Place of Bones (2024)

"Low Budget Western with Good Parts"

Director Audrey Cummings' (SHE NEVER DIED) new western is getting a digital release from Signature Entertainment.

Pandora (Heather Graham) and her daughter Hester (Brielle Robilard) live in an isolated house in the country, with the nearest town apparently 96 miles away. One day Hester finds the unconscious body of bank robber Calhoun (Corin Nemec) and they take him home. Confined to bed, the bullet wound that has shattered his leg soon turns gangrenous, making it necessary for Pandora to amputate it. Unfortunately this means they now only have a one-legged man to help defend them against the rest of Calhoun's gang, led by Bear John (Tom Hopper from BLACK SAILS and THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY), who want their shares of the money it turns out he stole from them.

PLACE OF BONES is a film of two halves, or rather two styles. The external location work, and the low-budget action set pieces therein, all work just fine. However, much of the first half of the film is dialogue, set within the confines of Pandora's house, and this is flatly directed to the point where the viewing experience feels more like a somewhat static stage play, or a televised version of the same. 

It's being advertised as a 'horror western' but don't expect any werewolves or for Pandora's husband to rise up out of his grave that we see several times. The horror here is strictly the kind of violence that would have been inherent in the Old West. The ending is suggestive of more extreme horror, but it's the kind of thing that would more suit a 30 minute TV episode, or even a four-page EC comic story than the near 100 minute film this is, and as such feels tacked on even though it isn't.

Overall, if you're a fan of more modern low budget westerns you'll find PLACE OF BONES an entertaining time-waster. Let's have a trailer:

PLACE OF BONES is out on Digital from Signature Entertainment on Monday 16th September 2024