The DVD:
Having recently moved back to the sleepy Quebec town of Munster, single parent Kyle Addison finds the process of re-acclamation difficult; the bullies in town pick him on; his dead-end job at the library bores him to death; and he is finding first time fatherhood a complicated issue. As the days go by, he begins to notice a peculiar trend on the bulletin board at work. There seems to be an inordinately large amount of children missing in Munster, more than most cities. When a local boy that both he and fellow employee Mindy know disappears, the tragedy starts hitting far too close to home. Then Kyle meets Madeline, a distraught mother looking for answers among the various volumes in the book depository. She too has a missing child. Infatuated with her beauty and hoping to help her out, Kyle searches through some books on local legends that he has at home. They both soon discover that the child-nappings may be the work of an ancient icon called The Bonesetter, a mysterious medicine man who traveled the countryside at the turn of the century, setting broken limbs – and stealing children. It's up to the perturbed parents to learn this sinister spirit's hiding place before he completes his "rounds" and makes his child-filled "sacrifice" to the denizens of Hell.

The Bonesetter is a movie that makes its point, reemphasizes it and then sticks with it the rest of the minimal running time until it is sure that we fully and completely understand it. Using a real Canadian legend effectively visualized as a fiend who resembles Lon Chaney's top hat wearing ghoul in London After Midnight, this independent production has potential written all over its ideas. Unfortunately, it only wants to explore a couple of the precarious possibilities before wrapping up its narrative and going home. Director/writer/star Brett Kelly has a way with mood and atmosphere that many homemade moviemakers would absolutely kill for, and yet he tries the trick of making ambiance, as well as his madman, the sole rationale for all ghoulish goings on. And for a while, we play along. We sit and watch the suggested scares, experience the undercurrent of suspense and the potential for a big payoff and we are happy. After all, fright flick fans are so used to being disappointed and disgusted with the donkey dung that passes for low budget terror that when a film manages to hold our initial interest beyond the first few sequences, we are ready to roll with the changes. Even as it works its way to its painfully obvious ending, The Bonesetter is still more or less succeeding. Sure, it could use a great deal of fleshing out, and the thrills and chills are only acceptable, but up until the closing confrontation between good and evil, this Ottawa wannabe looks like it will make it all the way to the finish line without ever once stumbling.

And then it trips. Actually, to say it merely falters is an understatement. Like a prescient chess player who's anticipated every move in advance and prepared a dozen different combinations to prevent his defeat, we simply assumed The Bonesetter was ready to take on any and all aspects of this cinematic challenge. Sadly, the sour smell filling your home theater is the aroma of egg drying on your face. What we learn in the last five minutes of this movie – not to mention the completely unnecessary epilogue – is that the entire setup, all the urban legend mumbo jumbo and black and white flashback foolishness was just narrative manipulation, elements of a story that really didn't require them to be there in the first place. Everything – the missing kids, the '777' vs. '666' BS and all the other pseudo-subplots that threaten to develop and then die like a fart in the wind – turns out to be padding for a quick few moments of man vs. backwoods medico and a resolution based on the ability to tell time. If The Bonesetter himself has any special powers, or a proficiency other than random appearance and disappearance, it can apparently all be undone in a rather mundane, and incredibly mediocre manner. He's all look and no fangs. One thing a monster movie needs is a really ferocious fiend. Our pal the femur re-fitter is just a Gothic showpiece, a mold green specter prancing around the frame for our ocular enjoyment.

Still, as a work of no-budget brashness, The Bonesetter has a lot going for it. Kelly's direction is, for the most part, iron clad. He has a wonderful way with framing and manages to extract the proper angle from his limited blocking to maximize effect. Kelly is also responsible for the script, and while the story arc is a whole separate issue, he does create believable dialogue without resorting to outright cliché or dysfunctional formula. As for the acting, The Bonesetter has a wonderfully adept cast that consistently sells what the movie itself sometimes fails to deliver. Kelly's nonchalant nerd Kyle is too wishy washy to be important, but his female co-star Sherry Turig imbues Madeline with a great deal of maternal instinct and inner courage. As Mindy, the mild-mannered assistant librarian with a crush on anything loaded with testosterone, Anne-Marie Frigon has an airy, earthy presence that is perfect for her role, and though he has a couple of clunker line readings, Mark Courneyea's gives police officer Jackman a decent, direct portrayal. As part of some bid for b-movie propaganda, Troma President Lloyd Kaufman – yes, THAT Lloyd Kaufman – is here playing the Mayor of Munster (though all his scenes are filmed at his familiar desk in Mr. Toxie's Manhattan offices). Oddly, Lloyd is convinced he's doing another of his patented pre-feature presentation rants and he's all over the map – and indeed very funny – as the perplexed politician. It's safe to say that the use of this recognizable geek icon was an obvious attempt at getting The Bonesetter a little fright fandom street cred. But when it's surrounded by a more subtle approach to performance, Lloyd is a little too over the top for the rest of the film.

Hopefully, the majority of the comments here do not infer that The Bonesetter is a bad film. Far from it. It's just not a very complicated or engaging film. Writer/director Kelly can't seem to understand that a single narrative thread, stretched to its logical limits, cannot make up the entire running time of a movie (even at 61 minutes). Short films can rely on simplicity to guide their plot. But in order for a full-length feature to be considered complete, it must also avoid convolution while embracing complexity. Characters need to be rich, not one-note. Ancillary aspects to the story need to be well spelled out and support the main premise. Throwaway moments should come back to payoff later, and hidden meaning ought to be measured in almost all objects. Kelly does very little of this in The Bonesetter. He, instead, hopes that his man/monster mythology will overcome all obstacles. And he's partially right. Combined with his excellent control of mood and tempo, there is something unsettling about the title character and his maniacal modus operandi. But just like a chase scene between two interesting vehicles down an unadorned highway, the ABC basics of the cat and mouse start to grow dull. Kelly sets up the situation – kids stay out after 7:00pm, get kidnapped by a phantom, must be saved – and then never moves beyond it. Even a similarly simplistic slasher film like Friday the 13th attempted to imply some outside issues or internal intrigue. But after watching the hour comprising this movie, one feels they've only seen a small part of a much grander, more epic scarefest.

For the modern minion of the macabre, those used to a nonstop barrage of beasts and blood, The Bonesetter will seem like a disappointment. It does recall a far more naive time in direct to video production when the slightest storyline could find a home in the bottom racks of a Mom and Pop operation, but that may not be enough to warrant a post-millennial pass for most people. Gorehounds will have to go hungry as well, since The Bonesetter only contains a couple of quick scenes where the claret cascades out of wounds. Though it is hard to imagine how the grue could be more profuse (we're talking about kids here, and no one, not even a Canadian filmmaker, is ready to show wee ones ripped apart in torrents of maroon tissue terror), the lack of liquid does undermine a great deal of the movie's impact. After all, how do we fear something that basically poses little or no threat? Which, of course, leads us back to atmosphere. At least we've got a creepy undercurrent of menace to keep us going, and in combination with a genuine desire to see evil pay, The Bonesetter accomplishes it's primary task: it presents a perfectly palatable horror movie with a great deal of style and panache. Too bad it has to be so primitive in its overall approach. Brett Kelly found a fresh and inventive brute to wander through his horror narrative. Next time, he needs to add a little more complexity to his shock theater thriller.

The Video:
As a direct to digital creation, The Bonesetter looks surprisingly good. The 1.33:1 full screen image is clean, crisp and ripe with the kind of visual information that inspires chills and thrills. There is some noticeable "noise" in the night scenes and a truly awful example of manipulated day for night (grass NEVER looks that green in the evening). Overall though, there is a professional look to the film and a feeling of seeing something more along the lines of a mainstream feature than a home movie.

The Audio:
There are two main facets of the audio that must be addressed. First, the soundtrack is filled with a near-perfect blend of ethereal instrumentals and ragged mope rock to help increase the sense of doom and gloom. The work by Sylvain Lavigne hits the right redolent notes more times than not. On the other side is the actual dialogue recording. The vast majority of the time, the actors are easily understandable and the conversations are up front and dominant. But there are a few instances where we experience excess background buzz, distortion and dropout. In combination, the sonic situation here is perfectly fine. But when looked at individually, there were obviously some production snafus during the recording of the film that remain on the Dolby Digital Stereo mix of the DVD.

The Extras:
As they do with almost all their low end product, Tempe treats us to more bonus material and contextual extras than many of the major studios. The Bonesetter is no exception. On the DVD, you will be treated to the following added features:

Commentary by Kelly and Co-Star Anne-Marie Frigon: Wow, the Canadians are just SO polite. Throughout the course of this scene specific narrative, both Kelly and Frigon are so mannered and filled with cinematic etiquette that you can't help but feel like an uncultured slob as they speak. Both have so many gracious and refined things to say about the cast and crew that you'd swear it was some manner of subtle, sarcastic joke. Kelly gives pointed detail about the locations and some of the pitfalls with filming on such a low budget, while Frigon functions as a combination 'Yes'-man (or make that 'Yes"-ma'am) and production problem illustrator. Though it may test your tolerance for tact, you will learn a lot from this alternate track.

Cast and Crew Interviews: This Q&A featuring the major players in the film (along with Director of Photography Nicole Thompson) provides a chance to hear someone other than Kelly praise his film. Most of the cast appreciated their creative ringmaster for the kind of set he helmed as well as his knowledge of direction and acting. While it's odd to hear a couple of the performers swear that The Bonesetter has "lots of comedy" in it, the rest of the responses are concise and add to our understanding of how films like this are made.

Behind-The-Scenes Footage: Comprised of about 11 minutes of 'caught on set' material, we get to experience the making of this movie right along with the cast. Some of the stuff here is made up of the kind of goofing off you expect from a no-budget production, but the rest of the time, the cast and crew are intent and very serious in their work.

Camera Tests: Kelly storyboarded and blocked out his script before filming, and these scenes are the result of some of his initial shooting and editing tests. The ability to watch a director craft a scene from its inception to the final shot combinations is interesting. What is equally enthralling is how different the final product can be from the planned production notes. You know what they say about the best-laid strategies of mice and men...

Outtakes and Bloopers: About eight minutes of line flubs, missed cues and inadvertent disruptions by the cast and crew. It's weird to see some of the moments the actors blank on. It is also a lot of fun. In one scene in particular, we witness several missed attempts at an entrance because a case of the giggles has infected everyone in the production.

Sherry Thurig Audition: Ms. Thurig was not the first choice to play Madeline (apparently, the original actress had to be replaced for "attitude" reasons. We never learn more than that) so she came in, while the film was in production, and auditioned for the part. Captured in a busy restaurant setting, this curious bit of film shows how young hopefuls work the room, eager to land a part.

Clowning Around – A Short Film: This six-minute jokefest about adulterous clowns directed by Kelly is pretty funny and undeniably creative. Many of the insights into hot harlequin action are hilarious and the brevity of the piece aids in the timing of the comedy.

In addition, we are treated to several trailers for some of Splatter Rampage's other titles, including the brilliant Midnight Skater, the equally effective Demon Summer and two new entries, Kelly's first film The Feral Man (which looks quite interesting) and a 'zombies in high school' spookfest called Ghoul School.

Final Thoughts: It's hard to call The Bonesetter a failure. On its own terms, ones based in mood, atmosphere and overall quality, this is a wonderful experiment in controlling the creeps. But since it has a wonderful weirdo at the center that never gets fully exploited, and the essential elements of fear and bodily fluid are in short supply, the film shuffles along when it really should sprint. In many ways, it's like a Lifetime movie with monsters instead of molesters wreaking havoc, more interested in the aspects of single parenthood (and how people end up that way) than turning its beast into a total badass. Canadian Brett Kelly is to be given credit for avoiding the surefire formulas of gore and gratuitousness to make a serious, adult mystery about a arcane, enigmatic myth. As an entry into the low budget arena of fright flicks, The Bonesetter is recommended for the numerous things it gets right. But be warned: this is one creature from another time that has a very uncomplicated story to tell. Don't be surprised if you find his tale more inventive and moody than interesting. As a figure of fright, The Bonesetter is a real find. Unfortunately, it may take a sequel or two before he gets a film that lives up to his incredibly eerie persona.

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