Stylish but barely mediocre overall

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Up-and-coming scientist, Dr. Zach, travels from Canada to Southern Africa where he, along with a group of miners, is tasked to find a trio of missing miners. Two of which they immediately find completely stripped to their bones. The third of which is inexplicably miles away from the other two. Now stranded deep in the desert, the unlucky crew must contend with an aboriginal monster that's stalking their every move.Offers up some tension and the acting is pretty adequate. I enjoyed the concept behind the monster, but the movie is hamstrung by a less than satisfying climax as well as a worse epilogue. My Grade: C-

This horror movie starts out promisingly enough and there is a moment where I thought to myself "this is going to be really good". However, it gets rather boring rather quick at the end. The acting is fairly good, as is the location and the story starts out rather well too. The problem, not enough kills on screen and an ending where you have the monster basically turning tail and running. I wanted to see more, especially after a very good sleeping bag scene where I thought the movie was picking up and going to be a winner. Unfortunately after that the movie showed the monster very little and the back of the DVD lied as it told me that the desert beneath the people literally came alive and was capable of devouring their flesh...now that would have been some movie, a nearly inescapable situation. Granted that would have made viewers uncomfortable and it might of ramped up the tension, but that is what horror movies are supposed to do! Instead we have very few shots of the creature or creatures as it were and when we do see it, it is mainly on the defensive. Still it wasn't all bad, it just needed more horror less hunting and more chomping.

The Bone Snatcher's stood up to me watching it twice, and had enough in it the first time round to make me want to buy it when it came out on DVD, put simply it's a fun and well-made ride. In terms of budget and quality it's like a feature-length special of Stargate or something, i.e. solid special effects, tight writing and solid acting. There's nothing deeply flawed about this movie and it's an enjoyable and engaging movie.Still, something about it stops me climbing on to the rooftop and singing out its praises. It's mainly the fact that while it is an entertaining and well-made movie it doesn't do anything that takes it into the horror stratosphere, and more importantly it doesn't seem like the film-makers were interested in making it anything more than it is. There's just something there that makes you feel they held back a little, and that's kind of frustrating.Also, as a horror, The Bone Snatcher is lacking. It's exciting yes, but scary? Not really. Given its 'monster in the dark' setting there's a lot of potential for tension and some grisly scares, but aside from some gore, most of what you get is well-shot action sequences. Really, it plays out much more like a Sci-Fi action feature than a horror movie, and that's a little disappointing.Still, acting is strong, especially from the leads, one of whom seasoned vets will recognise as the girl from Lighthouse, and the film is directed with style and skill. The film easily keeps up with the big-boys, and in certain shots even outdoes them.So in conclusion, this is a fun, entertaining Sci-Fi horror, but the emphasis on the Sci-Fi could alienate some people. Those who it doesn't alienate will find a well-acted, well-directed and surprisingly well-rounded underground treat.

I wasn't sure what to expect when this disc arrived as part of my monthly subscription to the William Shatner DVD club. Figured it would be some sort of gore-fest set in the desert (I guess that would be a quick-drying gore-fest) but it actually turned out be pretty suspenseful and not always predictable. As the plot unfolded, though, I couldn't help but be reminded of Michael Chrichton's 2002(?) novel "Prey", in which intelligent nanoparticles swarm and coalesce into various shapes and kill off the characters--scientists in a desert research facility that manufactured the particles--one by one, sometimes briefly assuming the shape of one of their victims. Similarly, Bone Shatcher has intelligent swarms of ants under the control of an intelligent queen swarm and coalesce into various shapes to kill workers from a nearby diamond mine. Visually, this film is a lot like I imagined "Prey" would look as I was reading the book.