Blu-Ray Review: Bones

The 2001 movie Bones is one that I have never seen and never really got my attention. This is probably because I could never really imagine Snoop Dogg (yes, the rapper) as a villain or bad guy. There is just something about him that makes him seem too laid bad. That said, I was surprised by this movie and his performance in particular.

Snoop plays Jimmy Bones. In 1979, he was the king of his Chicago neighborhood until he gets betrayed by a corrupt cop, a drug dealer, and his friend and girlfriend are forced to take part. He is buried in his old home as a permanent tomb. Skip to 2001, and a group of young people buy the house and want to make it into a club. While doing renovations they unwittingly release the spirit of Jimmy Bones, who comes back to take revenge.

While on the surface this movie seems like it would have a lot going against it, it actually does pretty well. First of all, it is directed by Ernest Dickerson who directed films like Juice, Demon Knight, and several episodes of The Walking Dead. It also pays homage to the Blaxploitation films from the ’70s both in style and in casting Pam Grier (Foxy Brown) as Jimmy Bones’ girlfriend. More than these, though, is the performance of Snoop Dogg in the title role. While one might think they know what he is going to do he actually plays it very straight. There is no camp, not over the top villainy, nothing like that. He plays it menacingly and convincingly. If anything, it’s worth a watch to see his surprising performance.

The release is in 4K scan that looks incredible. The palette and intentional graininess of the image looks amazing. Likewise, the sound is great too. You clearly hear every word of dialog as well as the small sound effects that can actually make your skin crawl at time.

The release also comes with the following extras:

• Audio Commentary with Actor Snoop Dogg, Director Ernest Dickerson and Screenwriter Adam Simon
• Building Bones: Interview With Director Ernest Dickerson – (20:21)
• Bringing Out the Dead: Interview With Co-Screenwriter Adam Simon – (17:18)
• Urban Underworld: Interview with Director of Photography Flavio Labiano – (11:42)
• Blood ’N’ Bones: Interview With Special Make-Up Effects Creator Tony Gardner – (15:19)
• Digging up Bones – (23:48)
• Urban Gothic – Bones And Its Influences – (18:57)
• Deleted Scenes – (24:35)
• Dogg Named Snoop Music Videos – (7:24)
• Theatrical Press Kit With Behind-the-Scenes Footage – (10:45)
• Theatrical Trailer – (2:08)
• Teaser Trailer – (00:31)

Scream Factory will release Bones on March 31st, 2020.