Day 20 

Bones (2001)

Directed by Ernest Dickerson

When a group of young folk decide to buy a decrepit abandoned building in the projects and turn it into a nightclub to launch their music career, they make a frightening discovery in the basement – the ghastly remains of an unfortunate murder victim. When they decide to press on with their plans regardless of what they find, the wrath of the angry dead comes back to haunt them in the form of the specter of the murdered man, who is played by Snoop Dogg. I’ll be upfront here, Bones is kind of a mess. There were so many ideas and horror concepts jammed into this movie that a lot of them don’t really have the payoff they need, and it is particularly weird that the movie switches from a haunted house type movie to a campy supernatural slasher at about the hour mark. But the strangest thing of all is I think I actually enjoyed this movie. 

Bones is strongest when it’s focusing on two things, the cast and the, at times, pretty creepy visuals. The group of friends all seem like real friends, which helps a lot to make them likeable and sympathetic, and Pam Grier is great as usual, but the show gets stolen by Michael T. Weiss who plays a dirty cop and delivers a creepy, disgusting, and memorable performance. Visually, Bones is at its best when it sticks to the haunted house, which has a cool urban gothic feel to it, and the practical horror effects work quite well. When the typical early 2000s bad CGI shows up everything goes a bit downhill, but there is still enough here that is enjoyable. Bones isn’t for everyone but if you’re looking for a campy and fun horror movie you could certainly do worse and if that sounds like you then I would recommend this film.