors who disappeared in the desert have been found stripped of flesh with their bones scattered around a strange rock dome. With no clues to the massacre, things become terrifying when Alex discovers that he and his colleagues are being hunted by millions of creatures united into one horrifying and unstoppable killing machine. As darkness descends, the ground they stand on becomes a living carpet capable of devouring their flesh with every step. Hell has been unleashed!

Ants In Their Pants...

THE BONESNATCHER is a well-made, intense movie w/ a cool, original monster. It's low budget is not a bad thing. The desert location sets the perfect tone of isolation / desparation. The characters make a good team, banding together to fight whatever is hunting them down and stripping their skeletons bare. What makes this movie better than most is the creature itself. Very different. I found the idea behind it to be extremely imaginative and downright scary. Plus, there's an interesting reason / purpose for the skeletonization of the victims that makes sense in the context of the story. These aren't just random deaths. This is species adaptation in action! If you like monster movies w/ unique ideas, then THE BONESNATCHER should satisfy... August 20, 2008

Frankenfish for the desert

The Bone Snatcher is basically a story like all cheesy sci-fi movies - there's a creature killing people, and it needs to be stopped. This time it's in the desert, there's a scientist, and the monster devours prety - beheading and cleaning the bone after each kill. The acting, plot, and special effects are fairly good for this type of movie.

Replete with stunning desert visuals, completely riduculous electronics, and a monster that sees like the Predator, only worse and with a more rainbow huge, there is nearly no downside to this movie. It's creepy good, and has a sort of better-than-B-movie feel to it. Maybe it's a B+ movie?

Since the setting is South Africa, there is the mandatory witch doctor and voodoo angle, complete with a legendary tale about an ancient beast of some kind that takes life in exchange for immortality. Apparently, the monster uses the bones of its victims to recreate life and walk around, like Lindsay Lohan. Otherwise, it assumes a black ooze of some sort, like Whoopi Goldberg.

Well, the monster turns out to be a hive of ant-like things, a la Marabunta, and is controlled by some sort of pulsing, glowing brain, kind of like Starship Troopers. It's afraid of gasoline, lives under ground (Pitch Black), and needs to keep killing. Will the good guys, who are all completely insignificant actors, stop the killing beast; or, will the desert remain its killing-ground? February 10, 2008

Good Story

This was a fair movie with good camera action and fairly good acting. It seemed to be lacking something, however. Not a great movie, but not a terrible one, either. Don't spend a lot for this one. January 18, 2008

The Mommy but newer

I saw bits of this movie today during free times. The actions I did see looked very good. When scientist dissapear in a mine in the middle ofn Africa a team discovers and demonic enty. It feed on the energy and water of the living and can turn water into acid. This moving should be fine for kids age 17 to 105 due to some grapic images and maybe occasional thematic elements. Can the stop the evil spirtual entity before it takes more lives find out in the thrilling conclusion July 29, 2007

Derivative but highly atmospheric horror

**spoilers**

OK, so the serious horror/sci-fi buff will recognise numerous hat-tips or rip-offs during the Bone Snatcher (Them, Alien, The Thing, Blair Witch, Forbidden Planet, Tremors and many more spring to mind), but it still pulls the right strings and certainly is a well-made, entertaining and memorable movie.

A sandy desolation is not an overused scenario for this genre and I found it made for a delightfully evocative and creepy backdrop to this hefty dollop of grand guignol gore.

The entity, being constructed from human remains is cadaverously grotesque when it finally makes an appearance, and its method of infecting the humans (especially the unfortunate Titus and the poor guy in the sleeping bag) is suitably nasty.

The pace of the move is spot on; an opening shock gives way to a measured section devoted to scene-setting and characterisation, before the real gore-fest begins.

Reasonable acting (although some of the testosterone-fuelled posturing came over as a bit OTT) and the very non-Hollywood accents made for a refreshing change too!

Not bad at all!

November 27, 2005

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