Bonejangles… What can I say about Bonejangles? Well, I guess I can start by saying it was a higher caliber movie than I was expecting. The camera work and picture quality were top notch, the sound was practically flawless, and there was only one rough edit mistake I caught during my viewing. Let me not forget to mention that the special effects were fantastic and the digital effects were an added bonus that didn’t come off pixelated. From start to finish, director Brett DeJager and producers Keith Melcher, Zeke Hanson and Dan Cybulski really put work into making Bonejangles a worthwhile product and their efforts definitely payed off. The little touches – like a smoke puff here, a retro score there – served to amp up this horror-comedy in a nostalgic and interesting way and I was entertained the whole way through. And I’m saying this before I even address the plot!
Bonejangles follows a small, rag-tag group of police officers as they transport a hulking serial killer across city borders where a cozy, reinforced jail cell awaits him. And this killer is big, like Jason Voorhees and Victor Crowly type big! On their way to the destination, they’re forced to stop in a small town with a dark secret. Many years ago, a succubus witch cursed the town at the time of her execution with a grudge that sees specific men in the town turn into ravenous zombies every April 18th (or 11th?). During the commotion, Bonejangles escapes his shackles and enters the zombie filled city with his own ideas for revenge. I bet the police force never prepared them for a situation like this! It’s a struggle to survive the night as brute strength meets age old magic and flesh-eating psychos in this horror-comedy written by Keith Melcher.
I was on the fence when I saw that zombies were added into the mix that was already crazy enough. I thought they were going to be over-kill, but the whole thing fit together in a very Freddy vs. Jason sort of way. Bonejangles is a massive man and he uses anything at his disposal to murder his victims… even a porno magazine. He would have easily been able to take the succubus witch in hand to hand battle given that she never uses offensive magic in the movie. I guess maybe she could fuck him to death, but outside of that she needed something at her disposal to battle with – hence zombies. Zombies gave the lead and supporting cast members another threat to mingle and run around during their disastrous night on the job. Bonejangles cut to the point right away and you know of the danger lurking around every corner right from the start, so the zombies also served as a tool to keep viewers on their feet. Who knows when an undead man could pop up and munch on your favorite character. Still, among all the madness, Bonejangles managed to keep that old school horror vibe that enthralled me in the first place and I’m glad that Juggernaut killers can still command attention!
To address the comedic moments in Bonejangles… ah, they’re kind of hit or miss. Some things were right on the mark and funny while other things went too far or were overbearing after time went on. The latter part of that sentiment can be seen with the gay police officer who was the butt of the joke every time he was on screen and was way too much of a insulting stereotype than humorous. However, I enjoyed that the two lead cops were dim-witted without being completely brain dead and I loved all the subtle innuendos and blatant crude humor. I’m also happy to say that the comedic value didn’t bleed into the gore and violence. When it’s time to get bloody, it gets messy! The gore-hounds are going to love Bonejangles for the creative kills, the old school slashes, and the red splatters that never stop. Luckily for genre fans, DeJager and Melcher knew when to put the laughs on hold and go straight for the kill in this movie. They had a clear understanding of what they wanted to do, and the division that existed in its two intertwined plots, and they carried it all out in a cohesive way. Expert film-making, guys!
When it comes to any major criticisms, I actually don’t think I have any! Besides the comedy being a little much at certain points, I think the only thing I didn’t like was that Bonejangles‘ ending isn’t much of a climax. It’s just kind of… over. More-so, I only have more positives to offer, including how every name and location in this movie is a pop culture or horror reference. Bonejangles is the second feature film from Brett DeJager, following 2012’s The Legend of Cooley Moon, and it was written by Keith Melcher. Reggie Bannister (Phantasm 1 – 5), Elissa Dowling (We Are Still Here), Kelly Misek Jr. (VHS: Viral), Julia Cavanaugh, Devin Toft, Jamie Scott Gordon, Lawrence Wayne Curry and Hannah Richter star. It’s far from “the next name in horror” like a previous press release states, but it was still a delightfully devilish time! It’s easily one of the best releases on the Wild Eye Releasing catalogue in 2017 and it’s definitely a movie you can enjoy with a group of friends with the same dark humor as you. Catch it on VOD July 18th. Final Score: 7.5 out of 10.
