Post by slayrrr666 on Oct 29, 2010 10:29:36 GMT -5
"Bone Sickness" is a highly enjoyable if somewhat slightly flawed zombie effort.
**SPOILERS**
Suffering from a deadly disease, Alex McNetti, (Rich George) allows wife Kristen, (Darya Zabinski) to try everything possible to strengthen his bones and make him well again. When modern medicine fails to provide a cure, she turns to friend Thomas Granger, (Brian Paulin) for help, and he manages to find a cure. It begins to work at first, although he eventually begins to get much worse, soon claiming to have visions of the dead rising from their graves and wandering for him. Soon realizing that he has been feasting on the remains of the corpses that has been brought back from his work at the morgue, they both take different approaches to the news. When it becomes apparent to them that the dead have indeed risen from their graves and are after them to avenge the desecration of the other bodies, they try to stop them before the zombies turn them all into the undead.
The Good News: This was a highly impressive effort with a lot to like about it. One of it's better features is the fact that this one manages to feature one of the better stories possible for a zombie film. It's not one of the more realistic ones, but it gets a lot of points for effort. There's a fantastic feel to this that is mostly because of how unique and original the concept is, and that's a great thing to have. There's also plenty of different scenes that can only be added to the film because of where the film's going, from the moments in the morgue carving up the dead corpses or the ones in the basement, while this one's middle segments, where the effects of the virus come to pass, are only possible through the kind of plot-line used here. The scenes of him bleeding profusely from just about every orifice, to from behind to the ears to several extended and incredibly graphic spewing of worms and maggots in a pool of blood all over the floor. It's sickening, disgusting and completely revolting since it looks so intense, but it wouldn't make any sense due to what occurs later from dialog what's going on. It has plenty of other scenes like that to feature, and make for some really great times. There's also a rather fantastic amount of atmosphere here that works well to the film's advantage. The attack on the policemen in the graveyard is fantastic, using the darkness to hide the perpetrators and yet still feature all the chaotic nature of it all makes for a good time. The film even gets off to a fantastic start, as the graveyard sequence is first rate. The atmosphere in the graveyard, with the fog hiding just about everything, with the shoveled dirt and views of the skeleton make it even creepier, and the gory pay-off is a fantastic closing. The really big plus here, though, is the incredibly graphic and gory kills on display. The list is endless, from being sawed in half, a serious amount of gunshots, being impaled with a tree branch, a multitude of bites and flesh-ripping, a huge amount are reduced to skeletons or disarticulated heaps of flesh-and-bone, limbs ripped off and decapitations among others, most of which are in the absolute best scene in the film, an over-thirty-minute sequence where the zombies attack a SWAT squad and kill them all off. It's so long and fun that it makes almost anything else in here completely better. The last plus in here is the incredibly great-looking zombies, which are just fantastic-looking with the dirt-encrusted, dead-for-centuries look put on center-stage and looking fantastic for doing so. Even still, some of them look like they're covered in cobwebs and tattered, rotting clothes with worms falling out of pretty much every orifice, and combined with those dirt-encrusted looks, make for some of the greatest-looking zombies in the genre. Along with a spectacular nude scene as well, these are what make this one work.
The Bad News: There wasn't much of any flaws in this one. One of the more obvious ones, and the one with the most leeway for most viewers, is the extremely low-budget of the film. This is quite apparent very early on, from the amateurish display of gore to the overall look of the film and much, much more. This is obvious early on, and becomes much more apparent as time goes on, due to the way it's filmed and especially the gore, most notably during the finally. It's not something that most will care about, but it is something that could be a problem for some. The only other thing that could be considered a flaw would be the slow-pace to everything. The film tends to be fairly laid-back and relaxed about everything, from the discovery of what's happening to the zombie rampages and everything, and there's rarely any sense of urgency or adrenaline infused into the film and it can make the film a little trying at first, but it's about the only thing really wrong with it.
The Final Verdict: One of the better efforts in the genre overall, due mainly to it's good points being so much better than it's flaws. Highly recommended to low-budget zombie fans or those who just like the genre in general, while those who prefer the higher-budget fare should look elsewhere.
Rated R: Extreme Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and Full Nudity