In the mountains of 1853 California, two prospectors, Diego (Siya Maleki) and Manny (Alex Peña), are working their way through the wilderness looking for gold. They find bones instead—scattered along the path. Diego is spooked. Something is wrong out here.
As they return to camp, they find fellow prospector Don Rob (Jack Campbell) tying a feral boy (Michael Mazanko) to a post. Having compassion, Manny insists that he take the boy to town to be raised properly, but Don says he’s seen too much and he will not be long for this world.
As the arguing continues, something is moving in the woods around them. When the conflict between Don and Manny reaches its height, Don is grabbed by the mysterious creature, and only his dismembered arm is tossed back. The boy looks with relief as if he has some connection with the creature.
“They find bones instead—scattered along the path.”
The theme of Film Threat this year is Make Your Movie. That’s exactly what Matthew DuVall and Kelsey Bollig did with The Bones Exist. They made a western with a CG creature to create a bit of terror.
It all started with a solid setup. A group of miners looking for the motherlode. What starts off as a battle over greed and virtue becomes a deadly creature attack with a CG monster looking for more than its next meal.
As far as the CG goes, it’s solid work—great, actually, considering it’s a low-budget feature. For fans of westerns and monsters, The Bones Exist is worth the fifteen-minute runtime.
For screening information, visit the The Bones Exist official website.
