213 Bones (2025) | Film Review

213 Bones, from writer director Jeffrey Primm and co-writer Dominic Arcelin, premiered to positive reviews at this years FrightFest. And whilst I wasn't in attendance, I was lucky enough to be sent a screener. The film seemingly looked to follow in the footsteps of its predecessors, and managed to do in so in a variety of ways.

Please note this review contains SPOILERS.

College students are brutally murdered by a gruesomely masked attacker. It is left to Sherriff Bracco, Laurie the County Coroner and their teacher, Kelly, to find out who the real bone crunching murderer is.

Right off the bat here I will say they absolutely nailed the entire, look, feel and aesthetic of the film. I felt like I was watching one of the Scream films or I know What You Did Last Summer. The way the film's shot, the lighting, opening titles sequence, set design, cinematography and the attention to detail was fantastic from start to finish. That includes the soundtrack, which I will say I thought was also on point. The whole thing just screamed 90s, furthermore it never felt overdone or out of place.

The cast were solid enough and did well with their respective roles. At times I will admit I felt they leaned into the stereotypical characters (such as nerd, jock and stoner) a bit too much. It didn't always need to be as obvious as it was in certain scenes. It may be cos I'm a bit older than the demographics they're aiming for with this film, but I didn't find any of them that likable- bar Bob (but we'll get to him in a minute).

Eric (Liam Woodrun) and Clyde (Mason Kennerly) are insufferable in this, but that's not me taking shots at this film or the actors- if anything me loathing the two of them this much means they gave a good performance. Do you know when you watch someone or something and you think "Christ, was I that big of an asshole when I was that age?"

Toni Weiss' Candice was a bit of a shame, as she was sort of this film's version of Randy Meeks. Unfortunately, she didn't do much besides throw out wild accusations with little or no evidence (or thought) behind them. Was nice to see the other characters calling her out on her bullshit and throwing a bit of shade her waty.

Elizabeth O'Brien was basically this films Barbara from Stranger Things and unfortunately didn't get much time to do anything. Colin Egglesfield was very much like a few lecturers I knew at University- annoyingly upbeat and nice. Simone Lockheart and Sarah Brooks both gave good performances, was a bit gutted Joanna died. Francesca Barker McCormick gave a pretty solid performance as county coroner Laurie as well, although I wasn't a fan of how her story ended.

Luna Fujimoto made a good Final Girl and Hunter Brance's Brent was a surprisingly likable nerd. Was a bit cringe with that one liner at the end, funny to see Lisa correct him though. I did enjoy the fact this film flipped the normal recipe for a slasher with the nerd becoming the hero (well so to speak). But, he didn't do it alone- let's talk about Bob.

Bob- the man, the myth, the badass.

Bob (Dean Cameron) though... I liked Bob, I identified with Bob. For a minor character he stood out! An older mature student with a lot of knowledge and life experience, that you can see is already at the end of his tether with these college kids. Cast aside and forgotten as the old, weird guy...only to come back and save the day at the end of the film. And rest assured he wasn't messing round like so many characters have done before in slasher films before when it comes to dealing with the killer (good ol' double-tap method....well more of a empty a full clip and finish with a headshot method for Bob). He was more bloody cold and calculated than the killer- and I was all for it. As Lisa says "Bob's a badass!"

All in all there's not a huge amount of character development for any of them, with most staying pretty one dimensional throughout the film. That's not me poking holes in this film, it just seems to be a running issue with a lot of slasher films. To be fair, taking up screen time with character development isn't a thing slashers are renowned for. Just wish this had just that tad more for me to really invest in these characters. You get snippets, such as Lisa's reasoning behind going into anthropology, Kelly's (Colin Egglesfield) father suspiciously dying a year earlier and Bob's reveal as Kelly's Uncle, but they never really went anywhere. Reminded me more of some of the Friday the 13th sequels where the majority of characters were just cannon fodder for Jason Voorhees.

The story is a relatively straightforward whodunnit slasher, nothing special but it was pretty fun. There's some more light hearted humorous moments throughout the film, Lisa's scene in the library to throw off the wannabe jock was a joy to watch. My other favourite, I didn't actually realise, featured film's writer director Jeffrey Primm. It's only a quick cameo in a passing scene, but he's utterly hilarious- "Be careful, there's a lot of weirdos out there!"

213 Bones (2025) | Film Review

There was some good kills in this, but if you're expecting something like Dead or Alive for gore/kills you'll be disappointed. Whilst there was nothing stand out or special, they added an uneasy sense of realism to the film. Much like Craven's original Scream, the kills were brutal, cold and calculated- quick and very much to the point. Almost like this killer knew exactly what they were doing and having fun doing so. It all makes sense when we get to the ending, but we'll come to that. There was one death (attempted kill anyway) in the film that was like a mix of Detective Arbogast's stair fall scene from Psycho and Sin City. It threw me if I'm honest. Whilst I know they were going for a stylistic death, it just felt very odd and out of touch with the rest of the film.

The mask, I'll be honest, didn't cut it for me (pun intended). Which is a shame as it's the same person who designed Bray Wyatt's iconic 'Fiend' mask. Its like a warped, uneasy grunge version of an Easter Island head. Colour scheme was great, I just didn't find it all too menacing or threatening- like infusing an Easter Island head with My Chemical Romance. It did make for some cool visuals throughout the film, but all in all it just wasn't my cup of tea.

So, let's get to the big twist/killer reveal. Which, unfortunately, was my biggest gripe with the film. It felt a bit lacklustre after a pretty enjoyable flick. It's all revealed that Laurie was the one behind the murders because she was dumped by Kelly, also killed his father a year earlier by drugging him and then manipulating the case to get her desired outcome. The bones that get placed round at the murder scenes in the film may as well have not been done as it didn't really add anything- more of a gimmick/game for her more than anything.

It's a tad confusing and a bit of a bizarre reveal. Painfully obvious she wasn't acting alone, as her co-worker was creepy as shit throughout the entire film- he says nothing, stares at everyone intently and I'm not sure you see him blink on screen. It finishes with a post credit scene (beginning of end credits) where you see someone collecting evidence and finally taking the mask. It was 100% her colleague picking up the mantle and going it alone for a sequel. It didn't ruin the film, not by a long shot, by the motif and backstory for the entire collection of murders throughout the two hour twenty something runtime was this film's biggest downfall.

Overall, it's a surprisingly fun film. I only say surprisingly because I find it can be very hit or miss with a lot of indie slasher films with story often being sacrificed for gratuitous nudity, violence or an ungodly amount of gore. But, 213 Bones was one of the better ones I've seen in more recent years. Yes thing's could have been better if done differently (the ending for example), and I do feel runtime could've been cut down if a few things were tighter, but it's an enjoyable film. One that I'll be making time to watch again when it gets a home release (which hopefully won't be too far away). It doesn't strive to be some elevated, pretentious horror... just a twisted whodunnit slasher. It stays within it's remit and has fun doing so; you can't really ask for more than that with a slasher film.

213 Bones had its world premiere at FrightFest August 24th. You can check out the trailer below.