A thriller about a serial killer that's severly lacking in thrills, this Canadian-shot movie debuted on cable before making its way to video.
Former chief medical examiner William Palmer (Rutger Hauer) has written a best-selling fictional book based on a case he once worked on: a serial killer who called himself "Bone Daddy" and was never caught. Rocky (Daniel Kash), Palmer's agent, is kidnapped by Bone Daddy. At a party celebrating the
appointment of Palmer's son Peter (Joseph Kell)--with whom Palmer has a strained relationship--to assistant chief medical examiner, a package arrives containing one of Rocky's bones. It is determined that Rocky was alive when the bone was removed, and detective Sharon Hewlett (Barbara Williams) is
assigned to the case, with Palmer consulting. They first investigate an old suspect, Palmer's former rival Dr. Franz (Christopher Kelk), but he proves to be an invalid.
Palmer receives a threatening phone call from Bone Daddy, and Rocky's body turns up outside Sharon's house. Further evidence seems to implicate Peter, who is nowhere to be found. Comparing the stitching on Rocky's body to other cadavers in the morgue, Palmer realizes that the killer is current
Medical Examiner Marshall Stone (R.H. Thomson). Palmer and Sharon arrive at Stone's house to find Peter held captive, and Palmer appears to lay Stone low after a fight. Stone revives, stabs Sharon and attacks Palmer, but Sharon recovers and shoots him dead.
By this point in the serial killer stakes, a movie of this type requires the character depth of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991) or a specific vision a la SEVEN (1995) to stand out. Neither is the case here, as the movie marks time with arguments between Palmer and his son, arguments between Sharon and
her chief, Palmer ruminating over whether he's responsible for resurrecting Bone Daddy by writing his book, and the investigation of suspects who are all too obviously red herrings. None of this is very compelling, thanks in part to what may be the most listless, uninspired performance of Hauer's
career.
Along the way, this manages to be a serial-killer film in which there's only one victim, and Rocky's introduction as a foul-mouthed lout doesn't generate much in the way of sympathy for him. The convincingly grisly makeup effects do elicit a few shivers--certainly more than Mario Azzopardi's
direction, which relies too much on such worn-out conventions as a woman who, with a psycho killer on the loose, goes outside her house at night to check on her cat while lightning flashes and thunder booms. (Graphic violence, nudity, extreme profanity.) leave a comment
