I love a good creature feature. I think this stems from having grown up watching some fantastic monster movies as a kid, but a film that throws a group of characters into a situation where they have to deal with something monstrous as it hunts them down is almost like a comfort food for me. Upon seeing the trailer for Bone Keeper I immediately wanted to watch it, as it ticked a load of boxes for me. And whilst I went into the film not really expecting a huge amount of quality, I was relatively surprised at just how well Bone Keeper managed to deliver a decent, entertaining movie; even if it did stumble in a few places.
Bone Keeper begins by laying it's cards out on the table and removing some mystery elements from the film. Starting millions of years ago, a comet crashes to Earth, and something living crawls out of it. Over the centuries it grows, replicates, and kills creatures in the surrounding area, eventually moving into a deep cave system. We even seen ancient humans fall afoul of the alien monstrosity. I honestly think that this is a pretty bold move, telling viewers immediately that the creature in Bone Keeper is an alien, but when considering the fact that there would be no other way for us to learn this over the course of the movie, other than perhaps a character speculating it's origin, just showing us makes quite a bit of sense. Plus, the opening scenes are made with some very impressive visual effects, and it indicated to me immediately that despite being a lower budget movie it was at least trying to present itself as a film trying to push its limitations.
Jumping forwards in time to the 1970's, we see a scientist exploring the caves where this creature has chosen to live, and getting grabbed by it. This is the grandfather of our lead character, Olivia (Sarah Alexandra Marks). We learn that at some point her mother went looking for her grandfather, and went missing too. Now Olivia and a group of her friends have decided to set out for the caves to try and find some answers. Travelling to the area, they seek out the advise of Professor Harisson (John Rhys-Davies), who has made studying the caves and the creature inside his career. Something of a 'quack' scientist, he's able to describe the monster that lives within, warning the explorers to be careful. Despite these warnings, the six of them decide to continue on their mission and enter the cave system, unaware that they've just entered the hunting grounds of an ancient alien monster.
Bone Keeper, despite limitations in budget, actually ends up delivering a pretty decent and competent movie. The human cast, whilst never given the time or space to have any real depth, are all still distinct, fitting into horror archetypes. They're played well, with some endearing you to them whilst others, such as the hitchhiking vlogger they pick up, making you dislike them to the point where you're hoping they get eaten first. John Rhys-Davies is the biggest name attached to the project, and whilst the movie uses him most heavily in the first act writer/director Howard J. Ford seems to know that not using him more would be a mistake, and manages to pepper him throughout the film without it feeling like forced inclusion of the big name star.
The story itself is entertaining, if not completely original. Bone Keeper borrows from other places, it's characters make frankly stupid mistakes, such as leaving one person behind to make a video in the monster caves when everyone else could have waited, but these are all expected tropes of the horror genre. Bone Keeper doesn't try to break the mould, but instead tries its best to deliver what fans of the genre would want; and for the most part delivers in a way that the movie never feels dull.
I want to talk about the films monster now, and this section will have to come with a little caveat. For the most part, the creature in Bone Keeper is pretty good. It's definitely alien, and doesn't really resemble anything that you'd expect to see in nature. It moves and behaves in ways that feel otherworldly, and whilst there are some aspects of its design that feel recognisable, such as tentacles, they're combined in such a way that the overall package feels unnatural and wrong. However, I'm not entirely sure if there aren't times when the monster effects are made using AI. The monster shifts and changes, mutating at times, and there are a few shots where these shifts feel wrong in the same way that AI videos suddenly having people morph and shift as they grow extra limbs of their face changes by mistake feels wrong. I don't know if this was just an unfortunate similarity, or if AI was utilised here, but having looked as some other opinions on the movie I'm not the only person who's come away suspecting AI having been used in the effects work. There's an early shot of the groups car driving through the countryside that set my AI alarm off simply due to the fact that they were on the completely wrong side of the road. But, there's no confirmation of AI usage listed in the films credits from what I can see, so this is purely a speculation on my part.
Whether the CGI used in the movie is AI or not, there are times where it does feel a little removed from actors and events happening on the screen. There are moments where the camera focuses on the monster as it comes charging through the cave at a character, then it'll cut to the human actor reacting and screaming, then back to the monster, and so forth. The people rarely share the screen with the creature other than the moment they die, and this does lead to a feeling of division between the effects work and the practical moments that only highlights the fact that these actors are reacting to nothing tangible. It's a small detail, but it did draw me out of the moment a few times.
Overall, Bone Keeper is a pretty decent, entertaining movie. It tries to deliver something decent, pushing the boundaries of its budget so that it can stand out amongst other low budget, independent movies. And for the most part this works, and the film is visual impressive at times. I hope that there wasn't any AI used in it's creation, as if it transpires their was I'd have to slash its final score quite substantially, but as it stands now, Bone Keeper is a fun monster movie.
Bone Keeper is available on digital release in the UK on 6th April 2026.
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