Along with Savage Dawn, Pumpkinhead, Mimic: Sentinel, Gunfighter's Moon, and Sasquatch Mountain, to name a few, I now add Bone Dry to a long list of films I watched just because they had that grizzled Henrikson flavor.

After a pretentious title card intro quoting both Shakespeare and the bible, we meet Eddie (Luke Goss- Blade 2) and Jimmy (Lance Herikson). Eddie becomes Jimmmy's prey, lost in the Mojave desert, far from civilization, where cell phones wont work, where all Eddie has is a walkie talkie, a map, and Jimmy off in the distance following him in a rusty truck with a sniper rifle. Jimmy obviously has an agenda at hand and sets about torturing Jimmy, giving him a bottle of water he cannot drink, knocking him cold and chaining him naked to a huge cactus, chaining him to the hood of the truck and taking him for a hell ride through the brush, etc. Obtuse flashbacks and run-ins with drug/arm dealers add further wrinkles into the tale of these two men at mysterious odds with each other.

Bone Dry has an incredibly simple premise and the it gets rolling right away. There is really no character development whatsoever. Who these men are to any depth beyond hunter and prey is never revealed. Only a scant third act twisteroo gives us a microscopic glimpse into their true nature. One would think this would make a far leaner exploitation film, an obvious nod to genre flicks like The Hitcher, Breakdown, Joy Ride, or The Duel, but Bone Dry actually comes across as a bit too labored and overlong by a good ten to fifteen minutes.

The bulk of the film hangs on a series of inventive tortures and because we have no background for the men it is difficult to get emotionally invested. Part of the reasoning for them remaining mysterious is the third act twist, but you still need a nugget of something- even if it's a false direction or paltry quirk- to invest a viewer. Goss' Eddie isn't given the most convincing character reactions. At first he's a tad nonplused about the strange situation, then turns on a dime to being suicidal, then homicidal, to wallowingly pathetic, before setting into deliriously vengeful. Like the best character actors, Henrikson simply phones in another good creep character and is solid with his familiar role.

The DVD: Allumination.

Picture:

Anamorphic Widescreen. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the entire film is its look. Shot in high def digital, Bone Dry is a great example of how the format can assist low budget film makers in achieving a certain look. Aside from some bad scope-vision effect and murky low light/day for night scenes, the image is sharp and the cinematography convincingly conveys the raw nature of the arid locale. Tech creds are solid and the transfer does it justice with minimal artifacing, edge enhancement, or general transfer quibbles.

Sound:

Dolby Surround 5.1. Optional Spanish subtitles. Wow, this film has one bombastic score and I mean not just in terms of being overbearing but in terms of volume. FX and dialogue mixing is pretty pedestrian, serviceable and solid for this kind of film.

Extras:

Trailer, plus a funding ‟pitch‟ trailer (basically the entire movie told in still captures). -- Making Of Featurette (19:18). A fly on the wall perspective, just video footage shot behind the scenes, no real interviews or narration.-- Deleted Scene (2:38). Fairly simple, brief, omitted scene with optional directors commentary. -- Audio commentary by director/writer Bret A. Hart and actor Lance Henrikson.

In the end credits, director Bret A. Hart had the cajones to label Bone Dry ‟A BRET A. HART VISION.‟ Thats right, this isnt just another "Most Dangerous Game" knockoff or movie where Tommy "Tiny" Lister gets third billing. This is a "vision." While completing any film is an accomplishment to be proud of, and Hart certainly should be very proud of this C-B level feature, the guy isn't Antonioni, Hitchcock, Ridley or Tony Scott. Hell, he's not even Albert Pyun. His commentary is pretty self-fellating (though, Henrikson helps too), admirably praising the cast and crew, who dutifully worked under the hard conditions, and not so admirably overblowing the film's artistic merit and his skills as a feature helmer. Henrikson I'll give a pass, after all, for him the film is a step up from chasing a sasquatch on the Sci Fi Channel.

Conclusion:

A diverting enough b-thriller, a tad too long, a tad half-baked, a bit of slight entertainment that will fade into most viewers memories. A decent disc but the film is purely the stuff of a rental. Pricewise, $30 is just a tad too steep for this kind of direct-to-video, pay cable channel fare.