Bone Face (2025) (Blu-ray Review)
DIRECTED BY: Michael Donovan Horn
STARRING: Alli Hart, Elena Sanchez, Jared Bankens
RATED: UR/Region: O/1:85/1080P/NUMBER OF DISCS 1 (BD-r)
AVAILABLE FROM Uncork’d Entertainment
As a slasher fan, I went into Bone Face hoping for masked mayhem, creative kills, and a body count that would make the local coroner consider early retirement. Instead, director Michael Donovan Horn delivers a movie that seems oddly embarrassed by the fact that it’s supposed to be a slasher.
That’s not to say Bone Face is terrible. In fact, parts of it are surprisingly well made. The performances are solid, the production values are respectable, and the film clearly wants to be more than just another guy-in-a-mask murder spree. The problem is that it wants to be more than a slasher so badly that it forgets to be a good slasher in the first place.
The setup is promising enough. A killer known as Bone Face has left a trail of bodies, and the film positions itself as a mystery where everyone becomes a suspect. That’s a fun concept. Slashers and whodunits have gone together beautifully for decades. Unfortunately, Bone Face spends so much time digging into trauma, guilt, emotional baggage, and character drama that the actual horror often feels like it’s sitting in the waiting room waiting to be called.
There are long stretches where the movie feels less like Friday the 13th and more like an off-Broadway therapy session.
Now, I’m not against character development. Horror movies can absolutely benefit from stronger characters. But there’s a delicate balance. If I’m watching a movie about a masked killer called Bone Face, I probably don’t need fifteen minutes of emotionally charged conversations every time somebody gets stabbed. At a certain point I started wanting the killer to show up simply because he was the only one moving the plot forward.
To the film’s credit, the mystery element does generate some intrigue. There are moments where you’re genuinely trying to figure out who the killer might be, and the movie deserves praise for attempting something a little different within the slasher formula. The cast also takes the material seriously, which helps sell some of the heavier dramatic scenes.
The problem is that the movie takes itself too seriously.
Everything is treated with such solemn importance that the film occasionally forgets slashers are supposed to be fun. Not necessarily funny, but fun. There should be tension, excitement, suspense, and a little bit of trashy energy. Bone Face often feels like it’s trying to win an award for emotional depth while a slasher movie keeps awkwardly happening in the background.
Even the kill scenes, while competently staged, don’t land with the impact they should because the pacing keeps slamming on the brakes. Every time the movie builds momentum, it detours into another dramatic conversation. It’s like watching someone drive a sports car through a school zone.
What’s frustrating is that there’s a better movie hiding inside this one. The mystery works. The premise works. The production is solid. Had the filmmakers embraced the slasher elements with the same enthusiasm they embraced the drama, this could have been a standout indie horror film.
Instead, Bone Face ends up stuck in an awkward middle ground. It’s too dramatic to satisfy slasher fans looking for thrills and too rooted in genre conventions to fully succeed as a serious character drama. The result is a movie that’s never boring exactly, but often feels like it’s fighting against its own strengths.
In the end, Bone Face misses the boat on being a memorable slasher by trying so hard to transcend the genre. Sometimes audiences just want a masked killer, some suspense, and a few memorable kills. There’s nothing wrong with that. Unfortunately, Bone Face seems convinced it’s above such things, and the movie suffers because of it.
Extras
- Meet the Cast
- Trailers
