They say when crafting a horror story to narrow down the location. Can’t get any narrower than an all night diner out in the woods near a camp. Bone Face, written and directed by Michael Donovan Horn provides an old familiar premise that is usually played out in old timey murder mysteries not in horror films, having the killer trapped with other innocent people and slowly with intricate details try to discover who was the killer before anyone in the story does.  Concepts like this are effective when we are enchanted by the detective on the case and the killer. With a slasher it is the opposite. We should be enchanted with the killer and not enthralled with the cops on their trail and watch victims attempt to survive. Which is why I hesitate to call this a slasher, when it plays out as a rather moody psychological detective story. Which in turn leads to a ton of talking head scenes and very little action.

Bone Face has a great start and great intro, a killer with a signature style, look and weapon, but once the camp is eviscerated in a clever familiar style it goes whodunit. It’s one third slasher, and two thirds agatha christie. The person who leads the investigation is Deputy McCully played by Elena Sanchez and Sheriff Cronin played by Jeremy London, both doing well with what they are given but understand the title isn’t them, it’s Bone Face and majority of the film ditched their disguise and is hiding in the diner with regular folks. In fact the most memorable thing in this film is Jeremy London pivoting and turning to the others while saying a raspy all night partier voice “Strawberry Jam!” in a way that would work in a Mel Brooks film.

Every uninspiring framing and flat camera work, mixed with safe archetype characters (bikers who hate cops, whoa never saw that coming) leads to an ending that does pack the punch that the filmmakers thought it would because of course the ending has even more talking in it. We know psychopaths can’t shut up, but seriously more action in your slasher please. Bone Face is frustrating to me because I wanted a slasher, really I did. Instead I got “The Case of Killer Caught at the All Night” Diner.