Common Sense Media Review
By Kat Halstead
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Gruesome creature feature treads familiar horror territory.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Bone Keeper
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In BONE KEEPER, Olivia (Sarah Alexandra Marks) and a group of her friends leave on an expedition to explore a set of remote caves, where she believes her mother went missing. Along the way, they pick up a hitchhiking vlogger (Sarah T. Cohen) and ignore the warnings of a professor (John Rhys-Davies), who believes he's seen the terrifying "bone collector" that lurks inside the cave system and makes sure that nobody leaves alive.
Is It Any Good?
At times this horror film feels like a pastiche of the genre, but isn't particularly funny or openly self-referential. That said, Bone Collector certainly wears its influences on its sleeve. There are scenes that are clearly a nod to Alien, both in terms of "nests" and the body horror elements, but the low production values, wooden acting, and painfully obvious dialogue leave this far off the mark. There are some jump scares and the creatures themselves are satisfyingly grotesque, but the stakes feel low throughout because it's difficult to fully invest. Nothing makes much sense or injects anything particularly new, and it ends up feeling like a faded carbon copy of a movie that could have been a lot more sure of itself.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about violence and gore in Bone Collector. How did you think the levels compared to other horror films? How else did the movie create tension? Does exposure to violent media desensitize kids to violence?
Discuss the strong language used in the movie. What did it contribute to the movie? Is a certain kind of language expected in a movie like this?
How did the themes of family and friendship show up in the film? How did they affect the plot? Why are family and friendship important in real life?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : April 6, 2026
- Cast : John Rhys-Davies , Sarah Alexandra Marks , Louis James
- Director : Howard J. Ford
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : KDMG
- Genre : Horror
- Topics : Aliens , Fantasy ( Monsters )
- Run time : 90 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : March 28, 2026
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