Jul '16 *
By 2004, the Zombie/living dead concept had been done to death several times over. We've seen the best, the worst, smart zombie flicks like Shaun Of The Dead, stupid one's like Redneck Zombies, atmospheric masterpieces courtesy of Lucio Fulci, and of course, the outrageous gorefests. As of 2016, Peter Jackson's pride and joy has still yet to be topped. But in 2004, a guy named Brian Paulin came pretty close with a very much inspired, shot-on-video nightmare known as Bone Sickness. And by then, what else do we really need from a zombie flick? Not to imply that awesome gore fx is all this movie has going for it. Bone Sickness is also very creepy, dark and quite unsettling at times. Just sayin'. If gore is what you desire most, then, trust me. You desire Bone Sickness.
While the story isn't completely unoriginal, the first half does tend to drag a bit, and it does take a while for the gore to really get started. But my advice would be to stick with this one, even if you get a little bored, as the pay off is massive. But until then, we're given a look into a pretty hopeless scenario where a guy named Alex is suffering from a rare bone disease, and has about a zero percent chance of living. A disease that is slowly turning him into a zombie who vomits and shits worms. Big ones. And some maggots here and there as well.
On the bright side, the sickly Alex at least has a hotter than hell wife to take care of him, so, it could be worse. Alex's wife, Kristen, is losing hope, but has decided to turn to his best friend, Thomas (Paulin) for help. Thomas has this bright idea that feeding Alex bones of the dead will strengthen his own bones. Getting his hands on this bone marrow medication is convenient due to Thomas being employed by the local morgue. Sounds stupid? Well, yeah. But it actually works. Despite Thomas' good intentions, the dead are now pretty sore at him over this stunt, and have risen from their graves just to let everyone know that you don't fuck with the dead. Unfortunately for the entire world, they are not stopping with Thomas. But on the bright side, Alex is starting to feel a little better... Well, sorta.
Much like the other two Paulin films I've seen (At Dawn They Sleep and Fetus), this here's a fine example of a filmmaker making the most of what he has. Which was actually next to nothing from what I hear. The three Brian Paulin movies I've seen are low budget even for low budget standards, but never fail to entertain or impress. The gore and zombies both seem very inspired by Italy's heyday. As you might notice, The zombies do share a resemblance to those of Zombi 2 and Burial Ground. Paulin's films are what they are and never try to be anything other than what they are. Dark, morbid gorefests for Horror fans who require a little more than what the mainstream choices offer. Besides the earth shattering gore, one thing I appreciate about Bone Sickness is that it doesn't try to take an ironic or comedic approach in the least. There's never a point where they're trying to be cute or clever. Bone Sickness is some good old fashion ballsy Horror with no desire for compromise. Bone Sickness, above all, is refreshing. That is if you like that sort of thing.
https://www.morbidvisionfilms.com/BoneSickness/torninhalf.JPG Originally, Bone Sickness was self distributed, but once it got a re-release from Unearthed Films, the two man team of Brian Paulin and Rich George (Alex) created a new cut of the movie, including extra scenes, made up mostly of extra gore just for the fans. There's also a new sub plot involving goblins, but I'm not going to go into that right now. In one tasty new scene where Alex vomits up some worms, footage is added of him eating them. Who knows what purpose that served, but I thought it was pretty damn sweet just the same. Much respect to Rich George for taking one for the team.
One thing I love about Brian Paulin films is this guy always puts in the extra effort to make things even more disgusting and uncomfortable than the masters of gore that came before him. In this one, it's worms coming out of all holes. in his next film, Fetus, we get to witness a birth via dickhole. You just can't find this stuff anywhere else. So, if the crazier, more gruesome micro-budgeted gore like Violent Shit or the Guinea Pig series is what gets you going, do yourself a favor and give Bone Sickness, and Brian Paulin movies in general, an honest shot. Because life is too short to be without these movies if you're a gorehound. 6/10
By 2004, the Zombie/living dead concept had been done to death several times over. We've seen the best, the worst, smart zombie flicks like Shaun Of The Dead, stupid one's like Redneck Zombies, atmospheric masterpieces courtesy of Lucio Fulci, and of course, the outrageous gorefests. As of 2016, Peter Jackson's pride and joy has still yet to be topped. But in 2004, a guy named Brian Paulin came pretty close with a very much inspired, shot-on-video nightmare known as Bone Sickness. And by then, what else do we really need from a zombie flick? Not to imply that awesome gore fx is all this movie has going for it. Bone Sickness is also very creepy, dark and quite unsettling at times. Just sayin'. If gore is what you desire most, then, trust me. You desire Bone Sickness.
While the story isn't completely unoriginal, the first half does tend to drag a bit, and it does take a while for the gore to really get started. But my advice would be to stick with this one, even if you get a little bored, as the pay off is massive. But until then, we're given a look into a pretty hopeless scenario where a guy named Alex is suffering from a rare bone disease, and has about a zero percent chance of living. A disease that is slowly turning him into a zombie who vomits and shits worms. Big ones. And some maggots here and there as well. On the bright side, the sickly Alex at least has a hotter than hell wife to take care of him, so, it could be worse. Alex's wife, Kristen, is losing hope, but has decided to turn to his best friend, Thomas (Paulin) for help. Thomas has this bright idea that feeding Alex bones of the dead will strengthen his own bones. Getting his hands on this bone marrow medication is convenient due to Thomas being employed by the local morgue. Sounds stupid? Well, yeah. But it actually works. Despite Thomas' good intentions, the dead are now pretty sore at him over this stunt, and have risen from their graves just to let everyone know that you don't fuck with the dead. Unfortunately for the entire world, they are not stopping with Thomas. But on the bright side, Alex is starting to feel a little better... Well, sorta.
Much like the other two Paulin films I've seen (At Dawn They Sleep and Fetus), this here's a fine example of a filmmaker making the most of what he has. Which was actually next to nothing from what I hear. The three Brian Paulin movies I've seen are low budget even for low budget standards, but never fail to entertain or impress. The gore and zombies both seem very inspired by Italy's heyday. As you might notice, The zombies do share a resemblance to those of Zombi 2 and Burial Ground. Paulin's films are what they are and never try to be anything other than what they are. Dark, morbid gorefests for Horror fans who require a little more than what the mainstream choices offer. Besides the earth shattering gore, one thing I appreciate about Bone Sickness is that it doesn't try to take an ironic or comedic approach in the least. There's never a point where they're trying to be cute or clever. Bone Sickness is some good old fashion ballsy Horror with no desire for compromise. Bone Sickness, above all, is refreshing. That is if you like that sort of thing.https://www.morbidvisionfilms.com/BoneSickness/torninhalf.JPG Originally, Bone Sickness was self distributed, but once it got a re-release from Unearthed Films, the two man team of Brian Paulin and Rich George (Alex) created a new cut of the movie, including extra scenes, made up mostly of extra gore just for the fans. There's also a new sub plot involving goblins, but I'm not going to go into that right now. In one tasty new scene where Alex vomits up some worms, footage is added of him eating them. Who knows what purpose that served, but I thought it was pretty damn sweet just the same. Much respect to Rich George for taking one for the team.
One thing I love about Brian Paulin films is this guy always puts in the extra effort to make things even more disgusting and uncomfortable than the masters of gore that came before him. In this one, it's worms coming out of all holes. in his next film, Fetus, we get to witness a birth via dickhole. You just can't find this stuff anywhere else. So, if the crazier, more gruesome micro-budgeted gore like Violent Shit or the Guinea Pig series is what gets you going, do yourself a favor and give Bone Sickness, and Brian Paulin movies in general, an honest shot. Because life is too short to be without these movies if you're a gorehound. 6/10
