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Bones
New Line Cinema


9.0

based on 21 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 4 votes
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FILM:

Never Die Alone

MPAA RATING: R for violence/gore, language, sexuality and drugs

Starring Snoop Doggy Dogg, Pam Grier, Michael T. Weiss, Sean Amsing, Ron Selmour, and Kirby Morrow

Over 20 years after his violent death in 1979, Jimmy Bones (Dogg) returns as a ghost to wreak revenge on those who killed him and to clean up his crime and drug filled neighborhood.

GENRE(S):	Horror
WRITTEN BY:	Adam Simon Tim Metcalfe
DIRECTED BY:	Ernest R. Dickerson
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: February 26, 2002 Video: February 26, 2002 Theatrical: October 24, 2001
RUNNING TIME:	93 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Variety Joe Leydon

A sly mix of haunted house melodrama, slasher pic mayhem and retro-blaxploitation iconography, spiced with dollops of grisly, dark comedy.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Snoop invests snarling meanness with as much authority as Clint Eastwood used to. As an actor, does this Dogg know any more tricks? At this point, he may not have to.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

In exalting the very worst of humanity, Bones displays a special glee and an unusual density of scary imagery.

Miami Herald Chris Hewitt

Director Ernest Dickerson uses elegant visuals, suspenseful editing and lighting to give Bones its edge.

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

The rapper-ever-increasingly-turned actor -- is having the time of his life, big pimp styling in a flashy wardrobe as he guts and struts.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

With his spidery fingers and his velvet eyes, the lean, languid Snoop Dogg was born to be an undead player, and clearly relishes the role of Jimmy Bones.

Washington Post Richard Harrington

Too much of Bones feels transplanted from genre staples like "Hellraiser," "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Evil Dead."

Boston Globe Jay Carr

You'll laugh at Bones a lot more often than you'll be scared by it, assuming you'll be scared at all.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

A ghetto horror movie that sets up some decent scares before becoming so amused with itself, it's a wonder we don't hear the crew laughing.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Dogg has the makings of a genuinely great actor. When he's on screen the film crackles, and even when he's not it's a trippy, funhouse ride.

USA Today Mike Clark

If grossness gives you the giggles, at least a couple of the movie's effects indeed put a little "wow" in this cinematic bowwow.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

The tectonic shifts in this camp-horror extravaganza are unsettling.

LA Weekly Paul Malcolm

Director Ernest -- doesn't skimp on style in a film that bluntly exploits social conscience to pump up its taste for gore.

New Times (L.A.) Luke Y. Thompson

Full of fits and starts, it never really gets going, stalling at every turn without even giving us enough of what we paid to see -- Snoop Dogg and gore.

Los Angeles Times Gene Seymour

The movie is over the top and garish. Its transitions often are sloppy and crude. But it brandishes its excesses like a loud, retro suit.

Village Voice Ed Park

Bones splits the difference between horror and social commentary, with pallid returns.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Too jumbled to become the major pop hit it wants to be. But it's not an entirely bad film despite its lack of coherence. Horror aficionados and other midnight-movie fans shouldn't miss it.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Regrettably, Bones is what passes for horror these days: Throw a lot of graphic, gore-filled, darkly lit stuff on the screen, and see what sticks. Discerning moviegoers should pass on the opportunity.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

A silly, boring supernatural thriller that squanders a potentially interesting premise and the rapper Snoop Dogg in his ostensible starring debut.

Film Threat Michael Dequina

Nothing sums up Bones better than its parting shot, in which maggots are projectile vomited directly toward the audience. How so very appropriate.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Doesn't work at all. Even the structure is off.

The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

korky r. gave it a9:
Really nice movie. i really liked it and yes snoop dog was the best optione for the jonny bones caracter. The bad part about the movie is that the blood is rally unrealistic... small things matter.

Jhancey M. gave it a 7:
One bad boy of a movie and snoop iz 1 bad as bigpimp lookin 4 revenge. cooda been a bit more spooky and scary but stillleft ME lookin in da shdows. AND CHECKOUT DA FILM CALLED : HARDBALL. (baseball film)

Kenyon C. gave it a 10:
Gotta say it - my second favorite of those seen this year - largely because of Snoop Dog's performance & the character of Eddie Mac AND, of course, the fact that the entire film was a glorious homage to Italian Gothic horror films like Susperia (remember the maggot scene in that one?). Liked the fact that the makers of this one didn't use CGI for effects but real people and a real house they built for the film. And loved the stunning images in the opening 1979 shots. Cudos to Michael T. Weiss, too - who despite playing master nice guy, The Pretender for so long, turned in an especially revolting bad guy in this flick. Oh, yah - I'm definitely going to get the DVD as soon as I can afford it!

Cracker Jack gave it a 10:
i think that snoop dog was the perfect man to play jimmy bones in the horror film Bones. I also think that it was a very sweet touch the part about him and that woman who were in love and how when she was gonna stab her self, he took the knife in his side instead................i love this movie and would further enjoy to see snoop dog in other movies.

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Bones New Line Cinema

Bones
New Line Cinema