I love monster movies.
Among horror films, they are such a rarity in modern films that when you can find one, it’s something special. Finding a GOOD one is a rarity. What most filmmakers don’t realize is that you can have monsters in a film without being too explicit in how you show them. Too much really can be, well, too much. There is a balance that needs to be struck between showing enough to whet the appetite and showing too much to really keep people from tearing into how shoddy the creature looks.
Look no further than WILLOW CREEK, which is a monster movie, and has them in it, but never shows them. Yet, even without showing the beasts, it’s a terrifying movie because of the pacing, excellent acting, and the way things were done.
Chills.
With UK film BONEKEEPER we have a new monster movie, with a beastie that lurks in the darkness of a cave system.
BONEKEEPER is the story of young woman whose mother disappeared when trying to discover the secrets of a purportedly haunted cave. Willing to go to any length to discover the truth, the woman travels with several friends to the cave system for answers. Along the way the group comes upon a travel blogger interested in her own content, and together they venture into a world of legends they cannot imagine.
If you are coming for the monster/s, friend you’ll be happy.
The creature in the film is a gruesome mass of tentacles and teeth and seems aquatic, in its design.
Movies like this are so interesting because much of the heavy lifting behind the scenes was done by one person, but the film has a scale that seems larger than it probably was. There was clear ambition in the scope, and with actor John Rhys-Davies on hand, you have a known commodity that is not relegated to reciting a a couple lines as a throw-in.
As admirable as the film is, it just isn’t very good.
The film often has the style of a television movie, and the writing can be groan-worthy at times. The actors do their best, and are game for what comes their way, but there isn’t any logic to things. The group heads to a remote area and while trying to get information on the caves, one of their number decides to mock the people when they warn them to steer clear. Once in the cave, the group breaks off into groups, despite knowing the dangers. They also find partial remains of someone and don’t really take it as seriously as they should. I am pretty forgiving of a film, but there’s even a scene of a SWAT team, and in the UK they just don’t have them in the same way, or by the same name as we do in the United States. All things being equal, the biggest sin is that the sound design of the film is off. The music is pushed way to high, with dialogue being too low, making some scenes hard to hear clearly.
It’s an interesting film, the gore is fun, and the monster is really creepy, but the film just doesn’t work. The monster is CGI, and it goes to show how well it can be done now that, even when it doesn’t quite match the film, it is still so compelling, and well made, you just don’t care.
Monster fans will be interested, because the creature is really neat, but overall, the film just didn’t work for me. It’s a solid effort, and not outright bad, but it’s forgettable, and often silly, and just doesn’t all come together.
2 out of 5
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt36841098/
The Spooky World of Chris Ringler 