Welcome to Knockout Horror. 2025 has started off fairly well with a few really decent horror movies. Companion was great fun and rom-com slasher Heart Eyes was seriously enjoyable. Can
Michael Donovan Horn’s Bone Face keep up the pace? Well, to be perfectly honest, no, it can’t. It’s not all bad, though. Let’s take a look.

Bone Face follows a pair of cops as they attempt to get to the bottom of a recent murder that has taken place in their town. A group of camp councillors have been brutally slain by the notorious serial killer Bone Face. While checking out the surrounding area, the sheriff and his deputy stumble on the murderer’s discarded mask and clothes at a diner. Deducing that the killer must be among the diner’s customers; the officers head inside to question the group.

A Slasher, Horror, Whodunit Type Thing

Bone Face starts off as a fairly traditional slasher movie. A group of young adults hang out together at camp, a killer appears, murder happens, yadayadayada. It’s the same old thing you have seen a hundred times before. It isn’t long, however, before the movie transforms completely. The slasher hat is removed and a wider brimmed, distinctly 50’s style, detective hat is placed on because it is time to play some Cluedo (Clue for you guys in the US and Canada, I think?).

A screenshot from horror whodunit Bone Face (2025)

Almost the entire remaining length of the movie, a good hour plus, takes place inside of the diner. A group of random people gather to while away the twilight hours drinking coffee and eating cheap and cheerful food. Seemingly not realising that one of them is the notorious Bone Face killer. Our two protagonists have to question each of the people at the diner. In turn solving clues to discover which of them is responsible for the brutal murders.

It’s pretty simple stuff and, for the most part, it plays out exactly as you might expect. The officers talk to each person individually. The people become suspicious of each other and residents of the diner begin clashing. There are a bunch of red herrings, a lot of misdirection, a ton of questions and some frayed personalities. Eventually leading to a conclusion that cycles the film right back around to its slasher origins. It’s sort of a slasher sandwich with a creamy filling of crime movie whodunit but does it work?

Doesn’t Quite Work

There may be a fairly obvious reason why this type of movie doesn’t seem to appear too much in the horror genre. It doesn’t really work all that well. The problem is that using horror as a wrapper for this type of whodunit crime story sort of goes against the very nature of what horror is.

The long, protracted, detective work heavy, majority of the movie doesn’t afford the viewer many opportunities to feel scared or uneasy. There are limited reasons to feel fear for the characters or concern for what you may be about to see. After all, this is a small, contained, environment with miniscule scope for violence, action, atmosphere building, and frights.

It is a setting that really ties the hands when it comes to how much you can do. I mean, how can you manufacture scares when the two main characters have a pretty decent handle on the situation? The result is a movie that doesn’t offer a huge amount outside of a fairly predictable game of guess the bad guy.

Predictable

I say predictable because I really feel as though Horn goes a little too far out of his way trying to send the viewer down the wrong trail. Making it easy to eliminate certain characters as, potentially, being the killer. The whole Occam’s Razor thing never really applies in these type of films. Forcing you to look elsewhere when the story begins shoving a certain theory down your throat. That’s without mentioning some of the movie’s tells. Something happens pretty early on that leaves you thinking that there is only one actually plausible suspect. Making the remaining time a bit of a chore.

The slasher elements don’t really add anything, either. Again, certain parts about the presentation of the killer, in these scenes, gives away who the possible suspect may be. Leaving only a few possibilities and making the whodunit part of the movie less enjoyable. The only real thing you are left to guess is the motive behind the killings and that can only really boil down to one of a few logical answers. The mystery here is a bit too obvious and not very satisfying. The slasher stuff is a vehicle to get there and little more.

But I Kinda Enjoyed It

With that being said, I did kind of enjoy Bone Face. I wouldn’t exactly recommend it but it was watchable. The mystery plays out in a way that isn’t too demanding. Enough happens to keep things moving along at an okay clip. Some of the characters are fairly interesting and I didn’t feel as though it dragged its feet too long. Though the runtime is a big ask for a movie like this. The destination is unsatisfying but I didn’t hate the journey.

Cinematography, by Nathan Tape, was pretty damn good. This is a surprisingly nice looking movie and the lighting is fantastic throughout. Bone Face looks a cut above your typical low budget horror movie and Tape’s work is a large part of that. Scripting can be very awkward, at times. There’s a distinct feeling of “2010’s video game” about the dialogue, here. Some of the actors struggle mightily, as well. Many of the performances are quite wooden and a bit awkward. I did enjoy Elena Sanchez as Deputy McCully and Artrial Clark as Ray, however.

Should You Watch Bone Face?

I really don’t think Bone Face is a terrible movie. I just don’t think the two different elements work all that well together when it comes to horror. The whodunit part of the movie is very drawn out and doesn’t afford many opportunities for scares or tension while the slasher element is poorly fleshed out. I found Bone Face to be quite watchable, despite its issues. Sure, there’s nothing all that ground breaking, here. It’s a bit predictable, too, which doesn’t help. But I think it might be a good option if you are looking for something crime focused while still having something of a horror theme.