Review: Ash and Bone

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet

Ash and Bone
Directed by Harley Wallen
Auburn Moon Productions; Cama Productions; Painted Creek Productions; Deskpop Entertainment
97 minutes, 2022
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I am right in the mood for a snatch and hide rural serial killer(s) film, reminiscent of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), or The Collector (2009). The prologue, intermixed with the credits, gives us a sample of what is to come. They also delve into the home invasion subgenre.

Into this mess comes vacationing couple from Detroit, older Lucas (director Harley Wallen) – he wears a Rollings Stones Tour shirt from ’76 – and his younger, new wife, Sarah (Kaiti Wallen), and Lucas’s obnoxious and rebellious teen goth daughter, Cassie (Angelina Danielle Cama), for whom it is hard to like, really. We meet them, as is par for the course in these isolated homes subgenre, in the car ride to Lucas’s brother’s vacation house in Hadley Lake, MI (population under 300).

Angelina Danielle Cama, Mason Heidger, Jamie Bernadette

I am a bit confused early on, because in an act of rebellion, Cassie heads to the small town center, in which streets are long and built up, and goes into a crowded bar. This is more like a town of 1,000-2,500. I have relations in towns of about 300-400 people, and it is just a couple of streets long and is deserted at night. Even the hotel/bar run is scarce in denizens. But here, in a bar run by Louie (martial arts legend Mel Novak, aka Mi’lan Mrdjenovich), she meets the local couple Tucker (Mason Heidger) and Anna (Jamie Bernadette). They tell her about the town legend of a murder house, which Cassie insists they show her. Not a good move, of course.

Naturally, at Cassie’s hubris, they enter the Sawyer…I mean McKinley house through a window, and the second act starts with the shit hitting the pain. Getting in was easy. Getting out is another matter. From here on, it is chills and thrills that I will not go into detail. Speaking of which, the big question for me at this point is whether Tucker and Anna are in on it, or will they be fodder. When I do know further on, I will not say. Same with Sheriff Vincent (Shane Hagedorn).

Jimmy Doom

The man of the McKinley family is heavily tattooed, shirtless-and-overalls-wearin’ Clete (Jimmy Doom, vocalist of The Almighty Lumberjacks of Death, a punk band from Detroit). Then there is his equally insane sister, May (Erika Hoveland). Naturally, not only do they look like they should be below the Mason-Dixon line, but they are cannibals: what better way to hide the “evidence.” Yee-haw!

There is a bit of subtle social commentary on the ease of getting weaponry in rural areas. There is also a nod towards small town communities, so when Clete and May come searching, they know where to look as everybody knows nearly everybody. And if they are new, where it is likely to find them, even lone wolves, like the McKinleys. I understand the small-town mentality, such as if you see your worst enemy stuck in a blizzard, you give them a ride home, even if not a word is spoken of it again. But if I was in the position of Tucker and Anna, I would not have rode to the McKinley’s with Cassie. She would have been on her own. Perhaps it’s my Brooklyn upbringing, but screw that.

Erika Hoveland

Between flashbacks and the “present,” Cassie proves that she is not reliable, and consistently makes bad decisions that one can see as “rebellion,” but they are just inconsiderate and mean. I am really trying to see her as the protagonist, but for the first half of the film, she is an anti-hero, I guess. Not a nice person. But I am sure there will be a comeuppance that will either mellow her out to appreciate her life, or kill her. Again, I won’t say which way it goes.

It may be a small town, but there is a decent body count, as the film moves into body horror. Thing is, there are a couple of opportunities that were passed, where we see the end results without the process leading to it. Gorehounds are bound to feel slighted. But then, there is the third act. It’s usually the third act when all the tension of the first two explode into violence.

Speaking of which, I was actually surprised at how little the violence perpetrated was shown throughout. Most of it is just off camera, or we see the results of what happened in the past, as I have stated before. That’s not to say it is mild, no, but it is not very bloody. Though I have to say what SFX is shown looks good (e.g., the blood is the right color and consistency).

The acting is quite good, though Hoveland as May is the standout. Doom is also good as Clete, though his gravelly voice often sounds forced. As for the focus of this release, Cama, she does well, though she purses her lips way too often. Minor quibbles I know.

This is a welcome addition to the canon, and is okay for those who like the violence, and for those who are a bit squeamish, this film does well in having a foot in both camps. Like TCSM, more is implied than shown, but it is still powerful.

In the nothin’ to do with nothin’ department, since this was filmed near Detroit and Pontiac, MI, I am sorry they did not include Motor City’s own punk rockers, Choking Susan (who I saw play at CBGB), on the soundtrack. 

IMBD listing HERE