Bone Face is a 2025 film from writer/director Michael Donovan Horn. While Bone Face is the first feature directed by Horn, it’s not his first screenplay, having penned two prior films: 2020’s The Dinner Party and 2021’s Demigod*. Horn is also the author of the short story collection “Monster Box: Tales“. Longtime readers of our site may recall that Horn was also a contributor to this site’s annual Halloween Horrors series back in 2018, joining us that year with his thoughts on Clive’s Barker’s Hellraiser. (Link to that piece.)

*Both directed by Miles Doleac and both featuring actors who also appear in Bone Face.  Doleac also co-stars in the film.

Jeremy London (“Party of Five”, Mallrats) and actress/stunt performer Elena Sanchez (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Texas Chainsaw 3D) star as a sheriff and deputy who track a masked maniac from the site of the latest summer camp massacre to a small, 24-hour roadside diner where they believe the killer to be hiding out. From there, the two officers must spend the evening trying to determine which of the various employees or patrons it is.

Despite a trailer that presents the film as something of a “throwback” to 80’s slashers (a claim that’s far too loosely thrown around by modern horror filmmakers), Bone Face instead plays out as more of a “”whodunit?”, albeit one clearly inspired by those 80’s slashers. The film even opens in “slasher” fashion; a group of camp counselors gather to wish one of their own a fond farewell, only for it to turn not-so-fond once a maniac (in a mask that appears to be made up from multiple small bones) shows up and chops the entire party to pieces with a hatchet. This said, gorehounds may be disappointed to learn that little is actually shown of this slaughter, with a fair share happening via silhouette.

While the only staff working the diner are the cook and a waitress, the clientele include a construction worker, a freelance photographer, a flirty middle-aged woman, a father and daughter travelling home from vacation, two bikers, and a college student working as the projectionist at a local “midnight movie” theater. The ensuing series of questions from the sheriff initially leaves all parties a little confused, with a few individuals now notably on edge by the presence of law enforcement. However, it’s quickly revealed just what the police are looking for when a photo of the killer is found on the photographer’s camera. Any remaining confusion is clarified when the mask, murder weapon, and blood-splattered clothing are found in one of the diner’s trash cans.

Naturally, these people aren’t overly thrilled about the idea of being detained and questioned by police, especially those with something to hide. They also aren’t particularly thrilled about being searched either. As one might expect, this creates a rather tense situation for all parties. Maybe somewhat predictably, the bikers prove to be the most vocal and stubborn of the group about their objections. However, the situation becomes much more tense when one of the customers dies just moments after alerting the sheriff that they know who the killer is. This leads to even further interrogation from the police, with various secrets and past events brought to light, revealing that most of these folks either had a means or a motive to commit these crimes.

All in all, I quite enjoyed Bone Face. I had only limited knowledge of the film prior to watching, so I was thankfully free of any expectations. As such, I found the film to be a fairly-well scripted tale. There may have been a few oversights, but nothing that took me out of the experience. Performances were decent all around, with none of the cast feeling particularly weaker or stronger than others. There was one song choice that felt out of place for me. The sequence is a little awkward and, while it may not exactly hurt the film, it surely doesn’t help in any way. However, as it is quite prominently featured during the scene, I felt obligated to mention it.

There’s solid argument that maybe too much of the “Bone Face” killer is shown during the film’s opening slaughter as, while the killer’s true identity isn’t exactly revealed, potential suspects now stand out due to body type. As such, my first guess as to which of these people was “Bone Face” proved to be accurate. Somewhat thankfully, the film does not conclude with the door left wide open for a sequel, but with the killer’s “mythology” becoming a campfire tale that will continue to be told for years. I guess that in itself could be a really weak opening for a sequel, but let’s just hope it’s not. I think this one works better self-contained. 

Unlike some of the films that I review on this site, I actually would happily watch Bone Face again. That said, I’m not in any particular rush to do so.

Bone Face is distributed by Uncork’d Entertainment, and (as of this writing) is available to rent for about a buck on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home… or you can always watch it for free (with ads) on good ol’ Tubi… like I did.