Bones (2001) New Line/Horror RT: 96 minutes Rated R (violence, gore, language, sexuality, drugs) Director: Ernest Dickerson Screenplay: Adam Simon and Tim Metcalfe Music: Elia Cmiral Cinematography: Flavio Labiano Release date: October 26, 2001 (US) Cast: Snoop Dogg, Pam Grier, Michael T. Weiss, Clifton Powell, Ricky Harris, Bianca Lawson, Khalil Kain, Merwin Mondesir, Sean Amsing, Katharine Isabelle, Ronald Selmour, Deezer D, Garikayi Mutambirwa, Erin Wright, Lynda Boyd, Josh Byer, Kirby Morrow. Box Office: $7.3M (US)
Rating: ** ½
It was a good idea…. on paper anyway. A murdered 70s gangster rises from his grave inside an abandoned building to exact his revenge against his killers. This is the premise of the horror movie Bones and it should have been great, especially with rapper Snoop Dogg and blaxploitation legend Pam Grier in it. Alas, it’s not. It suffers greatly from weak characters, an inconsistent tone and a slow start. It doesn’t really get going until Jimmy Bones returns from the dead about an hour into the movie.
In 1979, Jimmy Bones (Snoop Dogg) was a well-respected figure in his neighborhood despite being a criminal. He genuinely cared about his people, acting as their protector against drug dealers that want to sell their product on his turf. When he refuses to do business with dealer Eddie Mack (Harris, Tales from the Hood) and corrupt cop Lupovich (Weiss, Freeway), they kill him and bury him in the basement of his own home which then sits vacant for the next two decades while the surrounding neighborhood falls into ruin.
Cut to present-day 2001 when a group of young wannabe entrepreneurs- Patrick (Kain, Juice), little brother Bill (Mondesir, Grave Encounters), best friend Maurice (Amsing) and stepsister Tia (Isabelle, Freddy vs. Jason)- buy Bones’ old brownstone with the intention of opening a nightclub. It’s a bad idea and everybody knows it except these dumb ass kids. Jimmy’s old girlfriend Pearl (Grier, Jackie Brown) still lives in the neighborhood with her daughter Cynthia (Lawson, Save the Last Dance). A psychic, she tries to warn them off to no avail. When Patrick’s father Jeremiah (Powell, Ray) learns of his son’s new business venture, he flips out. A former associate of Jimmy Bones, he knows what went down and wants to leave the past right where it is. Despite all the objections and omens (e.g. a big black dog with glowing red eyes), the dummies proceed with their plans.
Like I said, it takes a while for Bones to get to the good stuff. Until then, we’re forced to hang out with some very uninteresting stock characters. Patrick and his posse are boring and one-dimensional. Nothing original happens to them. Predictably, Patrick and Cynthia start a relationship against the wishes of her mother. Yes, she spends the night (well, most of it) in the building with her new friends only to be scared off by a supernatural encounter with Jimmy. These kids are also stupid. They do the same dumb things as the teens in other horror movies, but thinking that they can have the building permit-ready in a few days time on their own (i.e. no contractors) takes stupidity to a new level. Some would call it delusional.
In any event, they throw a big opening night party only to have it ruined by a certain uninvited guest whose arrival is heralded by a maggot shower from the ceiling. Okay, that part is cool even if it is cribbed from Suspiria. This is when Bones hits its stride. After his triumphant return from the hereafter, Jimmy Bones hits the streets to visit his debtors. This should have been the main focus of the plot. This is what Bones should have been about. It would have benefited from less time with the youngsters and more with Jimmy and his associates. Maybe it’s just me, but I felt myself growing impatient as the first hour plodded along. I did like the flashbacks to ’79 with Jimmy strutting down the street like Huggy Bear with his bad threads and cocksure attitude. When he comes back in ’01, he’s a perfect mix of cool and evil. Snoop does a great job with the role. He’s easily the best thing about Bones.
Grier is also quite good as the girlfriend who now makes her living as a psychic. She’s attuned to the evil that resides in Jimmy’s derelict brownstone, an imposing structure on a street that makes Skid Row look like a vacation resort. As for the other performances, they tie in to the film’s tonal issues. You see, Bones can’t settle on a consistent tone. It can’t decide whether it wants to be scary or funny and doesn’t wholly succeed at either. It tries to do both resulting in a markedly uneven movie. I honestly didn’t know how to take it. The cast seems to have the same problem. They’re not sure whether to play it straight or not. As such, the performances are all over the map.
On the upside, Bones does boast cool production design and gore effects. I can’t be too hard on a horror movie that features its boogeyman carrying around two talking severed heads. Directed by Ernest Dickerson (Demon Knight), Bones has its good points. Unfortunately, they’re almost outweighed by its flaws. It wants to be fun, but too many times it feels forced. This one could have been great. I envision a film that deftly combines 70s blaxploitation and 80s horror motifs in a new millennium setting. In more assured hands, it would have worked. Sadly, this one is a near miss.
